1. |
Where Were You
03:45
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Where Were You
Based on Genesis 1:1-2; Job 38:4-7; Isaiah 45:18
O where were you when I laid out earth’s foundations?
Apprise me of all your thoughts can employ.
When morning stars sang together in jubilation,
And the sons of God shouted for joy.
This is the major revelation;
From the beginning of the heavens and the earth we see
Though chaos plagued the old creation,
It’s conquered by constructive and divine economy.
He Who formed and established earth and made it
Created nothing empty or vain.
There’s no one else but the Lord of all creation,
And nothing higher than his purpose to attain.
This is the major revelation;
From the beginning of the heavens and the earth we see
Though chaos plagued the old creation,
It’s conquered by constructive and divine economy.
Tell me if you know.
O where were you?
Tell me if you know.
O where were you?
Where were you when I laid out earth’s foundations?
Apprise me of all your thoughts can employ.
When morning stars sang together in jubilation,
And the sons of God shouted for joy.
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2. |
Abraham's Song
05:27
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Abraham’s Song
Based on Genesis 12-13; Hebrews 11:8-19
Go from your land to a land that I will show;
And to all those who would bless you I will bless;
And to all those who would curse you, know that they will then be cursed;
You’re the blessing of the families of the earth.
When we set out from Haran I was seventy five;
We left our homeland never to return.
And I journeyed toward the mountain, pitched my tent above the plain;
Built an altar and I called upon his name.
If I die in faith to realize
All God’s promises unsent,
My confession is I live the life
Of the altar and the tent.
In my journey we came to a place my tent had been;
Though the tent had moved the altar still remained.
With my brother’s son along the way a conflict did arise.
How can we as brothers live with any strife?
If you take the left, I’ll take the right;
Choice is not for what my life is meant.
My confession is I live the life
Of the altar and the tent.
Lift up your eyes, look from where you stand;
To the north and south and west and toward the east.
Rise up and walk throughout this land;
All it’s length and breadth I’ll give you and your seed.
If I long for what I’ve left behind,
How could my heart be content?
Shame is not in those who live the life
Of the altar and the tent.
In my fullness of age, God gave me a son;
Twas the only heav’nly promise I received.
Yet the altar still awaited since one’s faith is never done
Only God supplies the boldness to believe.
If by faith I never compromise
Sage design and providence,
God my portion would sustain my life
Of the altar and the tent.
If I long for what I’ve left behind,
How could my heart be content?
Shame is not in those who live the life
Of the altar and the tent.
If you take the left, I’ll take the right;
Choice is not for what my life is meant.
My confession is I live the life
Of the altar and the tent.
Go from your land to a land that I will show.
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3. |
Isaac's Song
04:46
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Isaac’s Song
Based on Genesis 26
Dig up the wells my father made;
Call them by the same names.
His portion was a life of faith;
Mine, inheriting grace.
Stake out the camp within the dell;
There we’ll find a springing well.
Theirs is the claim that leads to strife;
Mine, inheriting life.
Richer and great I grew to be;
Such gave rise to enmity.
Destined for joy, yet this I know;
God will not let me go.
Though wells availed in all the land,
Still I came to doubt my stand.
Blessings divine can ne’er replace
God’s appearing in grace.
I, in Beersheba, will remain,
Build an altar, call his name;
Draw from the well that flows so free
By the tamarisk tree.
Dig up the wells my father made;
Call them by the same names.
His portion was a life of faith;
Mine, inheriting grace.
Stake out the camp within the dell;
There we’ll find a springing well.
Theirs is the claim that leads to strife;
Mine, inheriting life.
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4. |
Jacob's Song
05:29
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Jacob’s Song
Based on Genesis 25-48
I was known as a quiet man;
Made my dwelling in tents;
Second of sons, known as the one,
Struggling without relent.
Blessing gained by supplanting ways,
Spurred the fury of Edom’s
Anger to slay; I fled away;
Yet dreams awaited from God.
The God whom my fathers walked with,
The Angel who has redeemed me,
The One who sustained me when
All I could do was pray;
Lord You’re the One I walk with,
You’re the One Who redeemed me,
You are the God Who shepherded me
All my life to this day.
Exiled, sojourning with no home;
Stone for my head to rest;
A vision I saw, a ladder so tall,
Through which Earth would be blessed.
Years I labored for one I loved,
Only to be deceived;
Unrighteousness led me in distress;
God of Bethel to see.
The God whom my fathers walked with,
The Angel who has redeemed me,
The One who sustained me when
All I could do was pray;
Lord You’re the One I walk with,
You’re the One Who redeemed me,
You are the God Who shepherded me,
All my life to this day.
How I prayed for deliverance
From him who would pursue.
I, in that place, saw God face to face;
There my strength was subdued.
Through the loss of the ones I loved,
Emptied now I confess,
Few were my days, evil my ways;
Now with fullness I bless.
The God whom my fathers walked with,
The Angel who has redeemed me,
The One who sustained me when
All I could do was pray.
Lord You’re the One I walk with,
You’re the One Who redeemed me,
You are the God Who shepherded me
All my life to this day.
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5. |
Rachel
04:33
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Rachel
Based on Genesis 35:16-20
The way from bethel should have been most joyous;
Our second child would come forth anytime.
The labor that befell was hardest;
Don’t be afraid for you brought forth a son thereby;
As my natural choice would die.
The sun that sets and rises every morning;
It never holds on to it's former light.
So your soul which dims and fades away,
Will yield its light to him who’s born from you to shine;
As my natural choice would die.
Rachel don’t fear, your sorrow weighs, though not withstanding.
Our son shall not be Benoni.
Letting go--it proves to be the deepest dealing.
Our gain required a last goodbye,
As my natural choice would die;
As my natural choice would die.
The pillar on your grave abides unto this day;
A testimony of both death and life.
And though the path we tread remains unchanged,
It’s sojourners are ne’er the same and such as I;
As my natural choice would die;
As my natural choice would die.
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6. |
Ruth's Redemption
04:39
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Ruth's Redemption
Based on Ruth 1-4
Rest had vanished from your former home;
Gone was the life that you knew;
Hopeless and helpless, your trust had come
To a God you would choose.
Gleaning in the fields of grain you were found,
Refuged under God’s great wings;
Secretly you came in and there laid down;
Selfless kindness did you bring.
All you lost, I will redeem;
Your kindness I have esteemed;
Stay and you will receive
My compassion toward you.
Your rest shall ever be
My compassion for you.
All that you’ve done, my attention caught;
How you left your land of birth;
Came to a people you kneweth not;
God shall recompense your worth.
All you lost, I will redeem;
Your kindness I have esteemed;
Stay and you will receive
My compassion toward you.
Your rest shall ever be
My compassion for you.
May Jehovah make you as the ones
Who built the house of Israel.
May our house be as the chosen son’s;
Bringing in Emmanuel.
All you lost, I will redeem;
Your kindness I have esteemed;
Stay and you will receive
My compassion toward you.
Your rest shall ever be
My compassion for you.
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7. |
The Birthright
04:46
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The Birthright
Based on Genesis 25; Romans 9; Hebrews 12
Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated;
Is there unrighteousness with God?
The lesser would be served by the greater,
And his portion would allot;
Blessed privilege lost, rooted in profaneness,
Breeded tears of deep regret.
Time will tell the cost of what we forfeit,
Warn us Lord, lest we forget;
The birthright I would not despise,
No matter what the earthly prize;
For God is seeking those who honor it.
It’s not of him who wills nor runs,
But His mercy on the one
Whom He selected by his sovereignty.
Every man is sold under sin’s slavery;
Stolen is our joy and peace.
How can we be bold with condemnation?
Who will grant us full release?
Jubilee has come, freedom from oppression;
Bonds are broken, blind have sight.
The all-inclusive One is now our portion;
We’ve come back to claim our right;
The birthright I would not despise,
No matter what the earthly prize;
For God is seeking those who come back to it.
It’s not of him who wills nor runs,
But His mercy on the one
Whom He selected by his sovereignty.
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8. |
Moriah
04:21
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Moriah
Based on Genesis 21-22; Hebrews 11:8-19
Endless blessings ever receiving
All to realize just by believing
Free to receive, freely we give.
Offering only what is not costly
Ne’er could appease His asking so softly
Of the things most dear to us..
Of his chosen, God had spoken;
Visitation was His token;
Sarah would conceive a son.
And at the time of trial when I’m called could I not say, here am I.
The vision seen at Moriah gave me strength to have the faith–He provides.
Tested was the one counted faithful;
Tested by the One who is able
To raise men up from the dead.
Take your son, your only begotten;
Whom you love, I have not forgotten
That he is the promised seed.
Rise up early in the morning;
At Moriah the burnt offering
Will your only son be to Me.
And at the time of trial when I’m called could I not say, here am I.
The vision seen at Moriah gave me strength to have the faith—He provides.
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9. |
The Pearl
04:37
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The Pearl
Based on Revelation 21:21
My Savior’s wound met on the cross inflicted by my sin,
Became the stripes whose healing power secreted life within.
The balm embracing the contrite heart is scarce met in the world;
Of the grains of sand found in the sea, only from the wound comes forth the pearl.
He came not for the whole in heart but for those who are ill;
Through broken sinners touched by grace is ministry fulfilled.
Those mended share in the mending art–a rare trade in the world;
Of the grains of sand found in the sea, only from the wound comes forth the pearl.
Through his great love the wound of Christ a prison thus became;
At home imprisoned in his wound I’d ever thus remain.
To death conformed is a sacred lot, though foreign to the world;
Of the grains of sand found in the sea, only from the wound comes forth the pearl.
To know Christ’s resurrection power and suffering’s fellowship,
Supply abundant is required; by Spirit so equipped.
No mortal frame can crucify the self, sin, nor the world,
Of the grains of sand found in the sea, only from the wound comes forth the pearl.
Jerusalem has an entry port unknown among this world;
Of the grains of sand found in the sea, only from the wound comes forth the pearl.
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10. |
Severed from This Age
04:47
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Severed from This Age
Based on Genesis 6-9; Philippians 2:12-15; Colossians 1:20; 1 Peter 3:20; 2 Peter 2:5; Hebrews 11:7
Wicked is the heart and the thoughts are so evil, I repent
On my part that I sought to make man, and my
Spirit will not strive with them any longer
Lest wickedness continue forever.
But Noah was a man in the sight of Jehovah who found grace
For his stand, with a life that would change the age;
Shining in a godless generation
Working out with fear his salvation.
Severed from this age and its lure
Let Jehovah shut the door.
His salvation here we find
We will leave this age behind.
Violence fills the earth and the end of all flesh has come.
Because of its dearth of righteousness, I do bring the flood.
Make yourself an ark for preservation
Reconciling all of creation.
Severed from this age and its lure
Let Jehovah shut the door.
His salvation here we find
We will leave this age behind.
From the day the springs from above coalesced
Until the wings of the dove found their rest, never to return,
Eight souls brought safely through by water
Passed through the flood and earth’s slaughter.
Severed from this age and its lure
Let Jehovah shut the door.
His salvation here we find
We will leave this age behind.
As the earth remains, winter’s ice, summer’s heat, and harvest time;
Seed time’s rain, day and night shall not cease; and my
Bow is for a covenant forever;
And I look upon it to remember.
Severed from this age and its lure
Let Jehovah shut the door.
His salvation here we find
We will leave this age behind.
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11. |
Joseph's Dreams
04:44
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Joseph's Dreams
Based on Genesis 37-41; 2 Corinthians 4:13
Heavenly dreams came at the time of my life
When I thought I knew what was right.
Visions of sheaves of life;
Sun and moon and stars of light;
Stars of light.
Words that we say with the best intention
Fall prey to sin's deception.
Yet revealed is how God views such ones
As his living, shining sons;
Shining sons.
And when my hope begins to fade away from me;
And dreams aren’t fulfilled right away as it would seem;
Such visions would sustain my faith so I could be
In perfect peace and governed by the heavenly dreams.
Imprisoned within the walls of uncertainty;
In this dungeon dreams never cease.
I believe, therefore I speak
Not what I feel but what I see;
What I see.
And when my hope begins to fade away from me;
And dreams aren’t fulfilled right away as it would seem;
Such visions would sustain my faith so I could be
In perfect peace and governed by the heavenly dreams.
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12. |
God Meant It for Good
05:45
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God Meant It for Good
Based on Genesis 37-50
Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his other sons,
He loved him as the son of his old age;
And by his love he made for him a coat of many colors;
But through envy, animosity had fueled his other sons’ rage.
Then Joseph had a dream one night and told it to his brothers;
Your sheaves had gathered round and bowed to mine;
And still another dream I had the sun, the moon, and stars
Bowed down to me, yet all could see that Joseph knew not why.
His brothers grew in jealousy, his father contained all he could;
Father contained all he could
What they meant for evil, God meant it for good.
Then Israel told Joseph, come, I’ll send you to your brothers;
His coat of many colors then they stripped;
Let’s see what comes of this master of all dreams with no one to deliver;
His life they spared, but without care they threw him in the pit.
They spied a band of Ishmaelites en route to Egypt going down;
They lifted up devising eyes to gaze.
We’ll sell him to the Ishmaelites, and dip his color coat in blood.
His father saw, couldn’t bear it all, and mourned for many days.
Now Jacob couldn’t understand, what God intended that he would;
God intended that he would
What they meant for evil, God meant it for good.
Jacob had to now withstand such pain he never knew he could;
Pain he never knew he could
But what was meant for evil, God meant it for good.
When dreams of fate unto him came, Joseph confided in his God;
With wisdom unsurpassed, by God he reigned.
His storehouse blessed the earth with grain ‘midst famine and amidst affliction.
On Israel distress befell, to Egypt down they came.
Recalling dreams he’d dreamt of them he saw and recognized his brothers;
They pleaded humbly recognizing not.
Through tests of love their hearts declared their guilt and love unto their father;
Cried he fervidly, I am Joseph! He who sent me here was God.
His brothers couldn’t understand, what Joseph now understood;
Joseph now he understood
What they meant for evil, God meant it for good.
It’s often hard to understand, far more be misunderstood,
Far more be misunderstood
What is meant for evil, God meant it for good.
Although intent be evil, God meant it for good.
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Chords of a Man Centerville, Ohio
Chords of a Man is a husband and wife duo comprised of Leslie Fritz and Matthew David Fritz. Focusing on Biblical themes,
they write and produce illustrative original songs that draw upon deep scripture passages.
Their complimentary voices and pristine 2-part harmonies form the hallmark of their enchanting sound and diverse, Americana style musical arrangements.
... more
Chords of a Man recommends:
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