Oh to live more to you, O Lord For you have redeemed my soul Oh to live more to you, O Lord I was saved to do your will Chorus Everyday I live by mercy Everyday I live by grace Working out what you’ve done for me At the cross, my debt erased

Update: pasted lyrics & recording inline below. How do you endure suffering, when God gives no answer? This song attempts to capture the dark emotions and unsettling questions of such times. But even in the depths of despair, the lament exercises faith by continuing to cry out to God. 4/4, 65bpm Here's the outline: - Verse 1 - God, I am in great distress - Verse 2 - God, You have caused all my suffering - Chorus - God, I cry to You. How can any good come from this? - Verse 3 - God, if You don't save me, I will die - Verse 4 - God, why have you afflicted me? Lyrics: V1 My soul is full of trouble, my life draws near Sheol. O God of my salvation to You I raise my cry. I am a man without strength like one poured out to death, like those whom You remember no more. V2 My soul is full of anger, I suffer by Your plan. By friends I am forsaken, You've taken them from me. Your waves have overwhelmed me, Your wrath I can't escape. You've shut me in behind and before. Chorus Let my pray'r come to You, incline Your ear, Lord, to my cry. Ev'ry day I call upon You, O God! Is Your love known in the grave, or Your wonders in the dark? Ev'ry night I call upon You, O God. V3 My soul is full of anguish, my eyes are dim with grief. God, when will You deliver and lift me from the pit? How can Your faithfulness, Lord, be told by one destroyed? Or Your goodness by those abandoned? V4 My soul is full of questions, You've put me in the dark. I seek but can not find You, have You not heard my cries? Why do You hide Your face, God and cast my soul away? Oh, why must I endure affliction? Final tag Ev'ry night I seek Your mercy Ev'ry day I seek Your love Ev'ry night I call upon You, O God.

I was thinking about how one of the fruits of the Spirit is joy, and how I long for joy to be present through life's uncertainty and pain. -I sang "loose" (as in "release") since it's a nice active verb, but something about it isn't sitting right - does it sound too demanding? Too easily confused with "lose"? 😅 -Seemed like it needed a refrain as a break from all the words, but I'm not sure about it... -I've tried several different melodies for this thing and am still not sure! I think I accidentally recycled a bit of melody from my last song...help! -I appreciate help with anything else you notice! Loose (Let/May?) your joy, O Holy Spirit, Like (Be?) a never-ending stream Through our brightest days of blessing And our darkest nights of pain, Flowing, steady, through our deserts Of anxiety and doubt; Lord, refresh us through our journey On this hard and holy ground. In the shadows of unknowing, In the shifting of the sands, When our lonely path is hidden And we cannot find/feel your hand, Let your fountains of rejoicing Sweeten even every fall, When we find our every misstep Fit your purpose all along. Placeholder: Spirit, loose your joy Spirit, loose your joy Through the fire of our trials Let it mingle with our tears, Through (For) the sting of loss and sorrow And the ache of wasted years Nothing can undo the promise (Cannot burn away the promise) Sealed with Jesus’ precious blood: All our grief will turn to gladness In an/your everlasting flood. Spirit, loose your joy...

I have been experimenting with melodies lately. Here is one in A from a couple weeks ago that stuck with me, but I have not written any lyrics for. Link to score and recording at 82bpm. https://nextcloud.hutchens.cloud/s/iXHaQQtPdEQ9mCP

When I studied jazz improvisation in college, one thing I learned is that creativity thrives in boundaries. "Do anything you want" is a creativity killer. BUT "You get one note to play over a 12-bar blues form" forces you to get creative. You still have things like dynamics, length, articulation, rhythms and space to play with. AND it actually frees you up to experiment within those boundaries. So for this month I wanted to give us a couple boundaries. I'll explain below. One thing I like to do on occasion is look to see what songs are being most widely used by churches on CCLI's SongSelect. Now, of course that's not a measurement of a song's worth or value or usefulness, but it does show what songs worship leaders are choosing to use the most (at least among those that do reporting.) I think there's a lot to be learned as we notice patterns or similarities of the songs. What are the song forms, melodic structures, themes, even tempo and time signature. Ultimately all those things are there to serve a purpose for the content of the song to be a vehicle for God's people to worship and sing to Him. So for this month I took a look and here are the title, time signature and tempo of the top 5 songs today: 1) Goodness of God - 4/4 | BPM - 63 2) Holy Forever - 4/4 | BPM - 72 3) Gratitude - 6/8 | BPM 104 4) Trust in God - 6/8 | BPM 148 5) Great Are You Lord - 6/8 | BPM 144 Your May Challenge - write a song in either 4/4 with bpm between 63 and 72 OR write a song in 6/8 bpm between 104 and 148 (eighth note) You have freedom to experiment within those boundaries. Can't wait to hear what we all come up with!