How Great is Your Goodness

  Oh, how abundant is your goodness,
which you have stored up for those who fear you
and worked for those who take refuge in you,
  in the sight of the children of mankind!
  In the cover of your presence you hide them
from the plots of men;
you store them in your shelter
  from the strife of tongues.
Psalm 31:19, 20 (ESV)

One time when reading through this Psalm, I was reminded what Jesus taught us about heaven in John 14:

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God;1 believe also in me. ²In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
John 14:1, 2 (ESV)

I combined the two thoughts in the following song.

How Great Is Your Goodness

© Edd Russell

Bakersfield 12/2000

CHORUS

           Em                D                    Em

How great is Your goodness, O Lord. 

           Em                D                    Em

How great is Your goodness, O Lord.

              C                 D              Em

Which You    have laid up for me.

      C             D              Em

Because    I fear Your Name.

VERSE 1

C                         D

    You have prepared for me

G      Em

    A secret place;

C                    D

    And I shall rest secure

G                Em

    In Your presence,

     C             D              Em

Because    I   trust in You, 

     C             D              Em

Because    I   trust in You.

VERSE 2

You are preparing

A heav’nly mansion;

I long to be with You

In that dwelling

Because    I love you,

Oh, how I love You

Forever With You

This song is adapted from Psalm 84

Forever With You (Psalm 84)

© Edd Russell

Abbotsford 10-11-98

 

INTRO:

D-Bm-G-A-D-Bm-G-Asus-A

 

CHORUS

D                Bm

Lord, I desire

      G                A

To be forever with You;

                  D                     Bm

In Your courts, in Your house

        G                    A                  (End  G-A-D)

Is where I long to be.  (2x)

 

V1

G                D               G                 A

My heart cries out to be in Your Presence;

G             D                          G                           Asus-A

Blessing is found in the place where You dwell.

G                D                 Asus-A

So shall I praise You, Lord.

G              D          Asus-A

In You, I put my trust.

 

V2

G                D                   G                       A

O Lord, Almighty, how lovely is Your dwelling:

G                  D                          G                                   Asus-A

Better one day there than a thousand somewhere else.

G                D                 Asus-A

So shall I praise You, Lord.

G              D          Asus-A

In You, I put my trust.

No Reason to Complain

²⁶And the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, ²⁷“How long shall this wicked congregation grumble against me? I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me. (Numbers 14:26-27 ESV)

The People Complain to Moses
(https://www.freebibleimages.org/illustrations/moses-food-water/)

Grumbling. Whining. Complaining. I found myself doing it again. God called the nation of Israel wicked because of their grumbling—grumbling in spite of His miraculous provision and leading in their lives. Why is it so wicked? Because grumbling is a sign of lack of trust in God and, ultimately, a lack of love for God. And I found myself behaving like these Israelites. As I reflected on this, I was reminded of other behaviors that imply a lack of love for or trust in God. So even though my lips might say that I love God, my actions might be saying something else. God convicted me of this sin and this song was born.

I Want to Love You Jesus

© Edd Russell, Fresno 8/30/2006

 

VERSE 1 

E                 B/D#            C#m

   How can I say      that I love You

                 A                       B

   When I avoid You all the time?

E                      B/D#          C#m

   How can You know that I love You

         A                      B

   If all—all I do is whine?

CHORUS 

A    B                          E       B/D#  C#m

   I want to love You, Jesus,

A                    B                        E

   Spend each moment by Your side.

A            B                   E         B/D#  C#m

   To be closer to You, Jesus

A  B                       E

   Resting in Your arms.

 

VERSE 2 

E                 B/D#            C#m

   How can I say      that I love You

                   A                                 B

   When I’m chasing this life’s offerings?

E                      B/D#          C#m

   How can You know that I love You

                    A                                          B

   When my heart—my heart seeks other things?

 

You

This song is based on a reflection on some of Jesus' words about Himself and some of his instructions to his followers.

In the first saying, Jesus calls himself the bread of life. We read in John 6:35 and 48 (ESV):
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
I am the bread of life.

Jesus' followers are not the bread of life, but they can share bread that Jesus provides. When there was a group of 5000 men plus women and children, needing something to eat, Jesus said to His disciples, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” (Matthew 14:16 - ESV)

Jesus also called Himself The Light of the World:

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
John 8:12 (ESV)

As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
John 9:5 (ESV)

I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.
John 12:46 (ESV)

But elsewhere, Jesus says to his disciples, “¹⁴You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. ¹⁶In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:14–16 - ESV)

As Jesus' followers, we are to shine with the light He gives us and share the bread that He gives us with a needy world.

You

Edd Russell,  Fresno 7/2004

VERSE 1

C2       C/Bb

Jesus, Light of the world

Dm7/A                         C2-C

    We turn our eyes to You.

C2       C/Bb

Jesus, Light of the world

Dm7/A                        C2-C

    We fix our gaze on You.

 

 

CHORUS

C/D  C/E   F-C/E-Gs/D-G/D

You  are  Je   -   sus

              F-C/E      Gs/D-G/D

And You shine on us                                   (After V2: And You fill us)

               F    C/E      Gs/D-G/D

And You burn in our hearts

             F       G        C2-C

    A desire to know You

VERSE 2

C2      C/Bb

Jesus, Bread for the world

Dm7/A                          C2-C

    We fill our lives with You.

C2      C/Bb

Jesus, Bread for the world,

Dm7/A                         C2-C

    Our life comes from You.

TAG

                  F  G     C

We want to know You,

                  F  G  C

To become like You;

F                 G             C  C/B   Am

   Make our hearts to be like Yours,

F                    G        C     C/Bb  Dm7/A  C2  C

   We want to know You.

Communion Song

Sometimes when putting a song together, the words come first and the tune follows sometime in the future. Sometimes the words and tune come at the same time. This one is different, as I put the words to an existing tune. The tune I borrowed from a song to my first girlfriend which I wrote in late 1980. While that relationship didn't last, I liked the chords. I don't remember when I acutually wrote a communion song to go with the melody, but at some point in the ensuing 20 years it happened as the first dated copy I have is from 2003.

And when (Jesus) had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. (1 Corinthians 11:24 KJV)

Communion Song
©Edd Russell, Fresno 8/2003

VERSE 1
C2                                      FM7  FM7/E-FM7/D
    This bread You give, O Lord,
C2                                 FM7   FM7/E-FM7/D
   Your body broken for me
G7/B                         G7/A-G7        G7/A
Though I’m the one who’s broken
FM7                             C2 C2/D-C2/E
In You I’m made complete


CHORUS
F                                       G
    You gave Your life for me
F                                 C-C/B-Am
    Gave it up on that tree
                                 Dm-Dsus-Dm-D2-Dm-Dsus
Now I give You my life
Dm                          C2-FM7 FM7/E-FM7/D-C2
    Take it from me now


VERSE 2
C2                                   FM7      FM7/E-FM7/D
    This cup You give, O Lord,
C2                                  FM7      FM7/E-FM7/D
    To wash away all my sin
G7/B                                G7/A-G7       G7/A
Though I still stumble all the  time
FM7                                C2      C2/D-C2/E
You are there to pick me up

CHORUS 2
F                                           G
    You shed Your blood for me
F                                     C-C/B-Am
    Poured it out on that tree
                                 Dm-Dsus-Dm-D2-Dm-Dsus
Now I give You my life
Dm                           C2-FM7      FM7/E-FM7/D-C2
     Take it from me now

Behold, O Lord

In the fall of 1981, I found myself in the hamlet of Stouffville, Ontario, Canada. I had come there to take part in some training with a group called Emmanuel International before heading overseas for a year. The organization was founded by a man named George Middleton, a former missionary to Ethiopia with SIM.

It was a life-changing time for me, and not only because I met Ingrid there (though that was pretty life-changing). At the training we learned practical things like driving 4x4 vehicles off-road and how to maintain them. Milking cows. Preparing chicken from scratch. I even got to have my first experience with hypothermia (that was not part of the required training). But also as part of the training, on most days George would give us instruction on spiritual formation. During this time I became especially aware of my own inadequacy before God—how much even my good works fell short of God's standards—and how much we needed Jesus if we were to accomplish anything for God. We can't be Godly without the power of God. As Zechariah was told to encourage Zerubabbel when facing a seemingly impossible task, "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts." (Zechariah 4:6 ESV)

Emmanuel International HQ in Stouffville

This song started as a poem in response to what was going on inside of me while I was at the training. The tune and chords came later.

Behold, O Lord
© Edd Russell (Fall 1980, Stouffville, Ontario; Emmanuel International)

E                                 F#7  A                                     E
Behold, O Lord how much... do we withhold from you.
       E                            F#7  A                                             E
We say it's you that we love... But we don't act like that's true.
      B                     E                  B                      C#m
If God you can forgive,... and make our lives a light:
 A        B        C#m           A    B                       E
Take them, O Lord from us--   help us to live right.

How can we lie so much,
how can we live like the dead?
How can we always live our lives
without you as the head?
We give our lives to you, God,
use them as you would:
Crucify our hearts, O God,
Make them as they should.

You have created us, O God,
To you we do belong.
Take our lives, we pray, O God,
Make our lives a song:
A song that sings to you, Lord,
To you gives glory alone—
Let us sing for you, O God,
Until you take us home.

Consistency

Today I was working on an Excel spreadsheet, and I wanted to edit a cell. There are two common ways to do this—double-click the cell (which doesn't always work on my Mac) or highlight the cell and then make changes in the formula bar at the top. But since I was using the PC, I just hit the F2 key.

I started working with computers when we had a mainframe system at University. This was before the days of personal computers.Then, when we were working in Haiti, our mission had several PCs that we could use to help put together newsletters and publications. At one point, I was able to borrow a portable computer to use in our remote work location. It weighed about 40 pounds and had a 5 inch CRT screen. It boasted a 5-1/4 inch floppy drive and a small hard drive. It had Microsoft Word for DOS on it as well as a spreadsheet program called Lotus 123. I started using Lotus 123 to do personal finances, clinic finances and to keep track of data from some of our ag projects. In Lotus 123, the way to start editing a cell was by pressing the F2 key.

In 1993, we got our first personal computer—it was a small notebook with a 10MB hard drive and a 3-1/2 inch floppy drive. It came with Microsoft Winows 1.1 preinstalled. At this point, I started using Microsoft Excel instead of Lotus 123; fortunately I could easily migrate my Lotus 123 files to the new platform. One of the things I quickly discovered was that Excel borrowed the process of using the F2 key to edit a cell.

The early versions of Excel were quite limited. A lot of formulas that are standard now, one had to enter manually back then. It only supported one worksheet per file. Summarizing data from several worksheets onto one was not such a simple process as it is now. But one thing the Microsoft has kept all this time is the use of the F2 key to edit a cell.

As time progresses, a lot of things change—and these days things change so fast I can hardly keep up. So I appreciate these little things that stay the same in the midst of a universe in flux.

But more than this, I appreciate a God who doesn't change. If God were fickle, we would not know how to approach Him. What worked one day might not work the next. But, as the writer of Hebrews reminds us, Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8) If He loved us yesterday, He will love us tomorrow and He will love us in all eternity. Thanks be to God! His love is more certain than the F2 key.