A Personal Encounter Sparks Servanthood

Early august, 2022, I had the privilege of doing a presentation in Denver at the Rocky Mountain Symposium on Addictive Disorders, the Integration of Spirituality and Psychotherapy. The dialogue it stimulated was exciting, especially with the wide range of professionals attending. One counselor wanted to sit and talk. He had been the leader of a hard rock band, and I could tell his spiritual journey grew out of an agnostic perspective—I sensed he was reacting toward something. He talked about how many people have the language of spirituality but do not have profound experiences that match the language they use. In the presentation I had to share a quick story from my life. I was able to share my journey from embracing a spirituality my dad and the church handed me. I was baptized at age nine—I have never doubted the genuineness of that experience. Yet it was not until my late twenties that my salvation became meaningful in a lived-experienced faith.

This song is one of the “Hallel Psalms” that was used during Passover, following the meal—Psalm 113 & 114 preceded Passover.

Psalm 113

1Praise ye the LORD. Praise, O ye servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD.

2Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth and for evermore.

3From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD'S name is to be praised. (KJV)

1 Praise the LORD. Praise the LORD, you his servants;

praise the name of the LORD.

2 Let the name of the LORD be praised,

both now and forevermore.

3 From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets,

the name of the LORD is to be praised. (NIV)

I love the stories behind songs.

Hugh Wamble, as he faced death wrote a new verse to a song that reflected his experience; I believe it was It is Well with My Soul. Sadly, it is often hard to hear the words as people sing and we know little about the lived experience of the author. Too many people focus on the style of music or sing it out of context—void of personal experience. With contemporary Christian music, you hear a lot about people’s personal experience along with truths of God. It is Well with My Soul was written by Horatio Spafford after the tragic death of his son and properties due to the Great Chicago Fire in 1871. He then lost his 4 daughters in a shipwreck in 1873. He wrote the song as a testament to his faith and trust in God through the good and bad times of life. The song originally had only four verses. His daughter who was born after the tragedy wrote another verse—reflective of her experience and spiritual insight.

He wrote.

It is Well with My Soul

1.

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll;

Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,

It is well, it is well with my soul.

2. Tho' Satan should buffet, tho' trials should come,

Let this blest assurance control,

That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,

And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

3. My sin - oh, the bliss of this glorious tho't:

My sin, not in part, but the whole

Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

4. And, Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight,

The clouds be rolled back as a scroll,

The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend,

"Even so," it is well with my soul.

Refrain:

It is well (it is well)

with my soul (with my soul),

It is well, it is well with my soul.

Psalm 116 is a song of thanksgiving for deliverance. The Psalmist’s Song does not tell us the circumstance that caused his traumatic experience. He does tell us about his journey through perhaps the most difficult time of his life. The author is unknown; some hold he was perhaps David and the situation where Amnon, who was Absolom’s half-brother, who raped Tamar. Absalom took revenge and killed Amnon. The Psalmist would not want us to make light of the meaning of this beautiful song—it was his song. He had most likely been thinking about his situation for some time, about the nature of his deliverance he hoped for. Perhaps, the words were first uttered to God out in some lonely and remote place. I would think that as people heard his story-song their hearts were touched. I fear, unfortunately, after a period time it became a ritualistic part of Passover—they just sang it.

Each time I read this psalm my personal experience of crying out to the Lord finds identity with the psalmist. It is at that point that it becomes my song. Literally, as I hope you will see, I can identify in a personal way with each movement of the Psalm. Over 30 times the Psalmist uses personal pronouns, “I”, “me”, and “my.” Unfortunately, we don’t know the nature and extent of the Psalmist’s despair. However, the song lets us know what he did and what happened out of that lived experience. What I can do is place my story alongside each movement of this, “My”, song.