Behind The Music: You Know My Way

As laid out in the Behind The Music introduction,
we’ll tell the story behind the original songs written by @V21Church
artists. Today’s song is “You Know My Way”, based on Psalm 142.

In the fall of 2006, we had our second Psalm Series. This consists
of choosing ten consecutive psalms and basing each week’s sermon and
service on that psalm. The concern was that the sermons would become
repetitive, since many Psalms have a common language and theme. Upon
closer examination, it’s clear that the Psalms cover the gamut of
emotions, and choosing ten in a row means you’ll have ten different
sermons. For this series, we chose Psalms 141-150. Each week, a new
song is written and introduced. Any band member is welcome to take on a
Psalm and create a new song.

The summer preceding the Psalms Series John and Kelly Pelphrey
attended @V21Church. They were great, and I wished they lived closer, as
the long commute is too much for anyone to establish roots in a
community group. John and I collaborated on Psalm 142, which is a psalm
of anguish- one of the “I cry out” psalms. As often happens when
reading Scripture, a word or phrase seem to jump off the page. In this
case it was verse 3-

“When my spirit faints within me, you know my way!”

David had the ability to pour out his heart completely while
continuing to praise God. This sounds fairly simple, but I find myself
leaning heavily on one side- crying out turns into self-pity, or I hold
back so as not to offend God. Either way is wrong- God can handle our
hearts and minds, complete with frustration, anger, and doubt, and that fact
should spur on our praise. David prays “you know my way” in the midst
of turmoil- he’s in a cave, hiding from those who seek to kill him.
Only God can help him, and he’s laying himself at God’s feet, pleading
for mercy. However, the fact that the eternal, almighty God of the
Universe knows my way is a cause for praise!

“You know my way” is both plea and praise, and we wanted to capture
this in the song. A few years back, I was listening to The Shins album
“Chutes Too Narrow”, and the song “Saint Simon” came on. At 1:14 (1:27
in the video linked below), it takes a brooding turn, and they sing a melody
line “La da da da” that sounds sad and minor. Then, all of a sudden,
the music kicks in beneath in a major-key, happy, pop feel. They sing
the same melody, but the music underneath changes the mood entirely. It’s awesome, check it out:

We took this concept and applied it to the song You Know My Way.
It’s a song of lament and desperation, in which the lyrics become more
despondent along the way, building to a point where you just throw your
hands up in the air and give up “God, only you know my way. I have no
hope aside from you.” The music drops out, and we’re still singing “you know my way”, which signifies the transition to realizing that we get to take our cares to God himself, who loves and hears us! The instruments kick back in, and “You Know My Way”, sung in the same melody, is now a praise of thanks, spurred on by the change in mood by the instruments.

It was a pleasure to work with John, and hopefully we’ll get to
collaborate again someday. Take a listen to “You Know My Way”, from the
upcoming Vintage21 Album “All Things Praise”.

You Know My Way