Christian Music Appreciation: I Live To Know You

Hello everyone! Welcome back to my ongoing series called Christian Music Appreciation (CMA). Today we will take a close look at an old worship song from the 1990s titled I Live To Know You which was released years before social media started. As of this writing, the official video of a live performance of the song is available for viewing at the YouTube channel of Hillsong Worship.

Written by Darlene Zschech, I Live To Know You was part of Hillsong Worship’s 1997 album titled All Things Are Possible.

Now we can start with the lyrics of the song presented below for your reference…

Standing in Your presence

Lord, my heart and life are changed

Just to love You and to live to

See Your beauty and Your grace

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Heaven and earth cry out Your name

Nations rise up and seek Your face

And Your Kingdom is established

As I live to know You more

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Now I will never be the same

Spirit of God, my life You’ve changed

And I’ll forever sing Your praise

I live to know You, Lord

I live to know You, Lord

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You’ve called me, I will follow

Your will for me I’m sure

Let Your heart beat feel my heart’s cry

Let me live to serve Your call

Now we can start analyzing parts of the lyrics and find out how they are related to the ultimate authority of reference, the Holy Bible (God’s Word). Standing in Your presence, Lord, my heart and life are changed, Just to love You and to live to, See Your Beauty and Your grace – These lyrics easily relate to our true purpose as Christians. Being creations of the Heavenly Father, we are truly meant to praise Him, glorify Him, love Him and take our rightful place by Him. We were never made to be separated from God. Follow the scriptures below…

This people I have formed for Myself, They shall declare My praise.

Isaiah 43: 21 (NKJV)

“But the hour is coming, and now is when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

John 4: 23-24 (NKJV)

Praise the name of the LORD; Praise Him, O you servants of the LORD! You who stand in the house of the LORD, In the courts of the house of our God, Praise the LORD, for the LORD is good; Sing praises to His name, for it is pleasant.

Psalm 135: 1-3 (NKJV)

Of course, before people can enter His kingdom, everyone needs to be born again. For the newcomers reading this, this is about submitting yourselves to the Lord, ask for forgiveness and then making the sacred decision to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Getting saved and become new creations under the Lord are what the line Lord, my heart and life are changed is about. Learn from the following scripture below…

Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

John 3: 3 (NKJV)

Now, if anyone is enfolded into Christ, he has become an entirely new creation. All that is related to the old order has vanished. Behold, everything is fresh and new.

2 Corinthians 5: 17 (TPT)

Next lines to analyze – Nations rise up and seek Your face, And Your Kingdom is established. These lyrics symbolize the realization of people who decide to seek the Lord and be willing to do His will instead of their own will. It is a fact that we all live in a screwed-up world because Satan (a long-time loser who is immortal because Adam gave him dominion by betraying God) continues to deceive a lot of people trapping them with unbelief, religion, idols, traditions, rituals, fear, strife, violence, poverty and more of what is worldly. It was with the victory of Lord Jesus over Satan that humanity got saved and brought real hope to everyone. It is up to people to decide to rise up, seek the Lord, submit themselves to Him and get saved. Once saved, they will become true children of God and be willing to do His will as He has a plan for each and everyone! Learn from the scriptures below…

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Jeremiah 29: 11 (NKJV)

Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever, Amen.

Hebrews 13: 20 (NKJV)

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Matthew 6: 33 (NKJV)

Next lines to analyze – Now I will never be the same, Spirit of God, my life You’ve changed, And I’ll forever sing Your praise, I live to know You, Lord. While the first three lines are connected with Isaiah 43: 21, John 4: 23-24, Psalm 135: 1-3 and other related verses in the Holy Bible, the line I live to know You, Lord is itself highly significant and very in-depth.

For people who have yet to be saved, knowing is based on the academic approach of this world which itself is not spiritual. To know the Lord truly is not limited to just reading books…it is about having an established personal relationship with Him and having fellowship with Him by means of privately praying in tongues to Him, being totally faithful to Him and living on with the Holy Bible as the ultimate authority of reference of their lives. To know the Lord truly involves personal interaction and communication with faith in Him as the foundation. Of course, anyone who has yet to really know the Lord must first decide to open his or her heart to Him and get saved (born again). Be open to the Holy Spirit. Learn from the following scriptures below… 

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Romans 12: 2 (NKJV)

We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.

1 John 4: 6-9 (NKJV)

“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel and those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”

Jeremiah 31: 33 (NKJV)

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”

John 14: 26 (NKJV)

God revealed to the prophets that their ministry was not for their own benefit but for yours. And now, you have heard these things from the evangelists who preached the gospel to you through the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—the gospel containing wonderful mysteries that even the angels long to get a glimpse of.

1 Peter 1: 12 (TPT)

Finally, the next lines to be analyzed are as follows – You’ve called me, I will follow, Your will for me I’m sure, Let Your heart beat feel my heart’s cry, Let me live to serve Your call. It is very clear we are all God’s creations and long before we were even created, He made plans for each and every one of us. Long before we were even born, the whole world and humanity declined since Adam rebelled against God who later sent His Son Lord Jesus to save humanity and defeat Satan. As creations of God, it should not be surprising that He calls out to us. The calls He made, we must answer immediately and with the utmost priority. Learn from the scriptures below…

So never be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor be embarrassed over my imprisonment, but overcome every evil by the revelation of the power of God! He gave us resurrection life and drew us to himself by his holy calling on our lives. And it wasn’t because of any good we have done, but by his divine pleasure and marvelous grace that confirmed our union with the anointed Jesus, even before time began! This truth is now being unveiled by the revelation of the anointed Jesus, our life-giver, who has dismantled death, obliterating all its effects on our lives, and has manifested his immortal life in us by the gospel.

2 Timothy 1: 8-10 (TPT)

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who call you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are not the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

1 Peter 2: 9-10 (NKJV)

So there you have it. The lyrics written by Darlene Zschech for I Live To Know You are truly holy in accordance to what was written in the Word of God. Very clearly Zschech, who leads Hope Unlimited Church (HopeUC) with her husband Mark, was anointed by the Lord to compose this song during her time with Hillsong Church. When it comes to the music, I Live To Know You is played with a medium pace and is soothing to listen to. It also makes for easy singing and praising to the Lord.

In ending this piece, posted below for your faith and viewing is the official Hillsong Worship video of a live performance of I Live To Know You. Enjoy it, share it to others, prioritize God and His Word and remember to always be the fearless and aggressive church of Lord Jesus!

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