We’ve been really encouraged by the response to O Come, All You Unfaithful, the opening track on our new Christmas album, Heaven Has Come. A number of people have said the song has made them freshly aware of how good the gospel really is. Amen. I had the joy of writing the song with Lisa Clow, although I really only helped her refine and finish a song she wrote a few Christmases ago. She brought what she had written to the Sovereign Grace songwriters retreat this past January. I’ll let Lisa tell you in her own words how it came about: I was struggling. It had been a long year and a half. Finances were stressful, I miscarried twins, and on top of it I was battling a deep relational bitterness. My church was having their annual service where they kick off the Christmas season with carols and special songs and I, for once, was not singing. I told them that I wouldn’t be able to sing, but what they didn’t know is that I was too overcome with shame to stand on stage before my church. That Sunday morning, I stood at my seat as they began to sing “O Come All Ye Faithful” and the first line of the song just clobbered me. It hit me like a giant wave of guilt.  O come all you faithful, joyful and triumphant! I remember hearing those words and thinking, “I have been so unfaithful. My joy has dwindled, and I am a triumphant…failure.” And I didn’t sing the rest of the service. I drove home, my mind still churning, “Is that really who is invited to come to Jesus? The faithful? The joyful? The triumphant? If so, then I am hopeless.” Thankfully, later that afternoon the Holy Spirit reminded me of Jesus’s invitation in Matthew 11:28, “Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.” Rest found in his life, his death, and his resurrection, not my own. That evening, I had a strong conviction to write a song for myself and for the weary, the broken, and the ashamed. (You can watch Lisa share this story live here.) The Original Here’s what she wrote that night: O come all ye unfaithful, weary and heavy ladenFly to the King of Angels, forgiveness is your havenChrist was born, Christ was born, Christ was born for you O come all ye destitute, broken and ruined by sinBehold God in fierce pursuit, chasing and hemming you inChrist was torn, Christ was torn, Christ was torn for you We adore you, bow before youCome and undo our hearts today O come all ye triumphant, raise up your flags white with bloodMercy flows in abundance, bought by the King of LoveChrist is Lord, Christ is Lord, Christ is Lord, it’s true When I saw the title of her song and read the lyrics, I asked Lisa if I could work with her on it. Ever since my daughter, Brittany, wrote Glory in the Darkest Place a few years ago, I’ve been looking for Christmas songs that speak to those who find it difficult to enter in to the joy of the season due to feelings of unworthiness, need, shame, or suffering. And while I love “O Come, All Ye Faithful,” I thought the twist on that title would catch people’s attention and perhaps expose our futile attempts to come to God on the basis of what we have done rather than trusting in what Jesus has done for us. The Process I was moved by the thoughtfulness and beauty of Lisa’s lyrics. But I wondered if they could be more accessible. She had also written the song in 4/4, like the original carol, and it seemed to me 6/8 would fit the lyrics better and make it clear we weren’t simply trying to revise the traditional song. So … Continue reading The Story Behind O Come, All You Unfaithful