If you've found your way here, you may already know that my name is Bill and I enjoy writing songs about God. If you did not know that, well now you do. I hope to be faithful with the songs I write. I'm not sure I know how to do that, but I think this website is a start. It contains the lyrics, chord charts, mp3's, even the stories behind the songs. And it is all free to you. So look around. Enjoy. And thanks for stopping by.
(back to album) / (back to music) The Joy of Knowing Thee
download chord chart // download mp3 (verse 1) Lord, my one delight And my greatest joy Is in knowing my Christ And hearing Thy voice
Precious to my soul By my All, be my Only Chains of pride now fall In the joy of knowing Thee
(verse 2) Oft affections wane And my spirit strays Lord, I pray for Your reins And fall on Your grace
May this wandering heart Lord, by Your stubborn mercy Ne’er again depart From the joy of knowing Thee
(verse 3) And when darkness falls Your presence seems far Still my peace in all Is knowing Who You are
You’re a God Who is close Even when silent seeming Be it weak, still my boast Is the joy of knowing Thee
(verse 4) Christ, unspeakable Like nothing compare Now my spirit soars In blessed affair
Waves of joy now roll Like a well overflowing Springing up from my soul This great joy of knowing Thee
I wrote this song after encountering a woman named Jane Crewdson.
Jane Crewdson (1809-1863) lived with her husband, Thomas, in Manchester, England.
I stumbled across her work on cyberhymnal and immediately fell in love with her lyrics. Their depth and beauty was undeniable; but what struck me was that each of her songs seemed to contain a touch of darkness. She wrote about the hard truths of God and faith, and did so in a way that moves the soul.
I have often heard that there are not enough laments sung in contemporary worship settings. While this may be true, laments are equally hard to come by in churches that worship from the pages of your average hymnal, as well. That is why the work of Jane Crewdson caught my attention.
To write words that lift up God as God; that glorify Him and honor Him and praise Him for all His goodness...and to do so in light of sorrow and grief and hardship...is not an easy thing to do. She not only succeeded in doing that, but did it with, as I mentioned, such depth and beauty. It is incredible.
She died after a long illness in 1863. Posthumously, a book of her lyrics and poetry, titled "The Little While and Other Poems", was published. It is incredibly rare, but my wonderful wife found a copy online and purchased it for me.
After reading poem after poem and drinking in the richness of her words, I was inspired to pen a hymn of my own.
I actually stumbled across the melody of this song accidentally. I was mindlessly plunking away notes on my glockenspiel while having a conversation with my wife. I wasn't paying attention to what I was playing, but then something I played grabbed me, and I thought, "Hmm. I like that." I ran downstairs, grabbed my guitar and began to write "The Joy of Knowing Thee".
Some songs come quickly, others take a lot of work. This song took a lot of work...months, in fact...but I am very happy with the outcome.
It may not be as good as the songs of Jane Crewdson, but really...no song I ever write will be.
