Here I Am Lord

In 1979, Dan Schutte, a composer of Catholic liturgical music, wrote a hymn entitled “Here I am Lord,” based on words from the prophet Isaiah. Immensely popular among Catholics, it is also sung in many Protestant churches. In 2013 it was named the fifth most popular hymn in Britain.

Select this link to listen.

The words from Isaiah are simple, powerful, beautiful.

Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.” Isaiah 6:8.

It is very easy to understand that the Lord is calling each one of us. And we can picture ourselves responding to Him, “Send me.”

It seems so simple, doesn’t it? There is, though, more to this than most people realize. They do not know, or do not think about, the mission that the Lord was calling Isaiah to perform.

And He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.'” Isaiah 6:9.

Isaiah then asks the Lord, “Lord, how long?” The answer from the Lord speaks of hard things.

And He answered: “Until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant, the houses are without a man, the land is utterly desolate.” Isaiah 6:11.

If we say to the Lord “send me”, we need to realize that we are committing to the hard as well as to the easy. Otherwise, it is little more than superficial enthusiasm, an enthusiasm described in the Gospels in the parable of the sower by the seeds that fell on hard ground.

“These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time. Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word’s sake, immediately they stumble.” Mark 16-17.

There are many hard things spoken of in Isaiah, because in a deeper sense it is a description of what is truly involved in being sent by the Lord. To go where He sends us involves giving up things we love, things that are selfish. It is difficult.

With His help though, the journey becomes easier. Gradually we draw closer to the Lord. In the very next chapter of Isaiah, following descriptions of many hard things, we are given a beautiful prophecy, a prophecy of the coming of the Lord Himself.

Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14.

Immanuel in Hebrew means “God with us.” When the Lord sends us and we agree to go, we do not really walk alone. We may feel as if we are alone, but as we progress we come to see, we come to feel, that He is with us. And He was with us all the time.