The Story Behind the Song
Last week’s Monday Message began with the contention that Isaac Watts and Charles Wesley were the two men who had had the greatest impact on Baptists and our music in the eighteenth century. It’s interesting to note that both were British, and neither was a Baptist.
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Currently, there are two more people from the United Kingdom who are having a pronounced influence on our music in worship. Keith and Kristyn Getty are natives of Northern Ireland and split time between there and Nashville. The husband and wife team write, often in collaboration with others, modern hymns such as “In Christ Alone.” That song was created in 2002 with words and music by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend.
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In 2013, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) conducted a national survey to discover the UK’s Top 100 Hymns. Tens of thousands of people responded. Although having existed for only 11 years, “In Christ Alone” was voted the #2 song in the land (#1 was “How Great Thou Art”), outpacing such classics as “Amazing Grace” (#16), “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” (#18) and “To God Be the Glory” (#21). When the survey was repeated six years later, “In Christ Alone” had slipped…all the way to third place. CCLI, the organization that tracks which songs are being employed in churches these days, estimates that 40 to 50 million people sing it in worship each year.
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Keith Getty and Stuart Townend also co-wrote “My Heart Is Filled with Thankfulness” in 2003. (Click https://store.gettymusic.com/…/my-heart-is-filled-with…/ to read the lyrics and the story behind the song and to hear Kristyn sing while Keith accompanies her on piano, or click https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAA-jlK97YE to hear Keith talk about the importance of thanksgiving and then play the song.) “My Heart Is Filled with Thankfulness” holds a special place in the Getty family—it was part of Keith and Kristyn’s wedding, and she sang it to each of their daughter’s the day they were born.
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Note the verb tenses in this song of gratitude. The first stanza draws our attention backwards. It’s filled with past tense verbs: bore, plumbed, gave, crushed, clothed, wrote. We’re reminded to give thanks for the initial aspect of salvation, justification, that Jesus has already accomplished on our behalf—sacrificing himself on the cross to pay the price for our sin so that we can stand in a right relationship before God.
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The second stanza causes us to look at our current times as it encourages us to be grateful “to Him who walks beside” us in the here and now. The verbs are present tense—walks, floods, causes—and continuing—sustaining, crowning. We should be thankful for the ongoing presence of Jesus in our lives as he carries on the process of sanctification of his followers.
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In the last stanza, our eyes look upward and forward. We’re reminded that God is on his throne and that Heaven awaits those who have placed their faith in Jesus. The final, culminating facet of salvation, glorification, will occur when believers finish their time on earth, either through death or by the return of Jesus. Until that day, let’s join with myriad Christians around the globe who profess “I will give my life, my all, to love and follow Him.”
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Anastasia Music 