{"id":5756,"date":"2023-04-01T23:24:26","date_gmt":"2023-04-01T23:24:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mjyoung.net\/weblog\/?p=5756"},"modified":"2023-05-01T19:05:55","modified_gmt":"2023-05-01T19:05:55","slug":"468-the-song-present-your-bodies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.mjyoung.net\/weblog\/468-the-song-present-your-bodies\/","title":{"rendered":"468: The Song “Present Your Bodies”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This is mark Joseph “young”<\/em> blog entry #468, on the subject of The Song “Present Your Bodies”<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Identifying when I wrote this song is a bit tricky, but I have a few clues.<\/p>\n\n\n

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In May or June of 1975, shortly after The Last Psalm played its last concert and just before I was invited to join Jacob’s Well, I wrote a song called Walkin’<\/em>; that song is slated for next month, simply by a sort of random roll, but it is relevant here, because this song is like that one in structural ways of which I was always aware–indeed, I think they were intentional–but which might not be obvious to the casual listener.  Unfortunately, you won’t be able to hear the other song until next month, unless of course you’ve arrived late, in which case the link to it should be at the bottom of this page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The similarities are related to the fact that the “bridge” is marked by a significant key change which changes the feel of the music, and it is repeated such that it launches out of both the chorus and the verse.  Both songs have three verses, multiple repetitions of a chorus, and as mentioned a repeated bridge.  It was a formula that worked perhaps better for the other song than it did for this one, and I rarely sang it for that reason; it was lengthy and repetitious, and I was never certain it held the attention of the audience.  I rarely sang the other, either, but that was for different reasons to be addressed next month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I suppose the similarities end there.  This song is considerably slower and more somber than the other, and its power comes from a slow drive and potent words.  The lyrics are entirely quoted or paraphrased from scripture in this song, while that one is more a narration of a poetic salvation message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My other major clue is that in the summer of 1977 I was using a small studio at Gordon College to record a few songs (those tapes, alas, long lost), and this was one of them.  That gives me a window during which this was created.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is another vocals-over-midi-instruments<\/a> recording.  Again its simplicity helps support a decent recording, although there is a technical hiccough in the midi at one point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Present Your Bodies<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So here are the lyrics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Brethren, I beseech you by the mercies of God,
Present your bodies a living sacrifice.
Set aside the sin that oh, so easily besets you.
Forget the past, and press on toward the prize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walk in a manner worthy of the Lord
With all humility, with gentleness,
With patience.
Always be diligent in striving to preseve your unity
In peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brethren, I beseech you by the mercies of God,
Present your bodies a living sacrifice.
Set aside the sin that oh, so easily besets you.
Forget the past, and press on toward the prize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Count it joy when you suffer for the Lord,
And thank Him that He finds you worthy
To serve Him.
He will reward those who continue praising through their suffering
For Him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When He comes back again
He will repay
Each one according to his deeds.
When you are serving Him
Day after day,
He will provide for all your needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brethren, I beseech you by the mercies of God,
Present your bodies a living sacrifice.
Set aside the sin that oh, so easily besets you.
Forget the past, and press on toward the prize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Place your whole life solely in His hands.
He’s working all things for His glory
And our good.
He’ll finish ev’ryone in whom He has begun salvation.
Amen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brethren, I beseech you by the mercies of God,
Present your bodies a living sacrifice.
Set aside the sin that oh, so easily besets you.
Forget the past, and press on toward the prize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When He comes back again
He will repay
Each one according to his deeds.
When you are serving Him
Day after day,
He will provide for all your needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He’ll finish ev’ryone in whom He has begun salvation.
Amen.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

*****<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Previous web log song posts:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#301:  The Song “Holocaust”<\/a><\/em> | #307:  The Song “Time Bomb”<\/a><\/em> | #311:  The Song “Passing Through the Portal”<\/a><\/em> | #314:  The Song “Walkin’ In the Woods”<\/a><\/em> | #317:  The Song “That’s When I’ll Believe”<\/a><\/em> | #320:  The Song “Free”<\/a><\/em> | #322:  The Song “Voices”<\/a><\/em> | #326:  The Song “Mountain, Mountain”<\/a><\/em> | #328:  The Song “Still Small Voice”<\/a><\/em> | #334:  The Song “Convinced”<\/a><\/em> | #337:  The Song “Selfish Love”<\/a><\/em> | #340:  The Song “A Man Like Paul”<\/a><\/em> | #341:  The Song “Joined Together”<\/a><\/em> | #346:  The Song “If We Don’t Tell Them”<\/a><\/em> | #349: The Song “I Can’t Resist You’re Love”<\/a><\/em> | #353:  The Song “I Use to Think”<\/a><\/em> | #356:  The Song “God Said It Is Good”<\/a><\/em> | #362:  The Song “My Life to You”<\/a><\/em> | #366:  The Song “Sometimes”<\/a><\/em> | #372:  The Song “Heavenly Kingdom”<\/a> | #378:  The Song “A Song of Joy”<\/a> | #382:  The Song “Not Going to Notice”<\/a> | #387:  The Song “Our God Is Good”<\/a> | #393:  The Song “Why”<\/a> | #399:  The Song “Look Around You”<\/a> | #404:  The Song “Love’s the Only Command”<\/a> | #408:  The Song “Given You My Name”<\/a> | #412:  The Song “When I Think”<\/a> | #414:  The Song “You Should Have Thanked Me”<\/a> | #428:  The Song “To the Victor”<\/a> | #433:  The Song “From Job”<\/a> | #436:  The Song “Trust Him Again”<\/a> | #438:  The Song “Even You”<\/a> | #441:  The Song “Fork in the Road”<\/a> | #442:  The Song “Call to Worship”<\/a> | #445:  The Song “How Many Times”<\/a> | #447:  The Song “When I Was Lonely”<\/a> | #450:  The Song “Rainy Days”<\/a> | #453:  The Song “Never Alone”<\/a> | #455:  The Song “King of Glory”<\/a> | #457:  The Song “Greater Love”<\/a> | #458:  The Song “All I Need”<\/a> | #462:  The Song “John Three”<\/a> | #464:  The Song “The Secret”<\/a> | #466:  The Song “In a Mirror Dimly”<\/a><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next song: Walkin’<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is mark Joseph “young” blog entry #468, on the subject of The Song “Present Your Bodies”. Identifying when I wrote this song is a bit tricky, but I have a few clues. In May or June of 1975, shortly after The Last Psalm played its last concert and just before I was invited to … Continue reading 468: The Song “Present Your Bodies”<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,42,1],"tags":[45],"class_list":["post-5756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible-and-theology","category-music","category-uncategorized","tag-ministry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mjyoung.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mjyoung.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mjyoung.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mjyoung.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mjyoung.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5756"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.mjyoung.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5756\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5798,"href":"http:\/\/www.mjyoung.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5756\/revisions\/5798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mjyoung.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mjyoung.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mjyoung.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}