Rich Mullins: Hold Me Jesus

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Rich Mullins: Hold Me Jesus

Rich Mullins has written plenty of songs that have been used in contemporary Catholic/Christian services such as “Awesome God” and “Sometimes by Step” to name a couple, but the song that I will look at today is called “Hold Me Jesus”. I was able to hear a member of Rich Mullins band (Rick Elias) play this number at a local coffee house several years back. He confirmed that it was written during a difficult time for Rich (a personal friend), and his solo acoustic version really tore at the heartstrings of those in the club that evening. Here are the lyrics, and there are a few versions available online if you’d like to listen to the tune.

Hold Me Jesus

Well, sometimes my life Just don’t make sense at all
When the mountains look so big And my faith just seems so small

So hold me Jesus, ’cause I’m shaking like a leaf
You have been King of my glory Won’t You be my Prince of Peace

And I wake up in the night and feel the dark
It’s so hot inside my soul I swear there must be blisters on my heart

So hold me Jesus, ’cause I’m shaking like a leaf
You have been King of my glory Won’t You be my Prince of Peace

Surrender don’t come natural to me
I’d rather fight You for something I don’t really want
Than to take what You give that I need
And I’ve beat my head against so many walls
Now I’m falling down, I’m falling on my knees

And this Salvation Army band Is playing this hymn
And Your grace rings out so deep It makes my resistance seem so thin

So hold me Jesus, ’cause I’m shaking like a leaf
You have been King of my glory Won’t You be my Prince of Peace

You have been King of my glory Won’t You be my Prince of Peace

Lyrics by Rich Mullins 1993

We seem to turn to prayer more often when things are getting tough for us personally, or when a loved one is ill or during a national trajedy. In the song Hold Me Jesus by Rich Mullins, you can see that he was going through a tough time personally. Whether some type of addiction or trouble on his heart, you can hear him calling out for his Prince of Peace to ease his pain. He really makes Jesus come to life as he askes Him to “hold me”. You can picture the tenderness of a loving and strong Jesus holding a very weak and vulnerable man. The physical touch is something that I don’t imagine very often in prayer, but the image is powerful to me. In the bridge he writes that it’s hard for him to surrender, that he would rather fight it out with God. Then he hears something, a hymn, which lowers his resistance. We know that this is the gift of grace that he writes about. It is a gift, it is free and always there, we just have to be open to it and open our hearts to it in order to receive it. And how many times do we have to hear a message to actually “hear” it.

I know that as men (or stubborn women) we may find it hard to ask for help and may think that we can do it on our own. But such is not the case. We need to get in the habit of asking for God’s help and His grace every day. Not just when circumstances arise that may need a little more attention. Let’s make a commitment, myself included, to ask God for the grace to get through each day no matter what lies ahead. And if you happen to be in a situation where you are in the dark, shaking and sweating and fearing the worst and beating your head against a wall. Remember to reach out for the grace that God has in store for you, and know that no matter what, he will be there to hold you in His arms as long as you need.