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 I’m Confident of This Very Thing from around 1977.
I remember first hearing this one on a music tape of Dales Bible week back in the 1980s. The music from the Dales and Downs Bible weeks was very popular among young charismatic evangelicals back in the early 1980s. I still see the tapes on VintageWorshipTapes.com.
The movement received much criticism from established evangelical churches. As with any new movements, it was extreme in some respects. I won’t voice the criticisms here, but I just asked Gemini about it ” – “What criticisms were made against the Dales Restoration movement back in the early 1980s?” and it told me what I heard back in the early 1980s 😀.
But though I was a relatively conservative member of a Baptist church, I sometimes went along to meetings of such churches. And I never personally encountered anything silly or sinister. I met lots of nice people. Maybe it’s a little easier to be on the periphery of such churches. My trust is in Jesus. My trust in churches is limited. We should obey our leaders – but we should assess what they ask of us. If I went to church in the nude and my leader asked me to put clothes on, I would obey. But if he asked me to come to church in the nude, I think I’d say “no” 😀 – not that anyone ever asked me to do that 😀.
I think the “restoration” movement has since matured, and perhaps some who came to Christ through the movement made their way to more established churches. And much of the music that they created and promoted made their way into established churches. This kind of thing often happens in church history. I’m probably quite conservative, but new movements often attract more attention and more people. And however silly or sinister they are, they can have a positive effect on the long term. I’d much prefer to see sound conservative churches growing, but maybe they become a little too passive and introverted over time.
It’s a little like punk rock back in the 1970s 😀 – rock music was growing stale and then punk arrived – lots of silliness, but some great groups emerged from it. U2 are a notable example. I remember seeing them in Cork in Christmas 1979. They didn’t seem very punky – Bono was friendly rather than mean, like some of my punk heroes. But looked what happened then. 😀 U2 are well loved and many of the other punk/new wave groups are long forgotten.
Anyway, today’s song is based on the following verse:
Philippians 1:6
6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
It’s a great comfort to know that God is working in us. I sometimes use the following illustration of good and bad teachers. Let’s suppose the bad teacher’s students fail their end-of-year exam. The principal takes him to task. He answers “It’s not my fault. They weren’t really motivated, and they didn’t really understand the subject.” The good teacher is asked how his students did so well. He answers “I motivated any who weren’t motivated, and I paid special attention to those who struggled with the subject.” So, is God a good teacher? Surely He is. He’s working on us, and that’s why Paul was so confident that the Philippians would end up in heaven. In fact, when we believe, we already cross over from death to life. But it’s also good to focus on our growth. We’ll never be perfect on this side of heaven, but we should certainly aim to grow in grace. And God is at work on us behind the scenes. But we shouldn’t be passive and just let it all happen. Here’s another verse from Philippians:
Philippians 2:12-13
12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
I don’t see many performances of the hymn on YouTube, but here are a few examples:
And here are a few other songs based on the verse:
