One of the joys of doing what I do is meeting people who share a similar passion for glorifying Jesus Christ through music. Will Pavone has been a good friend of mine for the past few years. He was part of the group Circadian Rhythm a few years ago, served as a worship pastor at McLean Bible Church, and is now at Dallas Theological Seminary. Besides being a great husband and dad, Will is a gifted songwriter. I was e-mailing him the other day about a song I’ve recommend a couple times on Worship Matters, called “How Great You Are.” Will said I could feel free to let people know about or give away any of his songs. He’s that kind of guy. So here are the lyrics.
How precious is the one
Who died upon a cross
And bore the sin and shame that was my own
How precious is the death
In which we’re made alive
A chosen race to become His holy bride
To become His holy bride
Oh how great you are
Oh Lord my God
My hiding place, my solid rock
Crucified, made alive
Risen king now glorified.
So precious is the one
Who died upon a cross
And bore the guilt and the shame that I deserved
So precious is the one
Who broke the curse of sin
And swallowed death when my Savior rose again
O my Savior rose again
Father You demand a righteousness
I could not achieve
Only by Your grace You gave Your Son
To purchase me
Copyright 2000 Will Pavone
We’ve used the song throughout the year, but it’s been very effective on Resurrection Sunday. I appreciate its clear description of substitutionary atonement as well as the corporate emphasis. You can hear the song by right-clicking to download it here. You can download the guitar chart by right-clicking here. We typically do it a little faster than the recording. It’s just too hard to contain the joy when we sing these words.
Will is currently working on a second CD, and I’ll let you know when it comes out.
Bob,
This is an awesome song. It is one we’ll definitely use! Thank you for this suggestion and praise God for such giftings in His Church!
What a great song. I notice the chart is in C…is that the key you do it in in corporate worship?
I want to tell you that my husband and I attended a seminar recently at a church in our vicinity, and in the course of a chat with the pastor, he mentioned that his church uses a lot of Sovereign Grace music and commented that “Bob Kauflin is a gift to the church.” That is the truth. Many many of us out here appreciate what the Lord is doing through you and Sovereign Grace churches. I’m very much looking forward to your book.
Much grace and peace to you!
Jeri Tanner
Jeri,
Thanks for your kind words. Yes, we do the song in C. We’ve found that most of the women don’t prefer always singing up around a D.
Thank you very much for providing this song. I have downloaded both the audio as well as the songsheet. From what I downloaded, there is a pretty substantial typo in the title. “Our vs. Your” Thought I might point it out so that it can be fixed
Thanks so much for bringing this to our attention Doug!
I am my Dad’s assistant and we definitely did not mean to put that as the title of the song!
The problem should be fixed now. Thanks again.
– Chelsea Kauflin
This is one of the most effective songs I have ever sung in corporate worship in that it combines an excellent text (theologically and stylistically) with a singable tune that is consistent WITH the text in its form. This song has given expression several times to what I feel in my heart as I meditate on the beauty of my Savior.
Thanks so much for the downloads. Now we can sing this in our home in in small groups.