Mark is the cousin, brother, son, and grandson of United Methodist ministers. Through his family, Mark Miller has strong ties to The United Methodist Church. More recently, the song was chosen in an extension of the Christian Science Hymnal (2017). The song first appeared in Amazing Abundance: Hymns for a Growing Church (Abingdon Press, 2003), a collection of Mark Miller’s tunes, before being included in Worship and Song and Zion Still Sings. The addition of percussion and other instruments could enhance the song’s spirit of praise.
“All My Days” would also be appropriate during a service of confirmation. For several years, the graduate students of Yale Divinity School have chosen “All My Days” as the recessional music for their commencement service. This hymn is appropriate as a song of praise, especially after Communion or as a sending forth. The repetition of the rhythmic motive aids in the congregation’s learning of the hymn. The syncopated rhythm gives the text an energy and joy of a song of praise. When Miller and Zelman received word that the hymn was to be published, they chose to name the tune “HIXON.” This was to honor Stephanie Hixon, who at the time was leaving the United Methodist General Commission on the Status and Role of Women, as general secretary. However, we have the assurance that God will be with us and offer us the grace to correct our ways and make better choices.
This is an admission that, unlike God, humans are fallible. The singer asks God to search us further, to seek out our faults, so a song of praise may be lifted.
God of my days lyrics free#
God truly is over everything, “the whole of time, the present day.” God is infinite and magnificent.įinally, stanza four is a petition to God to “mend my heart and free my voice.” Once we are free from sin, we can rejoice. While this is a change from the original psalm, this shift in point of view helps to demonstrate God’s all-encompassing presence. In stanza three, the point of view changes from first person singular (I) No matter where we choose to wander, even to questionable places, God is with us. While we may be stumbling in the dark, we need not fear, for God is with us. The ability to see objects in the dark is difficult, which may result in people stumbling or having accidents. It is often said that the darkest period of a night is just before the dawn. If we “lie down in deepest night,” God is with us and is our light. The second stanza explores the care and protection that God provides. As the opening verses of Psalm 139 indicate, this is a relationship of intimacy and understanding:ģYou discern my going out and my lying down God knows our thoughts, our ways, and the direction of our lives. The first stanza, spoken directly to God, reflects on how God knows us better than we know ourselves. After some thought, they decided to use “All My Days,” which they had written the previous year as a congregational song.īased on Psalm 139, the text explores how people can understand their relationship with God, a relationship based on faithfulness, care, and protection. 1967) and Laurie Zelman needed a closing song for a youth musical they had written about Queen Esther. If a composer needs a song for a specific occasion, the composer may write a new song or adapt an existing song. The old proverb “Necessity is the mother of invention” is as true in music as it is in other areas.
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