[Lyrics: / / [Verse 1] / Lead me onward (Onward) / Lead me onward (Onward) / I will trust in you / I will trust in you / Lead me onward (Onward) / Lead me onward (Onward) / I will trust in you / I will trust in you / / [Versre 2] / Lead us onward (Onward) / Lead us onward (Onward) / Through the valleys / Through the deserts / To quiet waters (Waters) / Lead us onward (Onward) / Lead us onward (Onward) / Through the valleys / Through the deserts / To quiet waters (Waters) / / [Chorus] / Fall down on your knees / Before the lamb / No other is worthy / All good comes from his mighty hand / Fall down on your knees / Before the lamb / No other is worthy / All good comes from his mighty hand] /
Though it’s got some good ideas, such as a variegated journey (seasons of the soul) we need to be led on, they are in a rather fuzzy setting. It wouldn’t make my Top 40 for various reasons.
[I will trust in you] is a bit of a boast, and I tend to ask myself, Will I
really trust in him—whoever
he is? Personally I prefer the subjunctive: I would trust in him; I hope to; I wish to. But will I? Even Peter denied his lord.
Perhaps the next Q is, Who is he? It’s a bit of a yuyu song, but carries the idea that it’s about Jesus (the lamb). Arguably though it’s the spirit who leads us, since co-sent in Christ’s name, indirectly Jesus leads us, leads to towards his father. But arguably we should not ask the lord or the spirit for anything (Jhn.16:23). “Lead Me Gently Home” (Johnny Cash), is better on this.
That first bit is request-prayer. From singing to, I guess the lord, by [Fall down on your knees] we switch to singing to each other. What, in the middle of prayer do we turn from the lord to chatter to each other? When we switch like this do we really understand prayer? I heard one longterm Christian suddenly realise that a prayer-song actually sounded like it could be a prayer—many of us go through the motions of singing prayer-songs without praying, without visualising to whom our words are formally towards. IMO songs should be
all towards deity, or
all towards ourselves.
[Before the lamb / No other is worthy]. This at least is clear: the father is not worthy—worthy of what is not said—nor is the spirit. In fact, since Jesus the lamb is merely the carnate mode of God’s noncarnate son, the noncarnate son is not worthy (of whatever), for [no other is worthy]. The songwriter simply didn’t think it through. It’s not exactly a trinitarian song, is it, perhaps tending rather to Sabellianism? Sabellianism would hold that none other is worthy because
apropos deity, there is no other: ie the lord is the same
person as the father and the spirit—one person; three
masks.
https://archive.org/details/singings-gone-global-exploring-christian-songs is an interesting free-access book on Christian lyricology which I’ve read a few times. It covers these ideas.