Old Songs Through New Eyeballs

We have this song in our family.

It’s a theme song of sorts. My husband first heard it over 10 years ago now, at a Youth Conference in Toronto. He brought back the CD, played it for my prolific-worship-leading twin sister who sat down, with prolific-piano-playing mother and figured out all the music. Then they introduced it to our friends, our church, our college, and hundreds of other people along the way.

She and my younger sister sang it at my wedding. It was played at Isabel’s baptism, it will be played at Truman’s and it has been sung countless times, round campfires, the old piano in the house I grew up in, and with a group of people around the death bed of my beloved grandfather. It has a lot of power to us, it binds us together.

With all that background in place, Isabel asked us to play it for her in the car this morning. We did.

Here are some of the the lyrics:

God of Jacob (Give Us Clean Hands)
We bow our hearts, we bend our knees
O Spirit come make us humble
We turn our eyes from evil things
O Lord we cast down our idols

Give us clean hands give us pure hearts
Let us not lift our souls to another
Give us clean hands, give us pure hearts
Let us not lift our souls to another

O God let us be a generation that seeks
That seeks Your face, O God of Jacob
O God let us be a generation that seeks
That seeks Your face, O God of Jacob


She starts strong, sings every word, on keep in time. Somewhere though the second line of the verse and says, “I have to cast down my eyeballs!”

Huh?(ME: Muffling giggling)

Izzo: “O I cast down my eyeballs all the time!”

Eric: Do you cast down your idols?

Izzo (indignantly): “No, we have to cast out our eyeballs.”

She’s three, and gets words mixed up. Hey I’m (almost) 26 and I get words mixed up. It makes me think of that old VH1 show where they debunk lines of songs that everyone sings wrong (Think: “Hold me closer, Tony Danza).

So, have a wonderful day and don’t forget to cast down your eyeballs!
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