All I Owe
Words by Robert M. McCheyne and Matthew S. Smith. Music by Matthew S. Smith. © 2003 Detuned Radio Music (ASCAP) CCLI #4486385

When this passing world is done
When the Dawn has fully come,
When I stand with You in glory
In salvation’s finished story
Then, Lord, shall I fully know—
Not til then, how much I owe*

Chorus:
All I owe You paid for me
From all I owe I’ve been set free
And all I owe proves Your great mercy to me

When I stand before Your throne,
Dressed in beauty not my own,
When I see You as You are,
Love You with unsinning heart,
Then Lord, shall I fully know—
Not till then, how much I owe.

Chosen not for good in me,
Wakened up from wrath to flee,
Hidden in my Savior’s side,
By the Spirit sanctified,
Teach me, Lord, here on earth to show,
By my love, how much I owe.

* I altered the lyrics of the first stanza a bit. The original goes like this:

When this passing world is done
When has sunk yon glaring sun,
When I stand with You in glory
Looking o’er life’s finished story
Then, Lord, shall I fully know—
Not til then, how much I owe

I think these lyrics are okay, but I have a couple reasons for changing them. This is a song about redemption. The imagery of redemption is that the night is over, the darkness is passing, the sun of righteousness is rising over a world made new. When has set yon glaring sun reverses the metaphor (and throws in a pessimistic adjective), casting an unnecessary shadow of melancholy which (to me) feels out of step with the hopeful tone of the rest of the lyrics. Also, the phrase life’s finished story isn’t really accurate. When we stand with God in glory, the real story of life eternal will just be getting started.

I tried to be cool with the original lyrics, but the more I thought about them, the more they bothered me. I couldn’t resist tinkering a bit. Apologies to writer Robert M. McCheyne who authored this poem and Matthew S. Smith who wrote and recorded this song. Maybe I think about this stuff too much.