7 Songs that Shine Light into the Darkness

1.    Amazing Grace

This song was written by a man who was involved in the slave trade long ago. Rev. John Newton broke down and wrote this song that has saved lives since the late 1700s. I love the concept of someone who was involved in something so vile feeling led to write one of the most beautiful songs in history. The Lord really does take people who are broken and use them for the good of the world. 

Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound, That Saved a Wretch Like Me, I Once was Lost, But now I am Found, Was Blind, but Now I See. 

We used to sing this song all of the time when I was a child. When we would take long roadtrips it would be playing over and over in the car. It was always a source of comfort. A gentle reminder that no matter what wickedness you have done you can be forgiven. 

2.   Be Thou My Vision

This song has been a soothing comfort for me my entire life. It is my grandmother’s favorite song. It is an old Irish hymn that has touched the souls of many for centuries. I grew up on the old time language reading the King James Version of the Bible, so I love the old time language in these hymns.

Be Thou My Vision, Oh Lord of my Heart, Nought be all ease to Me, save that Thy art Thou my best, thought in the day and the night, Walking or Sleeping, Thou presence my light, Be Thou my wisdom, Be Thou my true word. 

Everything about this song puts me at peace. It has a great message of putting God in your sights at all times. No matter what happens in life remember, He is the One to put all your heart and soul into.

3.   Oh Come Oh Come Emmanuel 

This was always my favorite song to sing on Christmas Eve. I think it is the most beautiful song in the world. It is talking about saving God’s chosen land. 

I think I could always relate to that anguish of waiting for God to come and save me from the darkness. The whole image of crying out to be redeemed and saved from the darkness is vivid. 

Oh Come Oh Come Emmanuel, And Ransom Captive Israel here, That mourns in lonely exile here, Until the Son of God appears, Rejoice Rejoice Emmanuel shall come to thee oh Israel. 

I often listen to this song throughout the year when I am feeling lost. Sometimes you don’t need to wait until Christmas to hear the story of being saved and redeemed. There are some powerful words in this song we can focus on throughout the year. 

4.   Awesome God

As a born again Christian this was my favorite song. I would request it every single time for worship when I was in church. I had the poster with this song on it when I was a child on my wall. It gave me hope that there was something bigger out there that could conquer all of the fear and darkness. 

Our God is an Awesome God, He Reigns from Heaven Above, With Wisdom, Power and Love, Our God is an Awesome God. 

5.   Secret Ambition

In case you haven’t figured it out, Michael W. Smith was important to our Christian journey. We listened to him all of the time. Secret Ambition was our favorite song by him, and it was all about what Jesus did to save our souls. I love the message and passion Smith put into this song. As a child I would sing along to it every time it came on the TV. 

Nobody knew His secret ambition, Nobody knew His claim to fame, He broke the old rules steeped in tradition, He tore the holy veil away, Questioning those in powerful positions, Running to those who called His name, But nobody knew His secret ambition, Was to give His life away

Another thing that always got to me was watching the music video for this song. It was so hard to see Jesus being tormented and put on the cross. I remember as a child crying every single time. I was so angry at the mean people who could hurt Jesus. As I got older, I am still mad at the mean people who hurt Jesus. I always wish I could’ve been around in those days to stop them. If I had none of us would’ve been saved, but it still breaks my heart to see him tortured. 

6.   God

As a teen I really looked up to Rebecca St. James. I even wrote her a letter once talking to her about my entire life story. I loved all of her music and could feel it spoke to me on a deep level. I really loved this song God. 

Inside us all there is a void, All mankind is searching for the one who fills the soul, In Him there’s hope in Him there’s life, The world cries for a savior that’s right before their eyes, What is man that He takes us in as His children to be His own, And what are we that He wants to be our Father, All that I can say …

It’s God, truly God, Can you see can you hear can you touch can you feel,It’s God, truly God, I can’t explain any other way cause it’s God. 

All mankind is searching for the one who fills his soul. Yes, we are all searching for the light. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the light. Whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life!

7.    Jesus Freak 

I lived on DC Talk music growing up. Them and the Newsboys were my go-to bands for everything when I needed a healthy dose of Christian music. I love them so much. I was so excited when this song came out and even taught my bestfriend all the words. We would sing it everywhere we went all over town. 

What will people think when they hear that I’m a Jesus freak?
What will people do when they find that it’s true? (Ho ho)
I don’t really care if they label me a Jesus freak
There ain’t no disguisin’ the truth (Ho ho ho-o)

DC Talk was like the Christian version of whatever the coolest band is for kids nowadays…We were obsessed with them in the 90s. There was a time I knew every single one of their songs by heart, and I had every one of their CDs. I felt like they really understood what the youth was dealing with in the 90s. 

When you feel like you have no way out one of the best ways to deal with it is to turn to music. I have always and will always love my old music from my childhood and adolescence. It is what saved my life when I was drowning in the darkness.