Hymn #9, 10

While I'm on the topic of my older brother's wedding, I'll include a few songs that were played at the church ceremony.

The bridal procession walked to "Mercy said no" by Cece Winans. There's a clip below that I found on YouTube. I hadn't heard this song before, but I guess it's an older song that was redone recently by Cece Winans.

I thought "Mercy said no" was an unusual choice for a wedding. I first heard it at the rehearsal, and several of us were moved to tears. It was strange hearing "I'm not going to let you go" as the bride walked with her father! However, it's a beautiful description of a person's walk with the Lord. He will not let us go; He will hold onto us until the very end, when we become His bride!

I was just a child, when I felt the Savior leading
I was drawn to what I could not understand
And for the cause of Christ, I have spent my days believing
That what He'd have me be, is who I am
As I've come to see the weaker side of me
I realize His grace is what I'll need
When sin demanded justice for my soul

Mercy said no
I'm not going to let you go
I'm not going to let you slip away
You don't have to be afraid
Mercy said no
Sin will never take control
Life and death stood face to face
Darkness tried to steal my heart away
Thank You Jesus, Mercy said no

For God so loved the world, that He sent His son to save us
From the cross He built a bridge to set us free
Oh, but deep within our hearts, there is still a war that rages
And makes a sacrifice so hard to see
As midnight fell upon the crucifixion day
The light of hope seemed oh so far away
As evil tried to stop redemption's flow

And now when heaven looks at me
It's through the blood of Jesus
Reminding me of one day long ago

Mercy said no...







After everyone had entered, we began to sing "I Surrender All" in French, English, and Lingala. This too was a poignant choice of a song, which gave the sense of giving all to God, not just dedicating this one event. It was one moment in the service when all three languages were utilized, and each person in the room was able to understand and think about the meaning of the words.

In English:

All to Jesus, I surrender;
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,
In His presence daily live.

Refrain
I surrender all,
I surrender all,
All to Thee, my blessèd Savior,
I surrender all.

All to Jesus I surrender;
Humbly at His feet I bow,
Worldly pleasures all forsaken;
Take me, Jesus, take me now.

All to Jesus, I surrender;
Make me, Savior, wholly Thine;
Let me feel the Holy Spirit,
Truly know that Thou art mine.

All to Jesus, I surrender;
Lord, I give myself to Thee;
Fill me with Thy love and power;
Let Thy blessing fall on me.

All to Jesus I surrender;
Now I feel the sacred flame.
O the joy of full salvation!
Glory, glory, to His Name!


Here's an interesting note about the lyrics from the author, Jud­son W. Van De­Vent­er, in 1896:

"The song was writ­ten while I was con­duct­ing a meet­ing at East Pal­es­tine, Ohio, in the home of George Seb­ring (found­er of the Seb­ring Camp­meet­ing Bi­ble Con­fer­ence in Seb­ring, Ohio, and lat­er de­vel­op­er of the town of Seb­ring, Flor­i­da). For some time, I had strug­gled be­tween de­vel­op­ing my tal­ents in the field of art and go­ing into full-time evan­gel­is­tic work. At last the pi­vot­al hour of my life came, and I sur­ren­dered all. A new day was ushered in­to my life. I became an evang­el­ist and dis­cov­ered down deep in my soul a tal­ent hi­ther­to un­known to me. God had hid­den a song in my heart, and touch­ing a ten­der chord, He caused me to sing." (source: cyberhymnal.org)