Sing to the Lord a new song;
    sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Sing to the Lord, praise his name;
    proclaim his salvation day after day.
 Declare his glory among the nations,
    his marvelous deeds among all peoples. – Psalm 96:1-2

One of the difficulties – or challenges – of being interested in a lot of different stuff is never mastering one thing because there is always something else.

This is especially true when it comes to music. I love the guitar, and songwriting has always been a thing – but then I go months without picking up my instrument because I am writing a new book or something. So I have this string of fragments of music, unfinished or half-written compositions, and eventually I forget and the song is lost forever.

Then this past week, interestingly, a message pops up in one of the social media platforms and it’s from a guy I last saw in 1976 – literally 50 years ago. “This morning I was recalling again your lovely composition, ‘Jesus all I want from life is to be close to you…’,” he wrote. “You have a gift with words and music. Do you still play and compose?”

I wrote this particular song in 1975-76 and I guess I must have taught it to him. A couple of the phrases have shifted due to “word creep” – either from his end or mine, but I immediately pick up my guitar and there it is, chords and lyrics still written on my heart without missing a beat.

The song is a prayer:

Jesus all I want in life is to be more close to you
And as you gave yourself for me I give myself to you
I love you and I worship and adore you
I love you, Lord - yes I love you, Lord
I lay my very life down before you, a living sacrifice of worship and of praise
Unto you, dear Lord.
Unto you, dear Lord.
(Derek Maul, 1976)

The chords I used were variations on standard finger positions that I had been playing around with and that sounded good to my ear. The tune just poured out without even trying. The words came from my heart and they were the pure prayer of a 19-year-old who had no idea of where life was taking him, but the desire to follow Jesus as he – as I – stumbled along into the future.

And here it is, fifty years on and the words still ring true. I thought that you – my readers – would appreciate being, just for this morning, my listeners too.

The Good News is always a good story. Fresh and invitational every morning – DEREK