JW Cooper Jr. Ministries

Behind The Song

Behind the Song: Lord I Thank You

“Man, I need a fast, upbeat song for this project” I remember thinking as I drove home from the studio. All of the songs at that point had been slow, with the exception of “God Will Deliver”. I asked the Lord for guidance and inspiration to pep things up a bit. I cannot remember exactly how the song came into being…it just sort of appeared.

Always a fan of classic and southern rock, I still play some of those same guitar licks when I am practicing and just sitting around home “jamming”. One evening I was playing a riff that reminded me of an old Doobie Brother’s song, but somehow was different and fresh to me. I thought to myself that this rhythm would make a great song…upbeat…new…just what I needed. As I began to search through my mind for some starting place for the lyrics, and some direction for the song, I realized how thankful I was for where I was in my life.

Less than a year before that day, it looked like things were over for me. Yet here I was in the office of my home, picking a guitar, with seemingly not a care in the world. Oh the joys of walking in God’s light and His love. When we really put ourselves into it, troubles just fade away! Sure, there were still bills to pay and trials to face…I don’t think we can go through life without those things. Yet in all this, I had a fresh sense of being and perspective in my life. Like Job when he said “Though He slay me…” I felt much the same. I knew that no matter what happened in my life, God was in control and looking out for my best interests.

The song began to take shape as a song of thankfulness and appreciation for everything from a breath of air to the situations surrounding my life. I tried to structure the song around the “model prayer” offered by Jesus. First there was thanksgiving, then praise and acknowledgement, and finally a request. How many times do we fail in this simple pattern? So often we fall to out knees to ask of God when we should just fall on our faces and thank Him for what He has already done for us…or merely for being Who He is.

We put three guitars on this one in the studio. I used three different settings on my guitar and three different settings on my amp. I wanted that diversity I guess you could say; the feeling and sound of three guitar players meshing as one. The picking is nothing fancy by guitar-picker standards, but it fits the song. As usual, Laine Debrow swung for the fence with the bass guitar arrangement. I had a blast laying the tracks for this song. To me it was a “jam session” with a song of praise that had to be sung.

I remember singing this song once in a church that was half full of older folk and half full of youngsters. The youngsters sat yawning on one side of the church as I sang the classics and the hymns and the older folks worshipped along. When the music for “Lord I Thank You” started, with the over-drive guitars, the kids all sat up as one. The older folks initially drew back in shock, but when they noticed the young people sat up, they leaned forward and listened. It was an eye-opening experience for me as a singer. I learned a lot that day about reading a crowd and varying the song selection…within GOD’S parameters of course.

When I think back on that day I often chuckle because I actually saw some of the older folk physically recoil. The music for the song is really not heavy by any standards; yet it was a far cry from what they were expecting. In addition to the material God gives to me, I like to be able to offer music “from Kenny Hinson to Casting Crowns”. I feel like you can appeal to a broader crowd that way and let’s face it…classic gospel songs are classic for a reason…they were just flat out GOOD! And today’s hits will be tomorrow’s classics. I hope to be singing them for a very long time.

I thank the Lord for what He has done for me; from the smallest things to the largest things. Me, me me…you hear a lot of that in my writings don’t you? The reason for that is simple. I don’t have to tell you “something about something someone told me about something”. When I tell you what has happened to me in my life, I am telling you straight up, from the horse’s mouth as they say; and these facts can be personally verified. As a result of the decisions I made as a young adult, I have had a rough row to hoe at times. If sharing that story can help someone “make it”, then I will gladly share it while I have breath. Not being one to waste an opportunity, since you have read this far, please allow me tell you story about a man who thought he had the world by the tail:

He had a great family, wonderful job, and all the trappings of modern-day life. He had friends, hobbies, and plenty to keep him occupied. He had a three-piece band that was beginning to gain popularity among local circles. He had plans and schemes…hopes and dreams. People around him thought he had finally arrived at whatever place in his life he was heading for. The road ahead stretched out full of promises and opportunities.

What you have just read was from the outside looking in. Now let’s look from the inside:

Of all the things this man “possessed”, one thing he did not have was Christ in his life. He had known the joy of serving the Lord years before, but he simply did not have time for it anymore. In all this, he felt down deep inside he was living on borrowed time…one day he would have to pay the piper.

This man was miserable. His marriage was on the rocks. He was afraid of death and dying for he knew what his fate would be. Playing gigs with the short-lived band allowed him a chance to “accomplish” something in his eyes. He knew he was holding on by a slim thread and that was slipping away fast. He thought he was losing his mind, and satan was doing his best to help him accomplish that. He took prescriptions for his nerves, for his anxiety, and for his arthritis. He couldn’t sleep at night. On the job, he was a terror to those who had to work with him on a day to day basis, never knowing what mood he might find himself in.

He knew what people thought…and yet he could not seem to stop the fast downward spiral his life had become. He simply convinced himself things weren’t as bad as they looked. Often he could hear that still small voice asking him to come back; asking him if he had had enough. He kept ignoring it and somehow the voice got softer and softer.

One day when things could no longer go on the way they were, he found himself in a much different place. He was alone. He was financially crippled. What reputation he had was destroyed. He was a laughingstock. He was a fool. He knew that what sanity he had left was leaving him as fast as his family and friends. All he had left it seemed was his immediate family and the job he had put so much of himself into over the years.

His emotions ran the gamut from denial to disgust. Who was to blame? He blamed her, he blamed himself, he blamed his parents, and he blamed God. Finally, knowing all along he was on the run from God, he turned it over. He knew his life was a mess and there would be no easy way out yet he also knew that he could not continue the way things were. He found God waiting where he had left Him, and Christ standing with open arms to receive him.

He realized that just as God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils that first breath of life, EVERY breath he took was from God. All those years of living out of fellowship were a gift from God. He realized that had he came to his sense sooner, things would have worked out much differently yet here he was; dealing with the way things had become. He realized that God in His infinite wisdom and unending grace had decided to give this would-be loser a second chance.

Those coworkers noticed something different. His immediate family noticed something different. The town noticed. The community noticed. Most importantly, Christ noticed. He now gave himself to serving the Lord and spreading the gospel, fulfilling the calling he had run from for so long.

I would love to tell you that his family came home, his friends came back, and they all lived happily ever-after; but you and I know that didn’t happen. What did happen however has been so much more rewarding and I would not change it for the world. So much good come from that bad so many years ago. One day, like the Greater Vision song says, I will get to see the faces of the ones who have been affected positively as a result of what I went through; and as a result of the commitment to serve the Lord that was made so many years ago in the bedroom of that drilling rig. I am nothing without Him. It is ALL about Him and in Him and for that I say, “Lord, I thank you…”

Lord I Thank You
© JW Cooper, Jr.
Three Green Nanners Music, BMI

Lord I thank You- for giving me the air I breathe, the sunlight and the morning breeze; the life I’ve come to love

And Lord I thank You for setting me free when I was bound, for reaching out when I was down; and picking me back up

And Lord I thank You from the bottom of my heart When I’m searchin’ for a Friend, You’re never very far Lord I thank You

Lord I praise You- for all You are and all You’ve been, my Lord my Savior, my best Friend; my all in all each day

And Lord I praise You, for Your mercy and Your grace, You sent Someone to take my place, and Lord I’ll never be the same

And Lord I praise You from the bottom of my heart You’re always there right on time to wrap me in Your arms; Lord I praise You

Lord I need You- more than the air I breathe, more than the morning breeze; more than life itself

And Lord I need You for all I am and all I’ll be, Lord you are my everything; You’re my very present help

And Lord I need You from the bottom of my heart Lead me guide me and direct my path, to get to where You are

Lord I need You