This page is provided so that you can hear the tunes of items which we use in church. Mostly they are written by the vicar. Please note that they are copyright - we are very happy to give permission to you to use them, but we would like to hear about it. Please include any use on your Christian Copyright Licence returns.
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Looking unto Jesus
Looking unto Jesus
Looking unto Jesus,
not at Satan's eyes;
though he terrifies us
by his threats and lies.
From what useless questions,
waves of empty dreams,
wrestlings and deceptions,
fears that lead to screams:
from all these our Jesus defends us:
weakness conquered by power!
So we look to Jesus
now and every hour.
Looking unto Jesus,
not at all our woes;
even though we've bruises
caused by many foes.
Jesus took our problems,
bore them on the cross;
if we make them burdens,
then we risk great loss:
from our suff'rings Jesus redeems us:
weakness conquered by power!
So we look to Jesus
now and every hour.
Looking unto Jesus,
not upon our sin
even though 'tis grievous,
crying out within:
thoughts of bad behaviour
only lead to death -
focus on the Saviour
leads to life and breath!
from our sins our Lord comes to save us:
weakness conquered by power!
So we look to Jesus
now and every hour.
Copyright © John Hartley 2005.
with thanks to Henry Crawley and Heather Duncan for help with the words.
Suggested Tune: St Gertrude ("Onward Christian Soldiers") by Sir Arthur Sullivan
Story behind the song
In July and August, Henry Crawley posted the following three passages on the Christian Songwriting Organisation e-mail chat list. They come from a booklet entitled "Looking unto Jesus" written by Theodore Monod, a French clergyman, in 1874, and translated by Helen Willis. You can find the quotations at http://www.peterwade.com/articles/other/looking.shtml .
LOOKING UNTO JESUS
And not at Satan. Though He seek to terrify us by his fury or to entice us by his flatteries.-- Oh ! from how many useless questions we would save ourselves, from how many,disturbing scruples,from how much loss of time, dangerous dallyings with evil, waste of energy,empty dreams, bitter disappointments sorrowful struggles, and distressing falls, by looking steadily unto Jesus and by following Him wherever He may lead us. Then we shall be too much occupied with not losing sight of the path which He marks out for us, to waste even a glance on those in which He does not think it suitable to lead us.LOOKING UNTO JESUS
And not at our troubles, to count up their number, to reckon their weight, to find perhaps a certain strange satisfaction in tasting their bitterness. Apart from Jesus trouble does not sanctify, it hardens or it crushes. It produces not patience, but rebellion; not sympathy,but selfishness;not hope (Romans 5:3-4) but despair. It is only under the shadow of the cross that we can appreciate the true weight of our own cross,and accept it each day from His hand, to carry it with joy; and find in it for ourselves and for others a source of blessings.LOOKING UNTO JESUS
And not at our sins neither at the source from which they come (Matthew 15:19). Nor the chastisement which they deserve. Let us look at ourselves, only to recognize how much need we have of looking to Him; and looking to Him, certainly not as if we were sinless; but on the contrary, because we are sinners, measuring the very greatness of the offence by the greatness of the sacrifice which has atoned for it and of the grace which pardons it. "For one look that we turn on ourselves" said an eminent servant of God (McCheyne) "let us turn ten upon Jesus ".--"If it is very sure" said Vinet. that one will not lose sight of his wretched state by looking at Jesus crucified--because this wretched state is, as it were, graven upon the cross-- it is also very sure that in looking at one's wretchedness one can lose sight of Jesus Christ; because the cross is not naturally graven upon the the image of one's wretchedness." And he adds "Look at yourselves but only in the presence of the cross, only through Jesus Christ". Looking at the sin only gives death ; looking at Jesus gives life. That which healed the Israelite in the wilderness was not considering his wounds, but raising his eyes to the serpent of brass. ( Numbers 21:9 )
(The link above gives a great deal more, and the whole publication is well worth reading.)
In response to the first paragraph above, August Mosco suggested (perhaps tongue-in-cheek?) that it might preach well ... or sing well. It seemed to me that this might indeed be the case, so I tried to select a little from each passage and make three verses. To my surprise, others took the lyrics seriously and offered critiques, and so the song was born. I guess there are lots of other verses one could write on this theme, but three are probably enough.
The passages above come from a book by Theodore Monod, a French Clergyman writing in 1874, and a fuller extract can be found at www.peterwade.com/articles/other/looking.shtml. I find the passage very helpful from a personal point of view. It's interesting to me that Monod gives a lot of "purely positive" reasons for keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, before he moves on to the "comparative" reasons (which are to do with "and not upon ... because ...") which are quoted above.
One of the drawbacks with the lyrics that I wrote are that the verses almost encourage us to look at the things we ought not to be looking at, and they don't heed their own advice. I'd be grateful for any suggestions about how to write things about "don't look at ..." without encouraging people to look at the things. In particular the first verse I wrote is almost completely about the things we shouldn't be looking at: a fine example I don't think!!
My daughter is fond of saying "I'd like you NOT to imagine a yellow elephant with green spots and pink tusks. STOP IT! I said DON'T imagine it and there you go imagining the thing I told you not to imagine."
John Hartley
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