Higher Ground

Recently in an office meeting icebreaker, we were asked what our favorite old hymn is. I shared that since I was about 4 years old my favorite has been “Higher Ground,” but I wasn’t sure why. That was the song I always wanted my mom to request during hymn sings, though I was too shy to request it myself.

As I’ve thought about it since then, I have a few ideas why it appeals to me. One influence is that I’ve always liked heights. I’ve been told that I would climb up on the back of the couch before I could even walk much. I enjoyed riding on my dad’s shoulders when I was little. I’ve spent many hours in trees (though not so much in recent years), and now after I clean out my gutters I like to hang out on the roof for a while. I would far rather spend my vacation hiking in the mountains than anywhere else. A favorite memory from college was visiting the Alps on two occasions. So even before I had much understanding of faith and theology, I liked the idea of being lifted up to a higher plane.

These days I resonate with the thought of life’s journey going through hills and mountains, and I want to find myself maturing and gaining ground over time. “My heart has no desire to stay where doubts arise and fears dismay,” though I know that is a normal part of this life. There is great comfort in knowing that the trials of life will one day come to an end. There’s also great assurance in remembering that God is the One who leads us on through the whole way. As David wrote in Psalm 37:23-24, “The steps of a man are established by the Lord, and He delights in his way. When he falls, he will not be hurled down, because the Lord is the One who holds his hand” (NASB). And God will complete the work He has begun in us (Phil. 1:6).

Though I don’t know for sure, I suspect the author, Johnson Oatman, was inspired in part by Psalm 121:

“I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber… The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore” (vv. 1-3, 8).

We look up to the massive mountains and remember that the One who created them is not only more powerful, but He is intimately involved in our lives every day. Nothing escapes His notice or care.

I’m reminded also of the end of the Chronicles of Narnia where they enter the new Narnia and learn,

“‘The further up and the further in you go, the bigger everything gets. The inside is larger than the outside’… But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story, which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before” (The Last Battle, 180, 184).

One day we’ll get to enjoy that new reality in the presence of our Creator, Lord, and Savior. Until then we follow the path laid out for us by our Shepherd and Friend. I had to pause while writing this in order to watch the livestreamed funeral of a young woman who’d battled cancer for many years. Her life was a testimony of pressing on in faith, and through her funeral “faith has caught the joyful sound, the song of saints on higher ground.”

I want to scale the utmost height

and catch a gleam of glory bright;

but still I’ll pray till heav’n I’ve found,

“Lord, lead me on to higher ground.”

Lord, lift me up and let me stand

by faith on heaven’s table-land;

A higher plane than I have found—

Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.

“Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:13b-14).

© 2025 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Conflicting Feelings

If there were one historical figure (not including those mentioned in the Bible) that I could invite to speak at my church sometime, I might choose John Newton. Probably most Christians know that he was a slave trader turned cleric and abolitionist, and the author of “Amazing Grace.” I just came across another hymn that he wrote:

Conflicting Feelings

Strange and mysterious is my life.

What opposites I feel within!

A stable peace, a constant strife;

The rule of grace, the power of sin:

Too often I am captive led,

Yet daily triumph in my Head [Christ].

I prize the privilege of prayer,

But oh! what backwardness to pray!

Though on the Lord I cast my care,

I feel its burden every day;

I seek His will in all I do,

Yet find my own is working too.

I call the promises my own,

And prize them more than mines of gold;

Yet though their sweetness I have known,

They leave me unimpressed and cold

One hour upon the truth I feed,

The next I know not what I read.

I love the holy day of rest,

When Jesus meets His gathered saints;

Sweet day, of all the week the best!

For its return my spirit pants:

Yet often, through my unbelief,

It proves a day of guilt and grief.

While on my Savior I rely,

I know my foes shall lose their aim,

And therefore dare their power defy,

Assured of conquest through His name,

But soon my confidence is slain,

And all my fears return again.

Thus different powers within me strive,

And grace and sin by turns prevail;

I grieve, rejoice, decline, revive,

And victory hangs in doubtful scale:

But Jesus has His promise passed,

That grace shall overcome at last.

***

I think that sometimes we in the church, especially those who have been Christians for many years, may tend to give others the impression that we no longer struggle with sin. Some may be judgmental toward others whose sins are more public. Our sins may not be as evident, but we all still have them. Newton’s hymn illustrates how easily we slide into unbelief, no matter how much faith we may exercise at other times.

There are some hymns that I don’t like to sing, because they give the false impression that true Christians can overcome every doubt and sin in this life (for example “Since I’ve Learned to Trust Him More” by Francis Blackmer). On the other hand, I don’t want to give my sin more weight than it should have, because I know that all my sins—past, present, and future—were carried to the cross and forgiven by Jesus’ blood. Newton seems to strike the right balance between “This is my experience, but this is what is true of me in Christ.” Near the end of his life he said, “I remember two things very clearly: I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Savior.”

The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans, “So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions” (6:11-12). But a chapter later he said, “I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing” (7:18b-19). If even Paul had this struggle, can we be any better? We all need reminders that we are great sinners, but Christ is a great Savior.” We can proclaim along with Paul, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!” (8:1). His grace, mercy, and love will have the final word in our lives.

“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever” (Psalm 136:1).

© 2022 Dawn Rutan text and photo. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Surrender

I wrote some additional verses to the hymn “All to Jesus I Surrender,” inspired by the following quote from Carolyn Weber in Holy Is the Day:

“I pray for something I have never actually tried before for before: I ask with all I am that my embittering desires be lifted from me. I kneel in the grass and ask God to remove everything that is not a desire first and foremost for him… God must be the Alpha and Omega of my desire if I am to truly live, or else my desires will consume me and I will die not only the Great Death, but countless little deaths landing like stinging nettles on exposed skin, every hour of every day… I desired that in longing for God first, and entrusting all my other longings to him, I would be fulfilled by an abundance far greater than I could ever imagine.”

***

All to Jesus I surrender,
Lord, I give my fears to Thee.
Thou alone my loving Shepherd
through this valley gently lead.

Chorus:
I surrender all,
I surrender all,
All to Thee my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.

All to Jesus I surrender,
in my weakness, Lord, I fall,
trusting Thou art fully sovereign,
on Thy mercy, Lord, I call.

All to Jesus I surrender,
Thou art Lord of heav’n and earth.
Lead Thy people by Thy Spirit,
Thou, the Head of this Thy church.

All to Jesus I surrender,
lead us in Thy will and plan.
Take us into Thy good future,
lead us by Thy righteous hand.

***

“Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of [His] heart” (Psalm 37:4).

© 2022 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.