Songs of Ascent (2003) by Bill Stutzman
Words and Music by Bill Stutzman
Psalm 1
Music by Bill Stutzman
Pressing On
Words and Music by Bill Stutzman
Caught in the act—I didn’t even know it
But it’s bound to be I’m gonna blow it.
It’s time to get down on my knees and ask forgiveness
When I give up, you lift me up and free me and tell me all’s been paid
CHORUS
What’s done is done, what’s said is said
I can’t go right where I went left instead
So forgetting what I leave behind,
I’m reaching out to what’s ahead and find
In You alone I’ll stand, and now I’ve got to press on.
I hear it didn’t go as planned—
You know that always happens when you put your trust in man
And find that God has other plans
And we won’t see the good to come in His good works
Until in all things we rejoice.
CHORUS
Bridge
In You I’ll build my hope
To serve You is the only goal for this, my soul.
Throw out all sorrow and regrets
It’s time to move ahead,
Because the God we serve is the God of the living, not of what is dead
So lift your voice, and sing, rejoice
For by one death came life to all forever
CHORUS B
What’s done is done, what’s said is said
And life for life Your blood was shed,
So forgetting what I leave behind,
I’m reaching out to what’s ahead and find
In You alone I’ll stand, and now I’ve got to press on.
Copyright 2003 Bill Stutzman and Songsmith Stutzman Music
Just About
Words and Music by Bill Stutzman
If I’m the only one who can be the one you called me to be
Then why do I keep looking off to right and left to see
What someone else thinks I ought to be?
I dream the dreams that take me up to the level where I can keep up
But I have so far to go when I wake up
That you’re the only one who can take me up beyond myself
To see that all that really counts around me
And all the fights I fought before aren’t worth fighting for anymore.
And I know I’ve got to surrender the battle so the battle can be won,
It’s not about the others, it’s just You and me.
CHORUS
It’s just about serving the One who has given me hope
When I’m just about hopelessly lost in the midst of myself
Tear me down and build me back up.
I want to be someplace I know I can’t yet be
To know all I want to know of you without taking the time
To grow into that role with You
‘Cause service is never a competition to be won or lost in you—
Your grace is sufficient, in my weakness You are strong.
CHORUS
And not my will, no, but Yours be done
‘Cause You’re the One who made me
So play in me the song you wrote for me.
Lord, I know I’ve got to surrender the battle so the battle can be won,
It’s not about the others, it’s just You and me.
CHORUS
Oh, build me back up again.
Copyright 1997, 2003 Bill Stutzman and Songsmith Stutzman Music
First Love
Words and Music by Bill Stutzman
I thought that absence made the heart grow fonder
I guess it does if you’re fond of turning to stone.
Well, I’m more forgetful as I wander,
And everyday I try it on my own
I get more used to thinking that I’m all alone
But absence from you is the worst thing I’ve ever known.
Remember all the talks on walks we would take
And with the sunrise I would meet you in prayer
You took the wreckage left in my wake
And turned into layer upon layer
Of circumstances worked for good by your care
Am I the Prodigal who’s squandered his share?
CHORUS
Because I’m hearing you call me back, Lord
Back to my first love.
I hear you say, “You’ve cheating too long,
Admit you were wrong,
Your home is above (I loved you first and set you free).
Come back to your first love;
Taste and see yourself in Me.”
I used to sing before the earth of Your grace
My heart was tuned for You to play like a muse
But did I try to stand in Your place
And for myself the gifts you gave abuse,
And when You have commands, did I just refuse?
I took some hard knocks but hear You’ve got some good news
CHORUS
BRIDGE
And it’s not absence but Your presence that makes my heart grow
And since You’re present within me, there’s one thing I know
Nothing can separate me from Your love in Christ—
Not me, not death, not life!
CHORUS x 2 (I hear you say, “You’ve been here all along—to me you belong…” 1st time)
Copyright 2003 Bill Stutzman and Songsmith Stutzman Music
Yes, Lord
Words and Music by Bill Stutzman
Are you fire and fury?
Are you mild and meek?
Do you draw me near, Lord?
Or do I seek?
And are you God in full,
Or are you man, just like me?
Are you a lamb in wool,
Or are you a lion on the throne of victory?
Do you really love me, Lord?
And you love the Bride?
Could I behold Your glory
Or need a place to hide?
Can I be wholly in you
Still in this body of death?
Can I sing, and can I choose,
Or do you make it so and sing through your own breath?
CHORUS
Or is it Yes, Lord, Yes, Lord!
All Your promises are Yes and Amen.
Yes, Lord, Yes, Lord!
All in Jesus, the Savior of men.
To the God of impossible possibilities
We will stand and, yes, we will bow the knee
Not either or but both yes and can it be?
All in Jesus is Yes and Amen.
Are you sovereign in hard times,
Working good from bad?
Do you calm my rough waters,
Or through your waves am I tried?
And do you ask my belief
When you have given me the need?
Can faith so small move the leaf
Of the tree that you have started from the seed?
CHORUS
BRIDGE
I’ve so many questions,
But I don’t ask or wait for an answer.
I live on both sides of the road, falling off the center
Like a drunken dancer.
There’s just one answer to all my inquisitions—
Bringing all in subjection and balance,
Like a child I come to the Physician.
CHORUS x 2
Copyright 2003 Bill Stutzman and Songsmith Stutzman Music
It is Well
Words by H. Spafford, Music by Bill Stutzman
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll,
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say
It is well, it is well with my soul
It is well, it is well, it is well with my soul.
With my soul, it is well, it is well with my soul.
My sins, oh the joy of this glorious thought
My sin, not the part but the whole
Was nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more
Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, O my soul.
It is well, it is well, it is well with my soul.
With my soul, it is well, it is well with my soul.
And, Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight
When the clouds be rolled by like a scroll…
The trump shall resound, and the Lord will descend
Even so, it is well with my soul.
It is well, it is well, it is well with my soul.
With my soul, it is well, it is well with my soul.
Copyright 2003 Bill Stutzman and Songsmith Stutzman Music
Pilate’s Hall
Words by H. Bonar, Music by Bill Stutzman
I see the crowd in Pilate’s hall
Their furious cries I hear
Their shouts of Crucify appall,
Their curses fill mine ear
And of that shouting multitude
I feel that I am one.
And in that din of voices rude
I recognize my own.
I see the scourgers rend the flesh
Of God’s beloved Son.
And as they smite I feel afresh
That I of them am one.
Around the cross the throng I see
That mocks the sufferers groan,
Yet still my voice it seems to be
As if I mocked alone.
Twas I that shed that sacred blood
I nailed Him to the tree
I crucified the Christ of God
I joined the mockery
Yet not the less that blood avails
To cleanse me of my sin
And not the less that cross prevails
To give me peace within.
Copyright 2003 Bill Stutzman and Songsmith Stutzman Music
Asking Directions
Words and Music by Bill Stutzman
It feels too far when the rivers run east
And I’m facing upstream the way I used to face down.
I tried so hard, but I just never found
Whatever I was looking for in this town
CHORUS
Sometimes I step without knowing
Just where I am going
And it feels like a guessing game
When everything changes
At least you remain the same
So I’ll worry tomorrow
About what comes tomorrow
If today you will help me obey what’s for today.
On either side of continental divides
This is the land of our sojourning and not of our homes
But it’s easy to doubt when we feel like we’re missing out
On some greener pasture that we’ve never known
One minute we could barely cope
And the next we could laugh at our woes
If only we would ask instead, who knows?
We might just turn our fretting to hope.
CHORUS
Because the mandate is clear: we can serve you right here,
Whether that’s by the Great Lakes or Hell’s Gate or the Sea
‘Cause everywhere, You’re the God who hears prayer
And you can see all we can’t see
And you know what someday we will be
All this you can see.
Copyright 2003 Bill Stutzman and Songsmith Stutzman Music
Let Your Teaching Fall
Words and Music by Bill Stutzman
Lord, let Your teaching fall on me like rain
And Your words descend like dew
Refreshing as the new day.
Lord, let Your teaching fall upon my soul,
Soothe my dry and thirsty heart
With water from your living well.
Lord these blind eyes go constantly astray
And these ears refuse to listen to
The very words they need to hear.
O, my Lord, there will be darkness that awaits
And I’ll need your lamp to guide me through
The finish of this long, long race.
So let Your teaching wash me free from all the things that weigh me down
That keep me from your path.
You’ve spoken only truth, that we might finally live
The life You had in mind
If we would learn to trust in You and follow
I want to learn to live and breathe the fullness of Your word.
Lord, how can I keep all of my ways straight
If I never take the time to let You teach me all You have to say?
O, my Lord, it’s more than I can see
But it’s everything I need to know that You would die for me
So hear my prayer and teach me how I need you,
More than I can fathom, and more than I have known.
And let Your teaching fall,
And bring me closer to completion in Your love.
And help me learn to trust in You and follow
I want to learn to live and breathe the fullness of Your word.
So help me learn to trust in You and follow
I want to learn to live and breathe the fullness of Your word.
And let Your teaching fall.
Copyright 1996, 2003 Bill Stutzman and Songsmith Stutzman Music
Nothing Apart from You
Words and Music by Bill Stutzman
Praise and glory to the King, we thank you for your son
Won’t you bring me back to you when my ways lead me wrong.
My Rock, my Strength, my Shield, so I have heard Your name.
Set my feet in you alone that I may not be moved
CHORUS
Preserve me, O, my Lord. Help me to put my trust in You
My soul cries out, “You are my God,
and my good, Lord, is nothing apart from You!”
Praise and glory to you, Father, for saving through your Son.
Make my footsteps one with yours I’m helpless on my own.
I have heard your great name, O Lord, and so I’ll trust in you
For you are proven, Lord, and will not forsake
Those who seek your face.
CHORUS
BRIDGE
For I know I’ll lose heart
Unless I will believe
That I will see the goodness of your hand—whoa-oh!
(Instrumental Chorus)
CHORUS to fade
Copyright 1998, 2003 Bill Stutzman and Songsmith Stutzman Music
Simple Thank You
Words and Music by Bill Stutzman
Reach down and hold me, Lord.
What sweet joy to know you, Lord.
A new life has just begun,
A new life of hope has come.
And I know Your love is real
Your grace has been revealed
I can’t tell you how I feel (I just can’t find the words)
But perhaps a simple Thank You will do
To say I love You
Reach down and heal me, Lord.
O, free me again, O Lord.
Remind me how we first met—
When you pulled me out from my debt.
Take me now the way I feel
And teach me how to kneel
I’ll close my eyes and listen,
So teach me, I only want to Thank You
To say I love You.
Reach down and hold me, Lord.
What sweet joy to know you, Lord.
And I know Your love is real
Your grace has been revealed
I can’t tell you how I feel (I just can’t find the words)
But perhaps a simple Thank You will do
To say I love You
I only want to Thank You.
Verse 1 ad lib to fade.
You are the only one. You are mine.
Copyright 1997, 2003 Bill Stutzman and Songsmith Stutzman Music
How High
Words and Music by Bill Stutzman
I wonder why at times You do the things You do
Like I knew better how to run my life.
But then where was I when You were spreading out the stars
With Your light cutting darkness like a knife.
CHORUS
When You say, “Open your heart!”
I want to say, “How wide?”
When You say, “Run!”
I want to ask You, “How far?”
Without delay help me to trust You and obey
Just like a grateful son should everyday.
When You say, “Dive!”
I want to say, “How deep?”
When You say, “Jump!”
I want to ask You, “How high?”
There is no “Why?” There’s just one thing left to be done:
To know how wide, how long, how deep,
How high is the love of Your Son.
I wonder, how could I lose sight of Your love
And set my mind on things on earth?
Oh, ‘cause what could compete with my devotion to Your word
When You’ve freed my heart and given me new birth?
CHORUS
Oh, and it should be as easy as 1, 2, 3
To do all the things that You require of me.
So do in me the things You do as only You can,
And make me into that picture of the Perfect Man.
And if You want I’ll drive right back across this country!
I’d like that better anyway
I could gladly make my way along I-90,
But if You want me to I’ll stay.
(Interlude)
CHORUS (with Countermelody):
(Open Your heart, receive My word)
(Run the race, obtain the prize)
(Dive into My arms of love)
(Jump for joy, your Savior comes)
Copyright 2003 Bill Stutzman and Songsmith Stutzman Music
Withering Grass
Words and Music by Bill Stutzman
Have I slept, or have I slumbered?
I look the thief right in the eye.
One day a king, one day a number.
I need the Well that won’t run dry.
I’m working hard now just to make ends meet
But the more work’s needed the more I feel defeated, and…
CHORUS
All I want is to walk with the living.
All I seek is what’s noble and true.
‘Cause all I have is what I have been given
And if the lilies dress the field so fine,
This withering grass can be covered by You.
A quarried rock, a jagged bolder,
Hardly fit to build a home,
You cut me out, bourn on Your shoulder
To set atop the Cornerstone
I’m working hard now just to make ends meet
But the more You work in me the more I’m completed, so
CHORUS
You call us living stones to cry out to You alone
Rock against rock, I’m caught in Your tumbler.
I’m trying hard now just to make ends meet
But my wallet’s empty, and rent for life’s not cheap, but then…
CHORUS x 2
Copyright 2003 Bill Stutzman and Songsmith Stutzman Music
Inventory
Words and Music by Bill Stutzman
A man came down from Harvard town just sure to make his way.
He said, “I’m from the big-time name, you’d best do as I say.
I’m the product of the best of minds, the new genius of the age,
Before too long you’ll read my name in bold on this front page.”
Boss-man said, “That is mighty fine. I see you’ve worked to take your spot on center stage,
But in the time that you’ve been talkin’, it seems Princeton man’s the new priest of the age.
CHORUS
It’s time to take an inventory
Better take a look what’s on your shelf
Well, are you stockin’ up for glory?
Cause where your treasure is, that’s where you’ll find yourself—
Six feet underground or sharing Heaven’s wealth.
Well that Princeton carpetbagger jumped the chance to reconstruct,
Seems the right side of the war’s the one that makes the fastest bucks,
But Harvard man thought Ivy Leaguers fought for the same side
Till he was hit my friendly fire and Princeton figured he had died
Now there’s confusion on the front-lines. He asked me, “Which of us is friend, and which is foe?
And when battle plan has shifted, will we be standin’ tall or in the Alamo?
CHORUS
Do you put your trust in Harvard? Do you put your trust in bed?
Do you put your trust in people who would turn you out for bread?
Do you put your trust in smiles and what other people say?
When those people follow other smiles, it’s you they’ll soon betray.
You can lean on anything you like, but God alone sustains.
You can save up all you’ve got for naught or trust the Lamb who’s slain.
I went searchin’ in the marketplace to find the life mundane
‘Cause I heard someone did tell, “That’s where it is—the ev’ry day.”
Went diggin’ in the orchard now to get down to my roots
Found bluegrass and some Beatles and some Toad and just plain Rock
What kind of fruit grows on my tree if I don’t protect the roots and leave the weeds?
When it comes harvest time we’ll see if I have toiled in good soil with good seed.
CHORUS x 2 (first time, “My shelf, etc.”)
Can’t take it with you, how’s your spiritual health?
Copyright 2003 Bill Stutzman and Songsmith Stutzman Music
More than Expected
Words and Music by Bill Stutzman and Scott Castle
I’m anxious and worried again
I’m ungracious and buried in sin
And my heart, Lord, is too far away from Amen.
I’m ungrateful and tired again
When I seek myself, I don’t see Your hand
Has been working to give me what I don’t deserve
CHORUS
So I thank you, Lord, for breaking my heart
Till I’m down on my knees
You’ve been hearing my prayers from the start,
But I never would guess that in all of your blessings
You’d take what I’m expecting
And you’d give so much more to a broken heart.
How many times, Lord, have I often hoped
That You would answer my prayers my ways
And sometime later I’d look back and be amazed?
For You are faithful in all of Your ways
That’s why I’m thankful, and so full of praise.
All I asked for was good, but instead You gave me something great.
CHORUS
BRIDGE
And, LORD, I should have know that You could do so much more than I could ask,
But I’m still amazed by Your power and love and grace.
(Interlude—Verse)
CHORUS
Copyright 2003 Bill Stutzman and Songsmith Stutzman Music
When the Tears Are Gone Away
Words and Music by Bill Stutzman
Off in the distance I hear You call
Why is there distance at all?
You say, “You work so hard to go back the way you came.”
You tell me, “I’ll be Your God, but there’s more to Me than my name.”
I always know just how I think the road should go,
Until I find I’m off the map.
If no one else is lost, then where did they all go to
When I need them most?
CHORUS
It gets so hard to stand when you’ve got no ground below you.
Reach out and touch the hand of the only One who can hold you
When you’re all alone it’s hard to find someone who’ll stay behind
But when the tears are gone away, I know you won’t be.
Tiptoeing over a bridge that’s bound to fall,
Give up your burden, or hang on and lose it all
What’s really real if you’re living for what’s not
There’s just one way, or have you already forgotten that
The road you choose can be a lonely road to take
If you don’t take along your lamp
You don’t have to try to go it on your own
There’s a better track
CHORUS
BRIDGE
“So turn back now,” you say, “before you know it’s too late—it’s too late!
And don’t lose hope.
Your answer comes at last, but not until you bow down—
With just one prayer.”
(Interlude)
CHORUS
…When the tears are gone away
I know you won’t be
You won’t go away.
When the tears are gone away
I know, I know, I know, I know you’ll stay.
Copyright 1996, 2003 Bill Stutzman and Songsmith Stutzman Music
If My Heart
Words and Music by Bill Stutzman
Funny thing how big wrongs like a seed start out so small
Just a tiny stone’s throw into the pond send ripples to the shore
Discontent with a paper cut, I’ll sit and bleed to death,
Refusing a line for help, I’d rather fight for breath. But…
CHORUS
If my heart should turn to stone
If my feet want to run to another home
Then if You must, please break my bones
Turn this stone into flesh and every breath to a thanksgiving poem.
I tell myself a trial or two can be good to take
That’s easy enough to say when it’s not your heart at stake
But all good things, I read, from God do radiate,
And I find only strife sets in if I fail to meditate
Both day and night upon Your might
Your mercy to those who are dear in Your sight
They keep calling me back—salvation enact,
And my heart laid before your throne till I see your tender mercies. Then…
CHORUS
BRIDGE
Does every thankful word run dry, or do I just stop trying
Each new source I tap only shows me my lack
Your music will burn my soul until I wait solely on You.
All nature it seems does conspire to keep me in mire
That’s when I rail against all earth, wind and fire
Complaining away, explaining away my sin—ungratefulness
CHORUS x 2
Copyright 2000, 2003 Bill Stutzman and Songsmith Stutzman Music
Upstairs
Music by Bill Stutzman
Sovereign, Faithful, Good
Words and Music by Bill Stutzman
When I look back on all the times
You’ve asked me to trust in You and wait for You to move,
You’ve had to tear my heart in two
To help me give up what I’m holding
To show me what You hold for me is best
CHORUS
Sovereign Father means you’re in control in my life
Faithful Friend, You come through every time
And when I’ve doubted You, You never leave but remind me once again (alt. “to the end”)
“Do not worry, do not fear”
In everything You are, Lord, You are good (alt. “Let the world sing out that God is good”)
And in those times when there is nothing I can do
Please hold me to Your side
Don’t let these falling eyes decide
To look for answers somewhere else.
Please give me patience knowing simply You are God
And You’ll work in me until Your work is through.
CHORUS
BRIDGE
And in the harder times it’s worth it just to know You me
For I’m persuaded You are able to keep what I have given you till that Day.
(Interlude)
CHORUS x 2
Sovereign Father, You’re my faithful friend, so let the world sing out that God is good.
Copyright 2001, 2003 Bill Stutzman and Songsmith Stutzman Music
Two of Us
Words and Music by Lennon-McCartney