The Intercession of Songwriting

This is an appeal to songwriters to explore the depths of writing songs that not only express the human heart but infuse the earth with the substance of Heaven.  Perhaps you’ve never thought of songwriting as being intercessory.  But, our songs can be a catalyst for “on earth as it is in Heaven.”  There's an opportunity for our songwriting to enter the very intercessory ministry of Jesus, our great High Priest. When we enter the conversation within the Trinity and come into agreement with God, His will and work manifest in the earth. We take our legal position, purchased by Him, where we are seated with Him in Heavenly places. Intercession then is the declaration of His Word, the prayer of His will, and the decree of His dominion in the earth from a heavenly perspective.

In essence Christ, always living to make intercession for us, is right in the middle. He is pulling that which is of Heaven into the earthly realm as He submits the earthly realm to the reality of Heaven. In this ministry of intercession, we are carrying paradoxical tensions in a process of sanctification and redemption. Let’s step into these tensions, embrace them, and write them into our songs. If we do, I believe our songs will not only carry an authenticity of heart but also the power of faith, the substance of things hoped for.

I’ve been on a refining and redemptive journey myself that translates into my songs as a worship leader. I’m learning life lessons about carrying tensions like heavy grief along with powerful grace; beholding vast beauty while going through deep pain; walking through great trials and finding indescribable peace, sorrow along with joy; experiencing heavy heartache while being filled with living hope. I’m encountering Jesus right there in the middle living to make intercession for us. He’s pulling heaven into my earthy, messy processes. These themes are becoming the substance of my songs. But they aren’t just themes. They are actually opening something up.

I’m becoming a “Psalm 84” songwriter. The psalmist longs for the beauty of God’s dwelling place and sets his heart like a highway toward home, the New Jerusalem. He is a sojourner on the way to the fullness of all things being restored. Beloved songwriters, this is who we are! We are “theologians of the beauty of God” (Mike Bickle). We are trekking the valleys, deserts, dark places, and mountains of life on our way home to all things new. Along the journey, our songs are opening wells (connection with heaven) in the valley of weeping (our present earthly reality). We see this songwriting pattern in the Bible’s greatest songbook - the Psalms. High praises, Laments, and Songs of Remembrance among others, actively infuse earth with Heavenly reality.

Let's write songs that activate Psalm 40:2-3; “He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, And He set my feet on the rock making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; Many will see and fear and will trust in the Lord.” We might be standing in a pit of earthy circumstances. But with our feet in the pit and our eyes on Jesus, our songs can enter His intercession. Our songs can reach into the mud and clay of earthly suffering and sorrow and pull us into intimacy with God. Our songs can dig into the earth and open up wells of Heavenly encounter. In this, our songs are actively making intercession. And “many will see and fear and put their trust in God.”