Throwback: How Deep The Father's Love For Us - Cameron and Kelly
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“It would probably have been me in that crowd, shouting with everyone else ‘crucify him’.”
The song “How Deep The Father’s Love For Us” was written by a British songwriter, Stuart Townend. Originally from West Yorkshire, he started to play the piano from a young age and started writing music from age 22.
Townend spoke about the genesis of the song: “I’d been meditating on the cross, and in particular what it cost the Father to give up his beloved Son to a torturous death on a cross. And what was my part in it? Not only was it my sin that put him there, but if I’d lived at that time, it would probably have been me in that crowd, shouting with everyone else ‘crucify him’. It just makes his sacrifice all the more personal, all the more amazing, and all the more humbling.
As I was thinking through this, I just began to sing the melody, and it flowed in the sort of way that makes you think you’ve pinched it from somewhere! So the melody was pretty instant, but the words took quite a bit of time, reworking things, trying to make every line as strong as I could.”
Townend also remarked on why he wrote about "How Deep The Father's Love For Us":
"The danger now is that we are so focused on the experience our worship can become self-seeking and self-serving. When all of our songs are about how we feel and what we need, we’re missing the point. There is a wonderful, omnipotent God who deserves our highest praise, and how we feel about it is in many ways irrelevant! I want to encourage the expression of joy, passion and adoration, but I want those things to be the by-product of focusing on God – I don’t want them to become the subject matter. I’m trying to write songs that refer to us as little as possible, and to Him as much as possible!"
So on to the video…
Cameron Collins is an accomplished singer and musician, who completed a Masters in Production in Popular Music and was formerly part of the critically acclaimed acapella quartet, Blessed Voices. Here they render a beautiful acoustic version of the Stuart Townend classic 'How Deep The Father's Love for Us', a true modern-day hymn.
Lyrics
How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure!
That He should give His only Son,
To make a wretch His treasure.
How great the pain of searing loss!
The Father turns His face away;
As wounds which marred the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory.
How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure!
That He should give His only Son,
To make a wretch His treasure.
How great the pain of searing loss!
The Father turns His face away;
As wounds which marred the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory.
Behold the man upon a cross:
My sin upon His shoulders;
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers.
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished;
His dying breath has brought me life:
I know that it is finished.
I will not boast in anything:
No gifts, no power, no wisdom;
But I will boast in Jesus Christ:
His death and resurrection.
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer;
But this I know with all my heart:
His wounds have paid my ransom.
Why should I gain from his reward?
I cannot give an answer;
But this I know with all my heart:
His wounds have paid my ransom.