“BEHOLD OUR GOD”
(BTW one of my favorites. Debra)
1) Who has held the oceans in his hands?
Who has numbered every grain of sand?
Kings and nations tremble at His voice
All creation rises to rejoice.
CHORUS:
Behold our God, seated on His throne
Come, let us adore Him
Behold our king, nothing can compare
Come, let us adore Him
2) Who has given counsel to the Lord?
Who can question any of His words?
Who can teach, the One who knows all things?
Who can fathom all His wondrous deeds?
CHORUS:
Behold our God, seated on His throne
Come, let us adore Him
Behold our king, nothing can compare
Come, let us adore Him
3) Who has felt the nails upon His hands?
Bearing all the guilt of sinful man
God eternal, humbled to the grave
Jesus, Savior, risen now to reign
CHORUS:
Behold our God, seated on His throne
Come, let us adore Him
Behold our king, nothing can compare
Come, let us adore Him
Bridge:
You will reign forever (let Your glory fill the Earth)
You will reign forever (let Your glory fill the Earth)
You will reign forever (let Your glory fill the Earth)
You will reign forever (let Your glory fill the Earth)
You will reign forever (let Your glory fill the Earth)
You will reign forever (let Your glory fill the Earth)
You will reign forever (let Your glory fill the Earth)
You will reign forever (let Your glory fill-)
CHORUS:
Behold our God, seated on His throne
Come, let us adore Him
Behold our king, nothing can compare
Come, let us adore
Behold our God, seated on His throne
Come, let us adore Him
Behold our king, nothing can compare
Come, let us adore Him
Story Behind
“BEHOLD OUR GOD”
“Behold Our God” first appeared on the 2011 Sovereign Grace Music album, Risen. It was the next-to-last track and one of the last songs chosen for the project.
When songwriters (Ryan, Jonathan, & Meghan Baird, and Stephen Altrogge) first played the song for the evaluation team at a songwriting retreat back in 2010, they received this feedback: “Seems too ordinary at this point. Work on fresh and creative ways of saying these things.”Apparently God didn’t think it was too ordinary, because twelve years later “Behold Our God” is one of the most well-known and widely sung songs Sovereign Grace Music has ever recorded.
“Behold Our God” seeks to musically capture God’s transcendent sovereignty and His gracious mercy in Jesus Christ.
In The Beginning:
“Behold Our God” started in the place that many Sovereign Grace songs start – at a songwriter’s retreat experiencing writer’s block.
After working on a song for a while with no progress, Stephen Altrogge mentioned he had been meditating on Isaiah 40, and wondered if they could develop something from the questions of verses 12-14:
“Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord, or what man shows Him his counsel? Whom did he consult, and who made him understand? Who taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding?” (Isaiah 40:12-14 ESV).
That was enough of an inspiration to write two verses fairly quickly. But they needed a chorus. Everyone agreed it should start with, “Behold our God.” After a series of ideas that didn’t work, Jonathan sang out the chorus just as it ended up on the recording. They added the men/women response bridge and felt like they had a song.
Testing It Out
After the retreat, they wisely ignored the counsel of the evaluation team and introduced it to their church in California. The church loved it. But Lynn Baird, father to three of the writers, said it needed a reference to the gospel. “You’ve got to write about Jesus next!”
Over the next year, the writers worked on a third verse that connected the greatness of God to Christ. At the same time, Sovereign Grace Music was working on an album with a resurrection theme, and we asked if the last verse could reference Jesus rising from the dead. No small task for four short lines!
After leading the song at a conference, Bruce Ware, one of the speakers, came up to thank them for writing it. He then suggested they change the word “shame” to “guilt.” He thought it would draw attention to the fact that our problem before God isn’t simply shame, which can minimize our sinfulness, but ACTUAL guilt. The songwriters agreed, and the song reached its final form.
Lastly, people all over the world have sung and recorded “Behold Our God”, in 19 different languages. We think that’s due not only to the God-exalting, gospel-centered lyrics, but the “ordinary” melody that people can pick up and sing with passion almost immediately.
-Debra
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