Take My Life and Let It Be
Take my life and let it be
consecrated, Lord, to thee.
Take my moments and my days;
let them flow in endless praise,
let them flow in endless praise.
Lyrics by Frances R. Havergal
Music by Henri A. C. Malan
A few months ago I was asked to write a piano arrangement on the theme of “continual sacrifice.” I searched an American hymnal for days until I found a hymn that perfectly matched the theme at hand: “Take My Life and Let It Be.” I had not heard it in Romanian before, so to me it was a brand new hymn. Now there’s a beautiful Romanian translation in this new hymnal. I meditated on the lyrics of this hymn as I was writing my piano arrangement. I noticed that is was song of continual repentance and sanctification, each verse depicting a new way of offering ourselves as a living sacrifice to the Lord.
In the first verse of this hymn the author offers her life to God as a sacrifice, a consecrated offering, similarly to the offerings that God’s people brought in the Old Testament. The difference, though, is that while in the Old Testament sacrifices were mostly part of an annual Jewish festival (The Day of Atonement), today God wants us to sacrifice our lives to Him every day, more specifically, every moment of every day– “Take my moments and my days.”
Throughout this hymn the author asks the Lord to use every part of her body for Him – her hands, her feet, her voice, her lips, her money, her intellect, her will, her heart, her love, and ultimately her entire self. In doing so, the author surrenders every aspect of her earthly life in the Lord’s service. Her hands and feet are to be moved swiftly “at the impulse of Thy love.” The voice and lips are to be used to sing the King’s glory and to share God’s holy word with others. Moreover, the author surrenders her wealth and her intellect – two very powerful assets – and offers them in sacrifice to the Lord so that they may be used according to his own wisdom: “Take my silver and my gold… Take my intellect and use every power as Thou shalt choose.” In the fifth verse the author surrenders her will to the Lord and her heart becomes His royal throne: “Take my will and make it Thine; it shall be no longer mine. Take my heart it is Thine own; it shall be thy royal throne.” Finally, in verse six the author surrenders her entire self to the Lord. Having listed her hands, feet, voice, intellect, ultimately God wants us to surrender our entire selves to Him – “Take myself, and I will be ever, only, all for thee.”
While this hymn ought to be the motto of every believer, we can’t deny the fact that it’s in fact difficult to surrender every aspect of our lives to the Lord. We are still affected by the fall – by sin and by death. Temptation is everywhere. We are distracted from God’s word. We forget to pray. We forget what it means to be a living sacrifice. So even though we can acknowledge (at least on an intellectual level) that we are continually being sanctified by the Holy Spirit, we are still battling our sinful corruption on a daily basis.
In this piano arrangement I wanted to depict the tension between our earthly flesh and God's perfect design for humanity. You will hear this tension in the two-against-three rhythm (starting in measure 7). This tension is heard throughout the first two verses. The melody is first heard in the right hand – imagine offering one aspect of your life to the Lord. Then the melody is heard in the left hand – imagine offering another aspect of your life to the Lord. But yet, the sinful corruption is with us, reflected in the two-against-three rhythm. Finally, you hear a modulation. I think of it as our passing from sin to perfection. And then in the last verse there is no more tension. The rhythm of the melody and harmony match perfectly in block chord fashion. This is to illustrate our future heavenly sinless state, when we will no longer be pulled down by a corrupt, sinful flesh. A place of perfect harmony between God and his people.
