Up From Here

God of life, for our life
Planted a tree in Eden
Tree of Life, we delight
For our hunger given

Take and eat, satisfy
Here the Lord will meet us
Taste and see, glorify
Good of God to feed us

God of grace shows His face
God and man in union
Made like Him, made for Him
Born to have communion

Take and eat, satisfy
Here the Lord will meet us
Taste and see, glorify
Good of God to feed us

Take and eat, satisfy
Lest this bond you sever
Do believe, don’t deny
Eat and live forever

Tend this garden of Mine
Make it shine
Make it grow
I have a greater design
Here in My mind
I will show you
Look at how the rivers flow
Down into the world below
Take this garden of Mine
All that you find
Take it into the world

Ride this river you found
Follow it down
Flag unfurled
There find gold in the ground
Beauty abounds In My world
You are called to beautify My world,
My name to glorify
Take this bounty you see
City to be
Make it a praise to Me

Lady don't listen
Don't lend him your mind
His greatest delight
Is in robbing you blind

And Man don't be foolish
Do you think you should
Determine yourself
What is evil and good

But serpent, he's subtle
"Has God really said?"
Has worked its design
Now Adam is dead

Out of the garden and into the land
As it was planned, but not like we hoped for
Driven in anger and forever banned
Time to obey, but how can we stand

Oh, out where the east wind blows
Here where the thistle bush grows
Here what could happen, who knows
Oh, here we’ll return to the ground
Gravity pulling us down
No tree of life to be found, oh, oh, oh

Out of the garden but still in the land
God has a plan, we have been covered
Nothing to do but to take it in hand
Time to obey, help me to stand

Oh, out where the east wind blows
Here where the thistle bush grows
Here what could happen, who knows
Oh, here we’ll return to the ground
Gravity pulling us down
No tree of life to be found, oh, oh, oh

Joseph, for eighty years you’ve led the nation
A blessing to the congregation
A man of God who saved our lives
Joseph, here are the children of your children
What God has promised has been given
And you have seen it with your eyes
And now you’re saying…

I’m about to die
But God will visit you
And bring you up out of this land
To the land that He has promised
The promise to our fathers will draw near
I’m about to go
The way of all the earth
But you have got to know
That He will come for you
And when you finally go
Carry my bones up from here

Joseph, so many things that you have shown us
A faith that holds on to the promise
When no deliverance is near
Joseph, to whom the Lord has shown His favor
You sure remind us of our Savior
Could that be why He brought you here
And now you’re saying…

I'm about to die....

Follow the line, the line of promise
Through whom our God gave the Savior
Through every age, there on the page
We can remember their names

Adam and Seth, Enosh and Kenan
Mahalalel, Jared and Enoch
Then comes Methuselah, Lamech and Noah
Antediluvians, all.
Shem, Arpachshad, Shelah and Eber
Peleg and Reu and Serug
Nahor’s descendants were Terah and Abram
Abram the father of the faithful

Follow the line… follow the line…

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Judah
Perez and Hezron, Ram and Amminadab
Nashon and Salmon and Boaz and Obed
Jesse the father of David
Solomon, Rehoboam, Abijah and Asa
Jehoshaphat, Joram, Ahaziah Joash,
Amaziah, Uzziah and Jotham
Ahaz and son Hezekiah

Follow the line… follow the line…

Manasseh and Amon, Josiah, Jeconiah, Shealtiel
Zerub-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-
ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-babel
Abiud, Eliakim, Azor and Zadok
Achim, Eliud, Eleazar
Matthan and Jacob and Joseph the husband
Of Mary of whom came the Savior

Nile to blood, your mighty river
Frogs from the Nile tell you I will deliver
These gnats that are swarming you
Warning you, let My people go

Flies by the millions bury your home
Cattle are dying and the why is not unknown
Ashes to ashes to boils
Won’t you let My people go

Even the hardest heart can be shattered
When the hail grows large, falling like a hammer
When the locust devours everything that’s green
And the sun goes down into darkness
So thick you can feel it

Judgment day is dawned, you really should have known
From the serf out in the field to the Pharaoh on the throne
The life of your firstborn is over
Let My people go
The breath of your firstborn is snuffed out
Let My people go
The blood of your firstborn for My boys
Come on, let My people go

One silver plate; one hundred thirty shekels
One silver basin; seventy shekels
According to the shekel of the sanctuary
Full of fine flour mixed with oil
For a cereal offering

One golden dish, ten shekels; full of incense
One young bull, one ram
One male lamb a year old for a burnt offering
One male goat for a sin offering

And for the sacrifice of peace offerings;
Two oxen, five rams
Five male goats and five male lambs a year old
This never gets old!
Let’s do it again! (tomorrow)

Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun camp on the east side
Reuben, Simeon, and Gad camp on the south side
Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin camp on the west side
Dan, Asher, and Naphtali camp on the north side

Levi camps in the middle
He guards God’s tabernacle
God lives right in the center
And on every side
Israel abides
Israel met in the middle
To worship at God’s holy place
Then home to their tent and their tribe
By God’s design, forming the sign of the cross

We were slaves in Egypt, but God brought us along
We’re marching through the desert land
Six hundred thousand strong
We go to take possession of the place where we belong
The land of Canaan waits

For us to dispossess
The Hittites, the Girgashites
The Amorites, the Canaanites
The Perizzites, the Hivites
The Jebusites, the Mennonites
(Oops! Not the Mennonites!)
These other nations must be taken
The Hittites,the Girgashites
The Amorites, the Canaanites
The Perizzites, the Hivites
The Jebusites, and all their might
Will fall before the King of Kings
For He is with us

Though our foes are mighty, and number many more
Our God has said that we’ll be like
The sand along the shore
And all the land we tread, He said, is ours forevermore
The whole wide world awaits

For us to dispossess....

Rats and tumors we have made to represent our cities
We have sinned against the Lord and now we plead for pity
We thought we had won the war
We thought He was on the floor
Now we’re not so sure…oh

Rats and tumors we have made to represent our leaders
Such a fitting promenade is headed for our borders
We have done as we were told
‘Ere the day was very old
We did them up in gold… oh

Rats…we thought that we had conquered
Rats…we thought that Israel’s God would be no more
But here His hand was heavy and now we’re very sore
He fills us up with fear… get Him out of here!

Rats and tumors we have made, we hope He will receive them
Put them on a cart behind a cow and there we’ll leave them
If she takes them up from here
With this ark we’ve learned to fear
You will hear us cheer

Rats…we thought that we had conquered
Rats…we thought that Israel’s God would be no more
But here His hand was heavy and now we’re very sore
He fills us up with fear… get Him out of here!

Rats…He came, He saw, He conquered
Rats…and now our god is broken on the floor
For here His hand was heavy and we are very sore
And we need a change of gods here, that’s for sure!

Moab was Israel’s oppressor
With a bulk named Eglon running the joint
Eglon rose to hear a word from God
And now he knows; he’s gotten the point!

So may all Your enemies perish
But let the righteous shine like the sun
We are the friends of God and He will save us
Because we worship His Son

Towering up, Goliath roars out
And he won’t shut up
He makes us all shake
David slings and there is silence
Cause it’s hard to shout with a hole in your forehead

So may all Your enemies perish....

Abimelech killed all his brothers on a single stone
And called himself King
Turn about;
A single stone was sent to take him out
By the hand of a woman

Upper millstone falling down, falling down, falling down
Upper millstone falling down, crushed a serpent!
Yayyyy!

Abigail, wise and beautiful
Unlike Nabal, who was harsh and evil
Full of dread for the things he said
She knew that he was good as dead
Abigail wasted no time
Abigail took bread and took wine
And up on her donkey she rode
To meet David out on the road
And when he was found
She fell to the ground and said…

David, don’t do it!
Don’t cover your hands with blood
For God will build a house for you
And you need to glorify God
Let this grief be far from you
Give vengeance to the Lord
And when the Lord has dealt with you
The way that He has promised to
Remember me, remember me

David, don’t do it!
Don’t cover your hands with blood
For God will build a house for you
And you need to glorify God
Let this grief be far from you
Give vengeance to the Lord
And when the Lord has dealt with you
The way that He has promised to
Remember me, remember me
Remember me, please remember me

Ruins abound in our old home town
Broken timbers are charred
And the stones are shattered
Once holy ground has become a mound
For we treated the Lord
Like He never mattered

Seventy years we will be gone from here
Seventy years in a land not our own
Seventy years, according to His promise
Seventy years seems a life away

Build you a house, take a wife
Plant a garden, have a son
Have a daughter, may you multiply there
Pray for the peace of the place He will send you
For the Lord will defend you
If you trust in his care

Seventy years we will be gone from here
Seventy years in a land not our own
Seventy years, according to His promise
Seventy years seems a life away

Seventy years we will be gone from here
Seventy years in a land not our own
Seventy years, according to His promise
Seventy years seems a life-time away

Such a long way from our homeland
By the rivers of Babylon
There we sat down and we wept
When we remembered Zion
There we hung our harps in sorrow
There our captors bid us sing
Saying ‘"Give a song of Zion
Put a smile on and sing"

How shall we now sing the Lord’s song
In a land beyond the promise
If I lose you oh Jerusalem
May my right hand forget
If I fail now to remember you
Let my tongue be unemployed
If I do not lift Jerusalem
High above my chief joy

Lord You saw them, Lord You heard them
When Jerusalem fell
How they cried for its destruction
Like their father in hell
Blessed be the one who rids you
Of your children, of your future
Blessed be the one who pays you
In the way you deserve
Oh child of mighty Babylon
Whose destruction is for certain
Blessed be the one who pays you
In the way you deserve

Did you hear that message from the king of Persia?
He said the Lord of Heaven gave him a command
To build a house for Him up in Jerusalem
And all who worship the Lord
May God be with you, you can go!

Do you remember when we left Jerusalem
The prophet said it would be seventy years
The time has come and gone
It is a brand new dawn
And now we’re coming home
Coming up from here

You can go, your exile is over
Enter into the joy of the Lord
Time has come to show you favor
Now you need to know
Praise the Lord, you can go

Lyrics by Dewey Westra; 1931 Music from Geneva 1551
© Standing Committee for the publication of the Book of Praise of the Canadian Reformed Churches. Used By Permission.

As the hart about to falter
In its trembling agony
Longs for flowing streams of water
So, O God, I long for Thee
Yes, athirst for Thee I cry
God of life, O when shall I
Come again to stand before Thee
In Thy presence and adore Thee

Bitter tears of lamentation
Are my food by night and day
In my deep humiliation
“Where is now your God”, they say
Oh, my soul’s poured out in me
When I bring to memory
How the throngs I would assemble
Shouting praises in Thy temple

O my soul, why are you grieving
Why disquieted in me
Hope in God, your faith retrieving
He will still your refuge be
I again shall laud His grace
For the comfort of His face
He will show His help and favor
For He is my God and Savior

In the garden long ago
Adam wipes his plate, seals his fate and turns to go
There ain't no refuge in this place
From the consequent destruction of this race
But as he stumbles through his tears
Hope is falling on his ears
There'll come a King
Abraham looks up in the night
He sees the stars against the dark sky, many points of light
He thinks about the promise given
That all the nations on the earth would be blessed in him
And though his life would soon be done
He knew God would send a Son
Who would be King

For unto us a child is born and unto us a Son is given
He'll live and die and rise again and reign on high from heaven

David plays and David sings
And he can write and he can fight like anything
David rules his people well
He's clinging to a promise time will tell
A descendant of his own
Would forever hold his throne as the King

All this purpose divine to bring about a mystery
In the fullness of time
And now the rest is history
Our history

Joseph holds his little boy
He's just a baby but something more
These little hands, they're holding you
Come and see what God can do

For unto us a child is born....

I believe in God the Father Almighty
Maker of heaven and earth

And in Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, Our Lord
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
Born of the virgin Mary
Suffered under Pontius Pilate
Was crucified, dead, and buried
He descended into hell
The third day He rose again from the dead
He ascended into heaven
And sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty
From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead

I believe in the Holy Spirit
I believe a holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins
The resurrection of the body
And the life everlasting, amen