You're My All

Lord, I turn my hope to You. My God, I trust in You. Do not let me be disgraced; do not let my enemies gloat over me....Make Your ways known to me, Lord; teach me Your paths. Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; I wait for You all day long. (Psalm 25:1-2, 4-5)(HCSB)


It's hard to believe that it's been over 20 years since I wrote this song. I took much of the verses straight from the NKJV translation of Psalm 25. We played it quite a bit in the contemporary christian band, Ransom, that I was in at that time. It was fun for me, because I usually got to play my saxophone on this song which had a kind of a pop/smooth-jazz feel to it. But as I think of the song, the most remarkable thing about it wasn't the lyrics or the melody; it was the young lady who sang the lead. Her name was Becky Norwood, and she was a good friend, a great singer and a strong christian. She was an inspiring person for our young audiences to see, especially considering her physical handicap. She had a severe case of rheumatoid arthritis and could barely get around. She could stand, but usually depended on her husband (Clay, our bass player) to carry her or wheel her around in her wheelchair. But that didn't stop her, she fought and endured the pain in order to minister in song. She was a perfect example of someone who willingly gave all she had for God. Her life was cut way too short in a fatal car wreck in the early 90s. But the impact she made on me and many others still carries on to this day. I hope that the lyrics to one of the songs she sang so well will minister to you in some way:

You're My All

To You O Lord I lift up my soul

Oh my God I trust in You

Show me Your ways, teach me Your paths

You are the God of my salvation

I want to know You more, I long to be with You

My soul thirsts for You Lord

I love You more each day, I just can't get enough

Lord lead me in Your ways, Oh Jesus You're my all

(chorus)

You are my all 'cause You gave all You had for me

You gave Your very best so that I could be set free

It's my turn now, I want You to take all that I have

You gave me my life, now I want to give it back

Jesus You're my all

Eternal King, the Rock of all ages, You're the strength of my life

You took my sins and washed them away, I want to live my life in gratitude

I want to know You more, I long to be with You

My soul thirsts for You Lord

I love You more each day, I just can't get enough

Lord lead me in Your ways, Oh Jesus You're my all

(repeat chorus)

copyright 1989 Joey Culpepper/Heart of Praise Music

As we look to and put our trust in God, thinking of all He has done for us at the cross and through the blood of Christ, we all should feel a desire to give all that we can in His service. He gave us life and new life through the death of His Son, so we should respond by living our life for Him!

Singing His Praises,

Joey Culpepper

Happy Is He Who Fears?

How happy is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways! (Psalm 128:1)(HCSB)

Happy is he who fears? How can you fear and be happy about it? As funny and illogical as that question sounds, we can fear and be happy if we fear the Lord and walk in His ways. So what does it mean to fear the Lord? Does it mean that we should be deathly afraid of God and scared to displease Him? Does it mean that we should carefully walk a straight line because God's waiting to punish us when we step out of line? Well, we should want to please our Lord and to follow the narrow road to life that He's placed us on, but not out of fear. While God does discipline His children, (Prov. 3:12, Heb. 12:6) He's not just looking down His nose at us hoping that we mess up so that He can zap us with a lightning bolt or something. He loves us, and like a loving father, wants to protect us, and He wants us to steer clear of things that are harmful, the obstacles that try to detour us away from the narrow path.

So what is the fear of the Lord? I believe it's more about having and showing the proper respect for the One who is the Creator and ultimately the Judge of all creation. The full meaning of the "fear of the Lord" includes reverential awe, obedient respect and worshipful submission. Solomon, one of the wisest men of all time, wrote in Proverbs 1:7--The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. (HCSB)
He also wrote in Proverbs 8:13--To fear the Lord is to hate evil. I hate arrogant pride, evil conduct, and perverse speech. (HCSB)

Oh man, could we ever use some more of the fear of the Lord in our government these days! Other passages in Psalms reiterate what Psalm 128:1 says. Look at these two verses:
He will bless those who fear the Lord--small and great alike. (Ps. 115:13)(HCSB)
Hallelujah! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, taking great delight in His commandments. (Ps. 112:1)(HCSB)
So those of us who fear the Lord, delight in His Word and walk in His ways will be happy and blessed by God. Let's go back to Psalm 128 and see a few of the ways that God will bless those who fear Him.

Psalm 128

• v.2--you will eat what you work for, you will be happy and it will go well with you
• v.3--your wife will be a fruitful vine, your sons will be like young olive trees
• v.5--you will see prosperity around you all your life
• v.6--you will see your grandchildren

You know what? I believe that I would like to be happy and blessed like that, so I'm going to continue to fear the Lord with worshipful submission, obedient respect and reverential awe. If you do the same, you too can fear and be happy about it!
Singing His Praises,
Joey Culpepper

Glory to God Alone

Not to us, Lord, not to us, but to Your name give glory because of Your faithful love, because of Your truth. (Psalm 115:1)(HCSB)



We need to be people who are constantly giving all glory and praise to our God. In a society and culture that is ever-increasing in the promotion of self and selfishness, we must diligently keep God on the throne of our hearts and not let self sneak back into the chair. We are bombarded with self-centered phrases like, "Do what's right for you!" and "What's in it for me?" and "Look at me and what I've accomplished." We need to realize that we can't do anything at all, not even take the next breath, without God's help. Let's not be like Herod who was struck down because he didn't give God the glory, but presumed to be a god himself.

(Acts 12:20-23) So on an appointed day, dressed in royal robes and seated on the throne, Herod delivered a public address to them. The populace began to shout, "It's the voice of a god and not of a man!" At once an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give the glory to God, and he became infected with worms and died. (HCSB)

There's a new praise song called "Give You Glory", written by Jeremy Camp, that reminds us to always give glory where it's due. In fact, we're singing it in worship this Sunday at RABC. Take a look at some of the lyrics to the song:

We have raised a thousand voices
just to lift Your holy name
And we will raise thousands more to sing
of Your beauty in this place
Oh none can even fathom
no not one define Your worth
As we marvel in Your presence to the ends of the earth


(chorus)
We give You glory
lifting up our hands and singing "Holy"
You alone are worthy
we just want to touch Your heart, Lord,
touch Your heart
Glory, lifting up our voice and singing "Holy"
You alone are worthy
we just want to touch Your heart, Lord,
touch Your heart


As we fall down before You
with our willing hearts we seek
In the greatness of Your glory
it's so hard to even speak
There is nothing we can offer
no nothing can repay
So we give You all our praises
and lift our voice to sing
(repeat chorus)

So let us all come to the realization that it's not about us and what we've done, but it's about giving God the glory for all that He's done for us and in us and through us! As we seek to worship the Lord with our daily lives, let's remember that there's nothing we can offer, and there's no way we can repay Him for all He's done, so we should be careful to do everything for His glory! (1 Cor. 10:31)

Singing His Praises,
Joey Culpepper