Comon Ground Song 73 - ‘Look forward in faith’
Words: Andrew Scobie / Music: Andrew Steele
YouTube recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01rc18AZtl0
Featured image: Peter and Jesus (found online, credit unknown)

This song was new to me. The title could be misleading, as (in England at least) the term ‘Forward in Faith’ has come to be associated with a particular, conservative part of the Church of England. This song has nothing to do with that use of the term. Rather, the words are about having trust and confidence in God for the future. That could be at the level of world events, when the future seems ever more uncertain and filled with foreboding. Or it could be at the level of a local congregation (the editors suggest this song for ‘New Year, or a time of new beginning in the life of the local church’). Or it could be sung more personally, when the future of our own household seems uncertain.

‘Faith’ is something that non-believers sometimes dismiss as being pointless and insubstantial. But the three verses together offer three reasons for having faith in God: ‘All time is in God’s hand … The world is in God’s care … God gives us life each day’. Another line worth quoting is ‘God has wisely led his people by his power’. God has shown in history, especially in the history of the Hebrew/Jewish/Israeli people and most of  all in Jesus Christ, that he can and does intervene in human history, and even when he seems not to, all is part of his infinite and eternal plan.

The song is not based on a single Bible passage, though there is reference to Matthew 5:5 (‘Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth’, paraphrased here). Coincidentally, our local church discussion group will be looking at that verse next week. Confidence and trust in God should not lead to boasting or any sense of superiority, rather to that attitude of meekness and service that offers oneself to be of use to God (see my earlier post on song 116, considering whether the Holy Spirit is given for our own benefit or that of others).

As it happens, there is some uncertainty about the future in my own life at present. This song will help me face up to that with the faith that God offers, especially in the second line of the first verse: ‘Walk humbly with him and trust his future plan’.