I’ve been exploring some of the very modern worship songs as an old guy 😀. But now, I’ve decided to alternate between very modern hymns, old hymns, and in-between hymns, namely the worship songs from the 60s to the 90s that feature in hymnbooks such as Mission Praise. Today it’s the turn of the in-between hymns.
Today’s song is Far and Near (Say It Loud) from the 1996.
I discovered this one in 2017, when I used Spotify to familiarize myself with all the newer songs in the Mission Praise hymn book. Back in 1996, I was 34. Back then, I disliked newer hymns, and I associated all these new Graham Kendrick songs with younger “happy-clappy” trendy Christians 😀. Nowadays, if I find any performances of such hymns, I often see older people singing them. And they’re often in more established churches rather than the new fellowships of the 1980s and 1990s that used to meet in schools etc. How times change. I started watching the Beatles Anthology again last night. I was stuck with how young the Beatles looked. Back in 1974, when, as a 12-year-old, I first became a fan, they were 20 years older than me. Now they’re much younger than me 😀. They look like kids. Isn’t life stange? I’ve become older than the Beatles.
Anyway, what’s all this got to do with the price of fish? That’s a question that the hecklers used to ask us when we preached on Tower Hill back in 1983 😀 (when I worked with London City Mission). What I should say, is what’s all this to do with today’s hymn? Very little, but let me write briefly about today’s hymn.
Well, it’s a simple song, encouraging widespread worship and for all to spread the message of Jesus. “Say it Loud” is the most memorable phrase in the song. But there’s a time for loudness and a time for quietness.
Jesus doesn’t want us to parade our spirituality to impress others:
Matthew 6:5-6
5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
In modern Europe, you wouldn’t receive much credit for coming across as spiritual in public. You might even be arrested. When you look at the book of Acts, the Holy Spirit encouraged people to be very public about their faith. The point that Jesus was making was that your prayers must be real communication with God, not just performed to impress others. I’m very aware of this when I pray in prayer meetings. Sometimes, it feels as if I’m thinking more of those around me than God. And that’s why I appreciate private prayer – but I don’t do enough of it.
Anyway, today’s song is an opportunity to delight in the gospel. We don’t always focus on the details of the lyrics when we sing. And we don’t always need too. Our hearts can be in the right place either way.
Here are some other YouTube instances of the song:
