lord over me

(click here to listen this song)

How unworthy am I in Your presence
Hands are dirty, heart full of sin
How do I look through eyes made for perfection
I have never felt such compassion

You call me beautiful
You call me loved

And I fall down at Your feet
Proclaiming You merciful and holy
And I fall down at Your feet
Anointing You worthy as Lord over me

I have never felt such compassion
How unworthy, I bow before You
Here's my every desire and possesion
All I have is the least that You're due

I wrote this song from the first-person perspective of the sinful woman who fell at Jesus' feet in Luke 7. And when I first wrote it, the words to the chorus were:

And my tears fall at Your feet
Proclaiming You merciful and holy
And my tears at Your feet
Anointing You worthy as Lord over me

And actually, the song makes more sense and remains closer to the story in Luke with the original lyrics. But I changed it because I felt like the current chorus is more universal and easier for your average congregant to grab onto and make his/her own. And I don't believe that changing it severed the song from the story.

And that was important, because that story is one of my favorite stories in the bible.

Basically, Jesus was dining at a Pharisee's house one night. Back before tv, radio or the daily newspaper, when an important person in the community invited another important person over for dinner, it was not uncommon for large crowds to gather outside the house and listen in to the conversation. So, for that woman to be in attendance that night was not unusual.

However, her response to seeing Jesus was.

Apparently she had had a previous encounter with Jesus and knew that He was special. We don't know what the encounter consisted of...but she had obviously been shaken to the core by the words or deeds of the Man she was now watching from afar.

And in seeing Him again...she snapped.

She broke out from the crowd and drew unwanted attention to herself by running towards Christ. Certainly the people in the crowd knew this woman...or at least her reputation. They would have found it embarrassing and completely inappropriate for her to approach a Pharisee, let alone whoever this Jesus guy might be.

How unbelievably humbling would it be to come before a Man who you know is privy to every horrible thing you have ever done? How dirty would you feel knowing that these eyes, that were made to gaze upon the splendor and perfection of the inner sanctuaries of heaven, now fell upon you, in all your filth and despair? How pathetic would you feel having nothing with which to clean the feet of this holy Man, except your salty tears and matted hair?

And then...how would it feel for Him to look at you, and despite all of the above, call you beautiful and loved?

Well...that'd probably be enough for you to pour out everything that used to be of worth to you and call this Man: Lord and Christ.