Lord we have seen the rising sun, awakening the early dawn, And we're rising up to give you praise. Lord we have seen the stars and moon, see how they shine, They shine for you, And You're calling us to do the same. So we rise up with a song, and we rise up with a cry And we're giving you our lives.
We will shine like stars in the universe, Holding out Your truth in the darkest place. We'll be living for Your glory, Jesus we'll be living for Your glory. We will burn so bright with Your praise O God, And declare Your light to this broken world. We'll be living for Your glory, Jesus we'll be living for Your glory.
Like the sun so radiantly Sending light for all to see, Let your holy church arise Exploding into life, Like a supernova's light, Set your holy church on fire; We will shine.
Song Description: Bible reference: Philippians 2:14-16
'For a few years now I've been fascinated by many of the universe images the Hubble Space Telescope is bringing us, and love how they tie in with scripture. Psalm 24 tells us 'The heavens declare the glory of God', and seeing these images is a great example of that. It's awe inspiring to witness these creations our amazing God has spoken into being. I've also been privileged to sit under the teaching of my friend Louie Giglio as he's focussed in on this theme in some of his talks.
Phillipians 2 tells us that just as these stars shine the universe, so too we shine in this generation. In the same way that they light up the darkness around them, we hold out the glorious word of life God has revealed to us. That's a great thought, but what I love particularly is it's so affirming. The verse doesn't say go and try really hard and if you're really good you might even get to shine one day.No, it tells us we already shine like stars. That's a massively encouraging thought.
As a songwriter you're always trying to include new words in songs. I love it when I incorporate a word I've never used before in a worship song. I decided pretty early on I wanted to used at least one astronomical word in the song, and that explains the appearance of the word 'supernova' in the bridge!' - Matt Redman
