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June 2005 Table of Contents
Stories Behind the Songs
I Pushed It Out of My Mind
By Lindsay Terry
Song: Song: Here I Am to Worship
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him and given Him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
 Tim Hughes is an extraordinary young man. Although only 27 years of age God has blessed his submissive spirit and carried him to great heights as a worship leader, teacher, singer, and author. His songs are being sung worldwide in praise and worship gatherings and in church services.
Hughes, a citizen of England, was born into a pastor's home in High Wycomee, a small town just outside of London. His parents, John and Annie Hughes, made sure that Tim and his two younger brothers had opportunities to learn music and encouraged them in those ventures. Tim related in an interview, "My brothers also play guitar and are very passionate about musical things."
I asked Tim about his early music training and he readily responded with, "At age thirteen I began to play the guitar. I had a few lessons, but for the most part I have taught myself to play. I loved my music because it was a method I could use to express my love to the Lord, personally, in my room. It was only a form of expression for me."
"By age 16 I began to feel very strongly about songwriting, but nothing developed that I was happy with for the next three years. The Worship Pastor at my dad's church asked me to get involved in the music ministry, playing guitar and singing background vocals. I think he saw a potential and wanted to encourage me. It was a safe place to learn. As I grew older I began to lead worship in the youth group and occasionally in the church services. Then the worship pastor moved to another location and I took over the leading of a large portion of the worship in church."
At this point in the interview I asked Tim to tell me about the writing of his famous song, Here I Am to Worship. Following is his story:
"I actually wrote the song while at Sheffield University. During that time I had been thinking and meditating on the cross. I began to read several Scriptures, but seemed to concentrate on Philippians, chapter 2 — about Christ's humility and how He took upon Himself the attitude of a servant and how He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death on a cross. I was challenged with the wonder of who God really is and His sacrifice for us."
"I sat down in my room and began worshipping Him as a response to those thoughts. It was then that the initial inspiration of the song came. I began, ‘Light of the world, You stepped down into darkness...' and on and on until I had two verses finished. I then began to try to write a chorus that I thought would be an appropriate response to the verses. I tried and tried, but could not finish the song. I didn't know where to take it from there. I became so frustrated that I put the song away and pushed it out of my mind."
"About six months later I was in my room worshiping, when I thought of the verses again and said to myself, ‘I really do need to finish that song.' I began flipping through ideas of melodies and lyrics that I had stored on a mini disc player. I store away my ideas on the machine as they come to me from time-to-time. I came across a melody that I had saved which sounded quite simple, and yet the feeling I sensed as I played it seemed to compliment my verses perfectly. I wanted the chorus to be a response to our Lord's amazing sacrifice."
"I began to ask, ‘How are we going to respond to that great happening? Do we bow down? Do we scream out? How do we say, ‘You are altogether lovely — You are worthy?' Sometimes we don't know how to respond, even though we desperately want to. As I finished the song I finally felt as if the pieces had all come together and it all was complete."
"It was a good six months before it was ever used in public. I was not sure that it could successfully be used as a congregational song."
Tim recorded it on his album, Here I Am to Worship and the song won a Dove Award in 2003, as the Inspirational Recorded Song of the Year. At the time of this writing Here I Am to Worship is #4 in the United States on the Top 25 Songs list published by Christian Copyright Licensing International (CCLI). In Canada it is in the #1 position.
Tim Hughes lives in Watford, England, and at the time of the interview was a single young man, but was engaged to be married very soon.
Reflection:
Truly, when you and I see Christ in all of His matchless love, expressed though His great sacrifice on Calvary, we, too, will say with Tim, "Here I am to worship and bow down." Christ will become to us, "altogether lovely, altogether worthy, and altogether wonderful."
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