Jesus, lover of my soul was a favourite song at St Stephen's Gateacre when I was a curate there in the late 1990s. It was first published in 1995, and must have made it into the Spring Harvest songbook for at least one of the following couple of years. In those pre-internet days, Spring Harvest was one of the main avenues for new songs to gain popularity and enter local church repertoires. This song has remained popular, and is probably Oakley's best known song.
For a long time, Paul Oakley was one of the worship leaders at the New Frontiers Church in Brighton. Currently known as Emmanuel Church, it began life in the late 1970s as Brighton and Hove Christian Fellowship, and has been known at times as Clarendon Church, and the Church of Christ the King. Oakley worked alongside a host of singer-songwriters there, among them Lou and Nathan Fellingham, and Stuart Townend. Until 2011, the church was led by Terry Virgo, who has written about Oakley as follows (see riveroflifecbs.com):
As a man in touch with the Holy Spirit, Paul Oakley is wonderfully gifted to draw people into the presence of God. His love for the Lord is expressed through the great songs that he has written. I, for one, love singing them, not only at big events but also when I am alone with the Lord.
Oakley himself says (following on from the above in the same article):
The main focus of my writing comes from my walk with God. I’ve seen God and I don’t want to write about anything else. Like Isaiah I felt like I’ve had a radical encounter with God and "I’m ruined, I’m undone!" When you’ve seen God what else is there to write about? He is everything! He’s awesome and He’s jealous for His glory in every aspect of our lives. So whatever I go through, I walk through it with Him and I hope that comes out in the songs. Music, as well as being a precious gift from God, is for Him as well. There’s almost a sense in which music itself is more complete when it’s to Him and for Him. That’s not to say there isn’t a place for entertainment or performance songs because it all points to a Creator and brings glory to God. I want God at the centre of what I’m saying and writing because He’s totally changed my life.
The opening phrase of this song was first used by Charles Wesley in his hymn, Jesu, lover of my soul. According to John Julian, many have found difficulty in the use of:
. . . the term 'lover' as applied our Lord. From an early date this tender expression was felt by many to be beneath the solemn dignity of a hymn addressed to the Divine Being. Attempts have been made to increase the reverence of the opening line by the sacrifice of its pathos and poetry.
Julian points to the Wisdom of Solomon 11:26 in defence of Wesley's turn of phrase - a source which, being found in the Apocrypha, will not satisfy some!
Be that as it may, Oakley has borrowed the phrase for the first line of his song. It's a song which reminds us that our lives as Christians are not about ourselves: they're all about glorifying the Lord Jesus.
You can hear a powerful version of this song, sung by Stuart Townend, here.
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