Last year the preaching pastors at our church Sojourn took us through a sermon series on the Book Of Job. This series was a blessing to us, coming so soon on the heels of the stillbirth of our son Parker, because the Book of Job teaches us to “suffer well” and bless the Lord who gives and takes (see Kristen’s testimony during this series on Pastor Daniel Montgomery’s blog here).
We wrote a song for this series, which the Sojourn bands at each campus led during our service. We received so much feedback from people saying, “Thank you for putting words to how I feel” or “Thank you for helping me to take my suffering to God,” that we knew we had to include it on Kristen’s new worship CD, Parker’s Mercy Brigade.
As the title implies, “Bless The Lord Who Gives And Takes” is the bridge between a time of sorrowful lamenting and stubborn joy. It’s about worshiping in faith, trusting that, “Lord, You gave and You took / Somehow for our good” and, from the chorus, “Help is coming from our God who saves / Who has numbered all our days.”
Hear it in the audio player above, and get the free chord sheet to “Bless The Lord Who Gives And Takes” here. Also, hear it and read along with the scrolling lyrics on this embedded video from the Kristen Gilles YouTube channel:
You can order the Parker’s Mercy Brigade CD anytime here, and also on Amazon.com and iTunes. And you can get free chord charts, and read other stories behind the songs, in our new Parker’s Mercy Brigade page here.
Half of all proceeds from Parker’s Mercy Brigade go to Nadus Films, who tell stories of extreme poverty, need, and danger faced by children around the world, and then they partner with local relief organizations.
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From the ashes comes a beautiful song of providence, mercy and grace. I have been following you guys for sometime now. I have always tended to identify more with the melancholy side of worship and it has been so encoring for me to hear your thoughts on those darker moments of devotion. Thank you for being transparent. Thank you for demonstrating what it means to suffer well.
You’re welcome Daniel, and thank you so much for sharing these words. This is such an encouragement to us!
Y’all, this song is so good. What a blessing to sing with with Kristen last weekend (literally) and with y’all tonight (metaphorically). Thanks for giving this to God’s church out of your pain. Love y’all.
Thanks for being such an encouragement Laura! And it was good to get to see you when I crashed the women’s conference, too.
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