TEHILLAH MASSA HESED
Recorded Sunday 12/22/19 afternoon, using the first recurring Ebenezer Stone theme.
This track was called “Ebenezer Stone 2” on the first version of the Ebenezer Stone Albums and “Samuel 3” on the second (restacked) version.
~THE “SPIRIT OF PROPHECY” SUITE~
The first three songs on this Album (which follow) all deal with prophecies in the Bible and were grouped together as a Suite because of that.
REVEALING
Initially recorded Sunday 8/25/19 afternoon. Re-recorded Sunday 12/22/19.
My wife, Laura, wrote verses 1 & 3 in a dream! She woke up and dictated them to me and told me I had to write the music to them. I wrote verse 2 and the ending “chorus” to complete the song. This was on 4/13/17. (Easter was on April 16th that year.)
THE ONE OF WHOM THE PROPHETS WROTE
Initially recorded Monday 10/28/19.
At some point I began writing new lyrics to the song “So Unreasonable” from What Then? – Alive in the Chapel. For a long while it was all about Lazarus being raised from the dead in John chapter 12. Then around August 2019 I retained only the first line about Lazarus and made the rest of the song about Jesus’ many other miracles – going completely from memory.
Then just a couple weeks after I had recorded the song, Laura and I attended a weekend FCA conference in Vermont, and one of the Speakers there “just so happened” to mention a certain one of Jesus’ miracles…. Causing me to realize that I had confused two of the miracles in the second bridge of this song! Uh oh. The song I had recorded was biblically incorrect!
Therefore I had to rewrite the inaccurate line when we got home and then re-record the song on the evening of Monday 11/25/19. Thank God for setting that all up so that I would get it right…!
His holy word is not something to convey inaccurately. (The Bible tells us so…)
AND THE LORD SPOKE TO ELIJAH
Recorded Sunday 8/25/19 early afternoon.
Based on memory verses. Elijah is one of the cooler people mentioned in the Old Testament. He gets several chapters, and so many crazy experiences. At his very lowest point, in the midst of all the crazy, God shows up to reassure him; in a way that only God can show up, and in a way we wouldn’t ever expect. In a still small voice…
Listen for God today. He’s speaking quietly to you. But you gotta listen carefully.
~THE ISAIAH 6 SUITE~
These three songs (Parts II – IV) were all written on 9/28/19 in my kitchen. The first eight verses were memory verses, and then I had to look the rest up. I started after dinner and finished just before midnight by making a quick recording of all three so that I could remember how they went. I remember it being an absolutely beautiful moonlit night outside the open windows. Heavenly.
(Also see The Isaiah 55 Suite Explanation Page.)
I. MUTH LABBEN
Recorded Sunday 12/22/19 afternoon, and using the first recurring Ebenezer Stone theme again.
II. IN THE YEAR THAT KING UZZIAH DIED (FULL OF HIS GLORY)
Recorded Tuesday 10/8/19 evening.
III. MAKE THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE DULL (LORD, HOW LONG?)
Recorded Wednesday 10/9/19 later evening.
IV. THE LORD HAS REMOVED MEN FAR AWAY (AND YET A TENTH)
Recorded Saturday 10/12/19 morning.
BUYING THE FIELD IN ANATHOTH
Recorded Monday 12/23/19 later evening.
The first recurring Ebenezer Stone theme again. The words were written 9/2/19. Please see Narrative – Part 2 for more.
~THE “PRISONERS OF HOPE” PSALM SUITE~
The next three songs refer to the time of the Old Testament prophets. After God had warned the people and leaders of Israel (and Judah) to repent, He finally brought judgment upon the people and the leaders by bringing the brutal Assyrians in to siege the cities and sack the land, carrying many Israelites away to Babylon for 70 years – just as God had foretold that He would. These next three songs are taken directly from three different Psalms and refer (in my mind at least) to the people being led away as captives by a terrible captor – under the direction and foresight of an all-knowing and perfectly just God.
PSALM 6 (NIV)
Recorded Sunday 8/25/19 early afternoon.
It’s my understanding that most of the Psalms were songs. And they probably sounded amazing in the original Hebrew language. But in English….? So one day I read Psalm 6 in the New International Version (NIV) and decided to put it to music. Surely nothing like the original sounded, however, this sets up a nod to A New Song That I’ve Sung Before (on Ebenezer Stone – Part 3) and a little callback to In To Your Rest (from the end of Ebenezer Stone – Part 1).
FOR GOD ALONE MY SOUL WAITS IN SILENCE (PSALM 62)
Recorded Thursday 12/5/19 afternoon.
Written 11/27&28/19. Another one of those great Psalms that I love to imagine someone actually singing thousands of years ago. I love singing things like this.
The intro part came from a realization I had around the time that I wrote the song: Cain killing Abel in Genesis chapter 4 was the first recorded instance of war among mankind. It was born out of the sin, deception, and blaming we see in Genesis chapter 3, and this very war has continued throughout the earth to present day!
See where (and why) it started and then don’t be surprised that war will never ever cease on this earth until the one true Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, returns to make all things new (Revelation 21:3-4).
BY THE RIVERS OF BABYLON (PSALM 137)
Recorded Saturday 10/12/19 early afternoon.
Written late 2008 / early 2009. This is another Psalm that just amazes me. What a song to sing…! “Happy is the one who dashes your little ones upon the rock…”
The Psalm itself sets the scene for us: Some Hebrew musicians are being lead away into captivity by the ultra-vicious Assyrians who stop the procession alongside a river. There they mock the captives by saying, “Hey, sing us one of your songs that celebrates the land we’ve just conquered and led you away from.” I can only imagine those barbarians’ reaction when an enslaved Hebrew musician sang the words of this Psalm to them…
~THE DANIEL 9 SUITE~
I had been working on this for years. Writing bits. Setting it aside. Rewriting. Writing more. Setting it aside. I finally got really serious about finishing it during the summer of 2019. I kept a spare guitar in my office at work, and I would spend my lunch breaks working on this – quietly singing, mumbling, strumming, fingerpicking, and jotting down notes to myself. (Also see The Isaiah 55 Suite Explanation Page.)
I. AL-TASCHITH
Recorded Saturday 12/28/19 late afternoon, using the second Ebenezer Stone recurring theme.
II. IN THE FIRST YEAR OF DARIUS
Recorded Tuesday 12/10/19 early evening.
This was not originally part of the Suite, but as I started recording it, I decided it needed some sort of intro to set up Daniel’s prayer. So this was “written” 12/10/19.
III – V. DANIEL’S CONFESSION / O LORD, ACCORDING TO ALL YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS / HEAR THE PRAYER OF YOUR SERVANT
These were initially recorded Tuesday 12/10/19 in the evening.
However, when I started listening to them to find the best version of each, I realized that some sort of background noise was present, and the guitar sound was much too weak. So, these three were re-recorded on Saturday 12/28/19 from late afternoon to early evening. I also used my older guitar on these tracks (the one I had been keeping in my office at work).
MAHALATH LEANNOTH
Recorded Sunday 12/22/19 afternoon, using the first recurring theme for the Ebenezer Stone Albums.
~THE “REMNANT RETURNING” PSALM SUITE~
These final three songs are also taken from Psalms, and refer to the time when those remaining in Babylon after the 70 year exile were set free to return to the promised land. Again – God promised to do something, and so He did it. Just as He said He would.
CUP OF SALVATION (PSALM 116)
Recorded Saturday 9/14/19 early evening.
Written by * 10/15/10. Based on memory verses. I’ve always considered this song and “Waiting For Jesus” to be related in some way. I think I wrote them around the same time maybe. I love the idea (and the truth) that the only thing I really have to offer to God is my complete trust. Nothing else could be adequate.
TO YOU WE LIFT OUR EYES (PSALM 123)
Recorded Friday 11/8/19 early evening.
Written 9/28/10. This is actually an alternative version of the song, and not the one from the first two versions of the Ebenezer Stone Albums. Charlie Hall was a huge influence on me and my family in our early Christian days. We used to listen to him in the car or van all the time and sing along. I was surely trying to sound like him in the bridge and chorus of this song.
TREMBLE O EARTH (PSALM 114)
Recorded Friday 11/8/19 late evening.
Written on 7/30/10 by myself, my wife Laura, and our daughter Jenni. Two Fridays after Laura and I wrote “Steadfast and Immovable” (found on TFM #3 …And Let the Hills Hear Your Voice) we were sitting around waiting for people to show up at our house for an evening of singing songs of worship and praise together. But no one showed up…
So the three of us opened up to our church’s Psalm for that week and had a wonderful time writing this happy little song together.
Never be discouraged when plans fall through or people let you down. God always has a better plan for you.
* Note: Wherever it says “Written by…” that indicates the oldest recording or live performance date that I know of (so it must have been written by that date obviously).