Talk About – Songs & Hymns: I Stand Amazed

Published On: November 19, 2017

Overview

Our focus for this session was the hymn I Stand Amazed (Gabriel, 1905) and song You Bled (Rend Collective, 2014). Both hymns focus on Jesus sacrifice on the cross for us, the pain He endured, and our salvation through His love.

Questions

All the lyrics and questions are found in the booklet but you can get the questions in PDF form HERE!

Background

Charles Gabriel grew up in Iowa on a farm, and learnt about music by playing a reed organ and training himself. He taught in singing schools from his teenage years and soon  began composing and editing songs. He worked for a church in San Francisco for two years (1890-92) before moving to Chicago where he began working for Rodeheaver’s publishing firm. He is credited with around 7000-8000 hymns. This hymn is often linked with Luke 22:41-44 where the account of Jesus praying before His arrest is written; in this passage the comparison between sweat and drops of blood is made, a comparison which Gabriel has used in his hymn to create similar affect (Hawn, 2013)

Video 1

Flatirons Community Church: I Stand Amazed

Video 2

Rend Collective: You Bled

Summary

During the evening lots of ideas where shared about how each of us feel when singing these songs, one prevailing thought was that we feel personally loved by God; even if we were the only human on earth, God would still have sent Jesus to take our place and die on the cross. Throughout both songs there is a theme of Jesus’ love for each of us, in Gabriel’s (1905) the words focus on being lost in awe of what Jesus did for us, this is mirrored in Rend Collective’s song (2014), but here the words reflect more the actions of Jesus rather than our amazement at His love.

Finally, Rend Collective appear to have borrowed from the songs I Stand Amazed and Yes, Jesus Loves Me in their writing, which creates a familiarity with the song for many; this, means that the listener can easily understand and engage with the chorus of each. Moreover, in both songs this chorus declares God’s love for us, a love which is unconditional; we encouraged one another to go out confident in that truth more than ever, and be ready to share it when we get an opportunity.

Jesus’ love is mentioned very often in the Bible, these two verses were shared to remind and encourage us even more of this love.

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” – John 3:16-21 (ESV)

 

1See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. – 1 John 3:1 (NIV)

 

References

  • Bible (n.d.) ESV Bible. Bible Gateway [online]. Available at: https://www.biblegateway.com (Accessed: 6 November 2017).
  • Bible (n.d.) NIV Bible. Bible Gateway [online]. Available at: https://www.biblegateway.com (Accessed: 6 November 2017).
  • Gabriel, C. (1905) I Stand Amazed
  • Hawn, C.M (2013) History of Hymns: “I Stand Amazed in the Presence” [online]. Discipleship Ministries. Available at: https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-i-stand-amazed-in-the-presence (Accessed: 6 November 2017)
  • Rend Collective (2014) You Bled