Hymn Story: Here I Am Lord By Dan Schutte With Excellent Choral Performance

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Good morning to all of our Readers around the world!

It has been a while since I posted a hymn story for you.

This hymn has become one of my favorites and it is based upon the words of Isaiah the prophet, about 800 years before Christ was born.

The refrain was inspired by the following text from Isaiah.

Isaiah 6:1-8  In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. 2  Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. 3  And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. 4  And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. 5  Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. 6  Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: 7  And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. 8  Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.  

Imagine being the prophet Isaiah who spent his life trying to call the wayward people of God back to repentance and faith in Jehovah.

God gave Isaiah a glimpse into His throne room in heaven and it was magnificent, and overwhelmed with the splendor or His majesty and glory.

After seeing the glory of God and teh mighty cherubim worshiping before Him, Isaiah found himself undone because he had a sin nature from Adam like we do.

God cleansed his prophet and then, Isaiah heard the Lord ask "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us"

This is a question about who will preach, teach and share the gospel of Christ with other people who do not yet know God.

This is our primary mission in life, Great Commission living and leading others to Christ by sharing the gospel with them.

Thus, Isaiah responded and said "Here am I LORD. Send me!" and this reminds us that we too, must respond as Isaiah did.

1 Samuel 3:7  Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, neither was the word of the LORD yet revealed unto him. 8  And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the LORD had called the child. 9  Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go, lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, LORD; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 10  And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth. 

Another scripture that inspired this hymn is from First Samuel.

Samuel was dedicated to the LORD by his mother and while he was still very young, the LORD kept calling to him one night.

Each time, Samuel ran to the high priest Eli, and asked what he needed from him.

Eli finally realized that the LORD was speaking to this young boy and told him to answer "Speak LORD, for thy servant heareth."

Samuel went on to be a mighty judge, a prophets, God's priest and anointer of kings.

His response to the calling of God is similar to Isaiah's 

This hymn was written in 1979 but its beauty and tender display of God's compassion for lost souls, links it with the very best of our hymns.

An unusual attribute of this hymn is the change in point of view that the singer makes between the stanzas and the refrain.

The stanzas speak from the perspective of God in the first person singular, while the refrain, though remaining in first person, is from the perspective of the singers of the hymn offering their lives to God.

Each stanza reflects a paradox.

The powerful God, creator of “sea and sky,” “snow and rain” and “wind and flame” is also the God who hears the “people cry,” bears the “people’s pain” and “tend[s] the poor and lame.”

This is a hymn of transformation.

God transforms the darkness into light in stanza one, melts “hearts of stone” with love in stanza two and nourishes the “poor and lame” with the “finest bread”—a clear Eucharistic reference.

Each stanza ends with the question, “Whom shall I send?”

Rhetorical questions are very common poetical devices in Christian hymnody, but this is not one of them. The refrain immediately offers the response, “Here I am, Lord.”

I hope that this hymn will speak to your heart as it has to mine, and that each one of us will be willing to say "Here I am, LORD, send me!"

Here are the lyrics.

Verse 1

I, the Lord of sea and sky
I have heard my people cry
All who dwell in dark and sin
My hand will save

Refrain:
Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night
I will go, Lord, if you lead me
I will hold your people in my heart

Verse 2
I, who made the stars of night
I will make their darkness bright
Who will bear my light to them?
Whom shall I send?

Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night
I will go, Lord, if you lead me
I will hold your people in my heart

Verse 3
I, the Lord of snow and rain
I have borne my people's pain
I have wept for love of them
They turn away.

Refrain.


The Luther College Cathedral Choir




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