In Season: Near The Heart of God

Near The Heart of God is the first track of the 2016 album In Season, a collection of original Gospel Americana songs inspired by Psalms from the Hebrew Bible.  Most of the songs were written with community singing in mind and grew organically as shared expressions.

There’s a time of peace. There’s a time of rest.

There’s a time of consolation near the heart of God.

There’s a time of joy. There’s a time to dance.

There’s a time of celebration near the heart of God.

CHORUS: ——————————————————————————–
Jesus, you have borne our burden, shown the love of God’s devotion.
You have brought us to the father. Help us love you and each other.

You have held us in your mercy. You have brought us near the heart of God.

  —————————————————————————————–

There’s a time of love. There’s a time of grace.

There’s a time of sacrifice near the heart of God.

FINAL CHORUS:

Jesus by your gentle whisper, help us love our brother, sister.

Now then, as our cups brim over ever bring us near the heart of God.

---

Song perspective: 

This song was intended to stand in contrast to the self-centered “Oh how I love God” songs that the Church is often infatuated with. It is obviously less verbatim from a particular psalm than coaxed out by many of them (34, 73, 94, most notably Psalm 23).  Obviously, I’ve filtered those psalms through a particular lens (Jesus) and perhaps it sets the stage for the rest of the album.  It’s not ignorant of the old hymn, Near To The Heart of God, either. That song was born from a place of loss and sorrow and written to bring comfort.  This song was born from a subculture too concerned with comfort and self-perpetuation.  It tries to rediscover vision and gently till a small patch of hard ground in hopes that a new season could bloom for the Christian Church.

---

Lyric video with chords: