I'll Walk With God

I'll walk with God from this day on.
His helping hand I'll lean upon.
This is my prayer, my humble plea,
May the Lord be ever with me.

There is no death, tho' eyes grow dim.
There is no fear when I'm near to Him.
I'll lean on Him forever
And He'll forsake me never.

He will not fail me
As long as my faith is strong,
Whatever road I may walk along.

I'll walk with God, I'll take His hand.
I'll talk with God, He'll understand.
I'll pray to Him, each day to Him
And He'll hear the words that I say.

His hand will guide my throne and rod
And I'll never walk alone
While I walk with God.

Words by Paul Francis Webster
Music by Nicholas Brodszky

This song means a lot to me for many different reasons. My first recollection of this song was as a child when I heard it in a movie called, "The Student Prince". My family watched this movie often, as it was one of my Dad's most favorite videos. Whenever the movie would get to the part where Mario Lanza sings this song, my dad's beautiful tenor voice would join chorus with Mario's - but my dad would never make it through the song without getting choked up. When sneaking a quick glance at my dad, I would see tears streaming down his face and his eyes filled with emotion. From that day on, these words have stirred the depths of my heart.

Each word in the song reminds me of how completely powerful God is, and how much I need Him. So often I wander down my own road, making my own plans, leaning on my own understanding, then things turn sour and I wonder how in the world I got in such a mess. Then the Lord gently reminds me, sometimes through a song like this: was I walking with Him? Was my faith in Him strong? Was I leaning on His helping hand? Often the answer is no. My fickle heart had turned inward again; my mind had become filled with worry over things that I could not control; my prideful spirit had been blinded into believing that only my purposes and my goals were important. Then, Colossians 3 reminded me of what I'm called to; "Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above... not on earthly things." God's plans are so much bigger than mine, and if I am to exemplify Christ in my life then I must also sacrifice my own desires and submit to the perfect will of God. This week I learned a valuable lesson: A heart that is truly yielded to the Lord is a heart filled with peace and contentedness, regardless of the situation.

"'Now then,' said Joshua, 'throw away the foreign gods that are among you and yield your hearts to the LORD, the God of Israel.' And the people said to Joshua, 'We will serve the LORD our God and obey him.' " Joshua 24:23-24