The next entry for my Blog is I Stand Amazed in the Presence, which was written by Charles H. Gabriel in 1905. It was first released in April 9, 2021. A link to Extended Life Fellowship singing the song is at the bottom of the Blog.
I Stand Amazed in the Presence
I stand amazed in the presence
Of Jesus the Nazarene,
And wonder how He could love me,
A sinner, condemned, unclean.
Oh, how marvelous! Oh, how wonderful!
And my song shall ever be;
Oh, how marvelous! Oh, how wonderful!
Is my Savior’s love for me!
For me it was in the garden
He prayed, “Not My will but Thine;”
He had no tears for His own griefs,
But sweat drops of blood for mine.
Oh, how marvelous! Oh, how wonderful!
And my song shall ever be;
Oh, how marvelous! Oh, how wonderful!
Is my Savior’s love for me!
He took my sins and my sorrows,
He made them His very own;
He bore the burden on Calv’ry,
And suffered and died alone.
Oh, how marvelous! Oh, how wonderful!
And my song shall ever be;
Oh, how marvelous! Oh, how wonderful!
Is my Savior’s love for me!
When with the ransomed in glory
His face I at last shall see,
‘Twill be my joy thro’ the ages
To sing of His love for me.
Oh, how marvelous! Oh, how wonderful!
And my song shall ever be;
Oh, how marvelous! Oh, how wonderful!
Is my Savior’s love for me!
There are a lot of songs which are focused on the trials we face in our lives and how God is there to lift us up and get our lives back on the right track. This is a song about coming face to face with Jesus and what it might be like. This hymn has been around for over 100 years, but the truth and hope still ring out with power and promise. When we get our first chance to stand face to face with Jesus, I am thinking I will be completely awestruck and speechless. Just imagine that feeling as you look into his eyes and see and feel an undying love for you. It is so hard to understand why he would die for someone who is a sinner such as I. We have all sinned, but Jesus forgave those sins when we accepted him as our personal savior. Even though I am sinless in his eyes, I still have to wonder how he could love me unconditionally. I was a sinner, I am a sinner, and will always be a sinner; but he no longer sees any of that. I can’t help but believe that I will fall on my knees and weep uncontrollably since it was because of people like me that he had to die on the cross.
The chorus puts words into the feelings of our heart as we stand before our savior. I believe this is the type of chorus that will be with us for eternity. We will continue to offer up our praise to Jesus for the never-ending love he has for us.
The garden referenced in the lyrics is the Garden of Gethsemane in Israel. This is a garden where Jesus went to pray the night of his betrayal. We find this in Mark 14:32-36. “They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, sit here while I pray. He took Peter, James, and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled. My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death, he said to them. Stay here and keep watch. Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that, if possible, the hour might pass from him. Abba, Father, he said, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” In another scripture passage in the book of Luke, we find that Jesus prayed so hard that he sweated drops of blood. He knew what was coming, he knew he was going to be crucified. The man in him asked God to not let this happen, but the faith he had through the love of his father allowed him to accept his fate. He didn’t cry tears for his own fate, he knew he was going back home to heaven; but he cried the tears for us so we could also go to our heavenly home. He was willing to die for us, regardless of the pain he would incur; he loved us so much that on the night he accepted his death as a trade for us getting eternal life.
Jesus knew what he was facing when he accepted God’s will for him. He did not resist his arrest nor did he make any excuses for his message of salvation to everyone he encountered. He had seen people hanging from crosses, since that was a common form of execution by the Romans. He saw their pain, the blood flowing from their wounds, heard their screaming, and saw their tears; but he willingly accepted his fate knowing that he would soon be joining them. Jesus knew he was bearing the sins of the world and that the burden he was carrying at this moment was greater than any of us can begin to fathom. He also knew, that if he did not fulfill his mission, we would be unable to spend eternity in heaven and would end up in the fiery pit of hell. Instead, our lives would end at the time of our physical death and the grave, there would be no eternal life in heaven. As he was dying on that cross, he became encumbered with the sins of the world; and in that brief time he was separated from God the father by the sins he was now bearing. Imagine being separated from your child or your father; then think about how you would feel if this separation was not your fault. Jesus essentially died alone, due to the darkness of the sins he took upon himself. The day he died on the cross on the mount called Calvary, was one of the worst physical days anyone could endure, but it was also the most wonderful day for all of us who have accepted him as the son of God.
For those of us who have accepted the sacrifice of Christ and for those who will accept him in the future, our eternal home is secured. We are ransomed by his death on the cross, we are no longer prisoners of our sins. What a joy that will be, to see the one who died so I could spend eternity with my family and friends who also accepted his sacrifice. It will for sure be a time of singing, praise, and fellowship with the one who made this happen. I know that I will stand amazed in the presence of Jesus. This one man, who grew up in Nazareth, a town of under 500 people, gave hope to the entire world.
Keep this verse in your heart always, from John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Click to Hear Extended Life Worship Sing I Stand Amazed in the Presence