I LOVE YOU LORD

          This worship chorus is simple and expresses the deep, sincere thoughts of one's heart.  I love you Lord and I lift my voice to worship you.  And our desire should be that our worship may be sweet in the Lord's ears and that He might accept our feeble efforts as a sweet, sweet sound. Oh, that this might be true.

          These words penned by Laurie Klein (née Brendemuehl, 1950) in 1976 are some of the most widely recorded in all of contemporary Christian worship.

          Klein, a native of Wisconsin, displayed musical talent and interest at a young age. Encouraged by her mother, she learned to play piano, autoharp, and guitar. She started writing songs at age 16, the first one titled "Loving Unconditionally." At age 24, she met and married Bill Klein while at Central Oregon Community College. Their life was simple and difficult, as they started a family with no money to spare. Laurie described "I Love You, Lord" as "a gift from heaven" – as the lines flowed effortlessly, one after the other

          Klein was a young mother, living in a small camper while her husband attended college. Isolated in the Oregon wilderness, she had no community, no nearby friends, and no local church body to call home. Making things worse, she did not drive, so she could not go visit friends or family who lived farther away than walking distance. Her loneliness drove her to invest more fully in her daily time of devotion to God. The song rose out of her daily quiet time in the morning before her toddler woke up. The words tumbled out of her mouth as she was quietly playing guitar. Recognizing that they had some merit, she quickly wrote them down

           Later, she sang the song for her husband, who suggested she play it for a local pastor and some musicians. The song found its way to Jack Hayford's Church on the Way in Van Nuys, California, and was recorded by several musicians of the budding Christian music scene, including Buck and Annie Herring (2nd Chapter of Acts). The song gained greater recognition

          There is something very honest about this song, something that continues to resonate, quietly, through the forests and deserts, hilltops and valleys of life. There is something theologically rich about it—the central ethic of our faith: love of God. Even when we don't feel it. Even when God is silent. Maybe that's when God is listening. May our words be a "sweet, sweet sound" in that ea r.

 

I love You, Lord

And I lift my voice

To worship You

Oh, my soul, rejoice

Take joy, my King

In what You hear

May it be a sweet, sweet sound

In Your ear

Listen to it here.  SWEET