Story Behind the Song…
As worship leaders and songwriters, we want to take some time to tell the story of how the songs we write “come to be.” Our hope and prayer in this is that you would have a deeper understanding of the songs that we’re singing on Sunday morning and be able to respond to the Lord and sing along with us in a deeper and more meaningful way as we seek to glorify Him through our songs of praise.
Published: May 24, 2012
Holy Spirit, Come
The song “Fall on Us” began in July of 2009. I remember thinking a lot about the Holy Spirit and desiring the Lord to pour out His Spirit in a fresh way in our congregation. (I was probably reading through Acts or something like that at the time.)
Our congregation comes from a Presbyterian background. In the early days of Eternal, we had a lot of former Catholics in our congregation as well. Obviously there’s nothing wrong with that, but it should help paint the picture of what our worship gatherings might have looked like to an outsider. Now, not that any of these things are a clear, visible manifestation of the Holy Spirit dwelling in our midst, but it seemed like people were very uncomfortable showing any type of emotion in our worship services. You would never hear an “Amen” or see a hand raised during worship. In addition to that, I just sensed this resistance to talking about the Holy Spirit unless maybe it was on a high academic level. Skip often mentioned the “glass ceiling” in those days. It seemed as though there was this glass ceiling that we were just trying to break through, but we couldn’t.
Let me be clear though. I’m not saying that I simply wanted our worship gatherings to “look” different. You can “look” however you want (kinda like a Pharisee), but it’s the heart that the Lord is after. I’m simply saying that it’s not only okay, but it’s Biblical to worship in certain ways. Raising your hands, lifting your voice, singing loud, bowing down, dancing, etc… these are all forms of worship that we see in the Scriptures. They are forms of worship enabled by the Holy Spirit. They are a way to respond to who the Lord is and what He has done! …I guess that’s another message all in itself though.
As a worship leader, I had a strong desire to write a song about the Holy Spirit that simply proclaims TRUTH about Him and calls us as a congregation to respond to Him. If there’s anything I know about the body of Eternal, it’s that we LOVE Scripture. If we say or sing anything contradictory, you better believe someone is going to let me know about it in a loving way. (: I love that about our church! We hold the truth and authority of Scripture at the highest level.
Looking back on it now, it sounds so sneaky. “Hmm… people seem so hesitant to talk about the things of the Holy Spirit. Oh, I know! This is how I’ll get them… I’m going to ‘trick’ them by having them sing TRUTH about the Holy Spirit!” (: haha. That was smart… if I have to say so myself. (…joking! …kind of.) (:
The Song Writing Process:
So let me take you on a little journey through the creation of this song…
Sometimes I pick up my guitar first and other times I pick up my Bible first. I guess it depends on what the Lord is stirring in my heart. This time I went to the Bible and just started writing down things that I saw about the Holy Spirit in the Scriptures:
- The Holy Spirit is like a rush of wind. (Acts 2)
- Jesus breathes on them to receive the Spirit. (John 20:22)
- He’s represented through fire. (Matthew 3)
- We even see tongues of fire resting on people’s heads. (Acts 2)
(Meanwhile, I’m thinking: “Hmm… maybe I should hold off on that previous point for now. …not sure if they’re ready for that one.”) - Oooo! Check this… The Holy Spirit is the promised gift of the Father. (Acts 2)
- …Jesus talked about that previous point. (Luke 24:49)
- We live through the Spirit. (Galatians 5:16)
- His Spirit fills us. (Ephesians 5:18)
- He also falls on people at times. (Acts 11:15)
- We see outpourings of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2, again. Read it!)
- We see the Holy Spirit empowering people and strengthening them. (Ephesians 3:16)
That last passage in Ephesians got me thinking: What is the result of the Holy Spirit? What are some things in these verses that are happening? The answer: We see people filled with joy. We see victory over sin. We see boldness in witness. We see people clothed with power. We see people overwhelmed.
Hmm… okay. This is all really good stuff! I’m a little stuck though. I wonder what John Piper says about the Holy Spirit.
“The fundamental meaning of being filled with the Spirit is being filled with joy from God and overflows in song.” – J.P.
Okay, time to overflow in song. Let’s start off singing some of these things we see in Scripture…
“Holy Spirit, come, breathe on us. Send Your Fire, come. Let it rest on us.”
Yeah, let’s ask Him to come be with us and manifest Himself in the ways we see in Scripture. (Notice, I went for the “tongues of fire” reference after all. …but, only enough of a reference to freak out the people who have really read through Acts 2.)
Okay, now let’s declare this promise that Jesus made. First we ask, and then we declare His promise. Moses, David, and all the good guys in the Bible did this kind of thing. (: Hey, I mean… if they thought it was a good idea to remind God of his promise, I think I’ll go with that too…
“You promised us this gift of Your Spirit in us.”
Now, let’s ask Him to fill our lives! Like a prayer…
“Fall on us and fill us with the fullness of Your presence.”
Now, let’s repeat that chorus once to sink it in our hearts. You know what, then let’s repeat the whole song! (You know, just in case anyone missed it the first time. It is a new song after all.) (:
Okay, how to end it? We’ve asked Him to come. Declared His promise. Prayed for His fullness. Let’s be specific and ask Him to manifest the fullness of His presence in the ways that we see it act in Scripture…
“With joy and peace, and victory. In boldness and strength, Lord, move in me!”
We ask Him to fill us so that he can move in and through us in a way that would bring Him glory!
In Short…
The truth is that there is WAY more to the Holy Spirit than any one person can write in a song. The simple truth is that we NEED Him to fill our lives, and we need to walk in Him! He will bring freedom to our lives!
So I echo our pastor and encourage you: “Don’t let the word of God be rare in your life!” (See Samuel’s Call from May 13, 2012.) Seek Him and His truth. Spend time with Him. …and don’t be afraid to respond to Him in a way that is worthy of Him! Get alone with Him and ASK Him to fill you with the fullness of His Spirit. Apart from Him, you can do nothing! (John 15:5)
May He indeed fill you, and may you walk in the “fullness of His presence.”
Jesse Schlicher
Minister of Worship & Community
Eternal Church
