Let There Be Wonder by Matt RedmanSample

 SEND ME LORD

“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’” Isaiah 6:8 NIV

“Meet me”. “Comfort me”. “Draw near to me”. These kinds of phrases are very familiar to us when it comes to the worship songs we sing these days. Each can be defended biblically, and each echoes an element of what it means to have a genuine encounter with the Living God. And yet, on their own, they are not enough. They are not the whole picture. If they were to remain in isolation they might perhaps speak of a worship which is self-serving and self-centred - instead of one which is God-serving and God-centred. Indeed, as we dive deep into scripture, other phrases start to come to the fore too – for example in Isaiah chapter 6:

“Woe is me….”

“Send me…”

Yes, more ‘me’ phrases – but altogether different ones. Here in the presence of a holy God, Isaiah is not being lifted up, but instead He is being brought to His knees. And He is not seeking to me soothed, but instead to be sent. It seems to me these elements of confession, repentance and submission are sometimes too far from our lips in our modern day worship expressions.  The song ‘Send me Lord’ is a little attempt to walk in that direction. There comes a time in the presence of God where we become acutely aware of just how holy He is, and the in light of that holiness, how far we still have to go:

I’m undone by Your holiness

In the light of Your holiness

I’m undone by Your holiness

Send me Lord

Letting go of my selfishness

I repent of my selfishness

Letting go of my selfishness

Send me Lord.

And of course, at the end of the day the singing is the easy part – living the lyrics we sing is by far the tougher challenge. But when we manage to do so, we complete the integrity of all of our musical offerings, and bring to God the meaningful sacrifice of praise that He is ultimately looking for. Worship will always contain an element of God lifting us up, but it must also contain an element of us laying our lives down. In the words of the final verse of this song:

Let my life be the evidence

Every breath be the evidence

Let my life be the evidence

Send me Lord