Felicia Patton is a lifelong Chicago native and worship leader at Urban Village Church. Felicia received an undergraduate degree from North Park University followed by two graduate degrees from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary.
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10
Chorus:
Give me a clean heart, so I may serve thee.
Lord fix my heart, so that I may be used by thee.
For I’m not worthy, of all these blessings.
Give me a clean heart, and I’ll follow thee.
Verse 1:
I’m not asking for the riches of the land,
I’m not asking for high men to know my name.
Please Lord give me a clean heart, so that I may follow thee.
Give me a clean heart, a clean heart, and I’ll follow thee.
Verse 2:
Sometimes I am up and sometimes I am down.
Sometimes I am almost level to the ground.
Please Lord give me a clean heart, so that I may follow thee.
Give me a clean heart, a clean heart, and I’ll follow thee.
(Give Me a Clean Heart by Dr. Margaret Douroux. The Faith We Sing, #2133.)
Busyness
I am constantly busy between running from rehearsal to rehearsal, learning new music, and preparing for the next service or performance. That is the life of every musician and worship leader. Just as pastors are called to be leaders of the flock, we too have to submit our lives to leading our congregations, while struggling at times to maintain our own spiritual life that is focused on God and God’s people.
Church leaders often follow the liturgical calendar (also known as the church year) as a way to keep focused on the triune nature of God through the biblical story. Each liturgical season points us toward the revelation of God, the incarnation of Christ, and the manifestation of the Holy Spirit. One of those liturgical seasons is Lent which lasts for forty days, not counting Sundays, symbolizing Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness and the preparations of his ministry. This season marks an opportunity each year for fasting, repentance, and a time of renewal for spiritual lives. It is not a journey we take alone. Many churches participate in fasts as a community, so that they may grow together; some start up initiatives to help their congregations give back to community; others add services of reflection where they can dive deeply into the Scriptures. These are all wonderful ways that we renew and offer our hearts, minds, and spirits during Lent.
I am constantly busy between running from rehearsal to rehearsal, learning new music, and preparing for the next service or performance.
Give Me A Clean Heart
The song, Give Me a Clean Heart, has always been a favorite of mine. For me this song functions as a prayer for renewed focus. While refocusing ourselves during the time of Lent, we may better commune with God and each other with greater intentionality. If we were honest, we would admit that monotonous day-to-day tasks prevent us from being attentive to interior silence, so that we can hear God. A clouded mind can be a distraction for worship leaders, causing them to plan worship as a part of a weekly checklist, rather than taking time to discern what the needs of the community are and what the Scripture is stating.
Source: kishasdailydevotional.com
I use songs for inspiration. I listen to a song, identify the things I like about it, and then try to figure out what the song is saying. Are there any lessons to learn? Are there any topics that I should look into more carefully? For me, working this way is great practice when I am vetting what music to use in worship. A song that has been particularly inspiring to me in this season is, Give Me a Clean Heart, by Dr. Margaret Douroux. Although this song is not new to me, it took on new life when I analyzed it through the lens of the Lenten themes that I see in the piece. The melody line is as beautiful as it is intentional to showcase the dichotomy between the action of “rising” and the longing for more of a relationship with Jesus. Instead of keeping the melody line true to lyrics with a literal rise to higher notes, the melody line drops at the end of the phrase, accentuating the need. That is about as far as I will go into score analysis, but the music major in me could not resist!
Four Themes
There were four themes that stood out as I analyzed the lyrics of this piece. Starting with the obvious, the question that can be raised is, “what is a clean heart?” I want to empty myself from any distractions; perhaps through fasting from anything that is clouding my connection to God or not allowing me to hear the voice of God. I can also clean my heart by allowing healing. Healing is needed in many different ways that includes careful attention to our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual lives. If we are not careful, anger can cloud decision-making. Additionally, healing from disappointment and loss is important to deal with and offers opportunities for growth and reflection. Directly connected to healing is the need of forgiveness for yourself and others. This might be a time to revisit things that may have hurt or harmed you. It could also be a time to reflect on the ways you may have hurt others. Two additional ways to have a clean heart are through humility and the act of surrendering. I often ask myself, why I make certain choices when I am leading. Is it because the Spirit led me to choose them, or is it to highlight myself? Am I grateful for the gifts that God has given me? Have I thanked and prayed to God today? Am I listening to what the Spirit is saying?
I want to empty myself from any distractions; perhaps through fasting from anything that is clouding my connection to God or not allowing me to hear the voice of God.
Prayer
The second theme of this song is that of prayer. The first verse speaks as if it were a prayer with the sole request of getting a clean heart. It is not attained through materialistic things but in a way that the composer can be “used” by Jesus. This is so important, as we need to pray not just for our own needs, but that we can be better stewards and leaders. Prayer can often be distracted or relegated to a task that we are to complete each day. Intentional prayer that displays our humility and gratefulness and asks for deliverance from our distractedness is when we truly focus on hearing the voice of God and not searching for a response to our individual needs.
Humanity
The third theme is humanity. Through this song, Dr. Margaret Douroux acknowledges her humanity and the limitations of human emotions. We are not perfect, and sometimes we need help in order to hear Jesus, but we acknowledge this and allow ourselves to clearly hear, see, and follow Christ. If our minds are not clear, if we do not acknowledge our mistakes, how can we ever grow? So in this time of renewal, what actions have you seen in yourself that need to change? Have you lashed out at anyone? How can you fix this?
Dr. Margaret Douroux acknowledges her humanity and the limitations of human emotions. We are not perfect, and sometimes we need help in order to hear Jesus…
Discipleship
The fourth theme is that of discipleship. How do you follow Jesus? Clean your heart from all of the distractions that do not allow you to hear Jesus’ will. This may not always be possible, or clear, but taking some time to renew ourselves can allow us time to refocus; not just focusing on what the next steps of our careers are or our deadlines, but giving ourselves some grace to admit that we too are followers of Christ who constantly need to rebuild our spiritual lives and that connection. Admitting my own humanity and limitations can actually be a relief to me. At times, serving in leadership can make us feel as though we cannot make mistakes while leading worship or while speaking publicly. This can sometimes make leadership like that of a coat that we wear in order to show our strength and perfectionism. However, we are not Christ, and we should take off our “coats” and focus as the composer states on having a “clean heart,” so that we can follow Jesus.
Source: superlative1.wordpress.com/
