Lord to Me

Backstory

Inspiration While Singing

Previously in 2020, just after Resurrection Sunday, I remember singing the classic hymn “Great is Thy Faithfulness’ in church. Soon I began hearing this new rendition and arrangement in my brain. In any case, God is at it again. Afterwards when I returned home, as I pulled out my Hymnal to figure out how this was all going to come together, I noticed these reference Scriptures (click on the links to read them):

• • Lamentations 3:22-23
  • Psalm 57:9-11,
  • Psalm145:8, 21

So, I looked them up. Likewise, I really liked what these scriptures said and decided to use them to craft the 2nd verse in the song. After all I was going in a completely different direction that Thomas Chisholm.

About the Hymn Great is Thy Faithfulness

Given these points, let me introduce to the author of this tried and true classic Thomas Chisholm. Overall Chisholm wrote over 1,200 sacred materials in the form of poems and songs. Meanwhile, in 1923 he penned the words to this hymn and his friend William Runyan a fellow Methodist minister put the words to music. Later, as the result of the popularity of this hymn it was often used during the famous Billy Graham crusades.

Born in 1866, Thomas Obadiah Chisolm was often ill and fragile. As a result his early adult life was difficult. Moreover, during the times that Thomas was well enough to work, he pushed himself very hard working long hours and odd jobs to make ends meet. Notably at the age of 27, he gave his life to Christ and found great comfort in God’s word. In fact, Lamentations 3:22-23, was one of his all time favorite scriptures.

After the completion of “Great is Thy Faithfulness” by Chisholm and Runyan, a Professor at the Moody Bible Institute began to use the song in chapel services. Furthermore the song ultimately became the unofficial theme song of the college. Later in 1945, George Beverly Shea brought it to the masses during Billy Graham’s crusades. In addition to his 1200+ writings, Chisolm also wrote “O To Be Like Thee,” and “Living For Jesus.” Although Thomas started life ill he lived to see the age of 94 and was laid to rest in 1960.

Production Notes

To summarize at the beginning of the production I was struggling with what to call the song. Do I keep the original name or come up with a different title. Because the beginning was so different from the rest of the song I decided to go with “Lord to Me,” instead of the original lyric “Lord unto me.” As a result of my modifications the lyrics were more personal and brought the verbiage into this era updating the old English wording.

During the beginning of the song I produced a very soulful reflection and adaptation of verse one. Instead of singing in the original tonality I chose to open the song in a Jazz Bebop Minor tonality. In addition, for the melody I went with the alto harmonic part instead of the lead melody. As you can imagine, at first I felt like I was messing with a sacred cow. However, I really liked production. As a result and balanced against the rest of songs on the album “Lord to Me” is not the same as anything else on the project. 

4 Moods

In this situation it is safe to say this song breaks all the rules. Once the first verse ended the song immediately transitions into an upbeat Gospel tempo. Until now the lyrics mostly reflected the original hymn but in verse two it was time to introduce the lyrics crafted from the scriptures I found. Despite the change from slow to fast, the chorus is so fun, exhilarating as the vocals proclaim “Great is Your Faithfulness,” in a new, different melody. In contrast the bridge reverts to the a traditional segment of the original Hymn, changes keys, has a sassy, soulful vamp and ends on a super high Soprano note. As a result, by the time the production was complete I realized there are four different moods blended in this one song. Indeed you will not be bored on this song. Nevertheless I have my work cut out for me if I am going to keep up with the faithful hymn writers of old.

Above all, I truly had a lot of fun producing this song. Furthermore the complex rhythms, chords, and instrumentation challenged me and took my capability to a new level. Admittedly this song was one of my hardest to produce however it is also incredibly rewarding to me every time I listen to it. After all, it is indeed bigger than me and the world now has one more song in their tool kit to proclaim that God is Great and Great is His Faithfulness.

Lord to Me, from the Album Bigger Than Me © 2021 Judith Baker (ASCAP) | Publisher LeBaker Music (ASCAP) | Music, Lyrics, Background Vocals, Production and Sound Recording by Judith Baker | All Rights Reserved