September 17, 2018
This is the first hymn for which I've written both the music and the text. The music is based on my Hymn #5.
In weakness burdened down by sin,
with heavy heart, your hope worn thin,
Sufficient yet My grace shall be,
To wash your sins away in Me.
And when you choose to come to Me,
My gift, your weakness, you will see.
Sufficient yet My grace shall be,
when sought in plain humility.
Throughout this life you'll learn anew,
that strength is weakness, healed in you.
Sufficient yet My grace shall be,
To lead you back, with faith, to Me.
Being mortal, we all struggle to overcome the natural man/woman. Our weaknesses, at times, seem too ingrained, too daunting to overcome. We wonder if we will ever measure up! But we are children of God with divine potential. We just don't remember this from firsthand experience because of the veil. Our weaknesses were actually given to us to help us realize our potential. They lead us to humility and provide opportunities to exercise our emerging faith.
The music, with its arcing melody, harmonic suspensions, reflects the ups and downs of our mortal experience. Initially remaining low on the staff, the melody subsequently reaches higher and higher toward the eventual climax and resolution representative of progressing and being lead back to the presence of the Savior.
The text, like "Reverently and Meekly Now" (185), is a message from the point of view of the Savior himself. It is a rephrasing of the message of hope found in the Book of Ether 12:27. The third line of each verse serves as a mini chorus, emphasizing that the grace of Jesus Christ, stemming from His infinite and perfect atoning sacrifice, is always sufficient to sanctify us, to turn our weaknesses to strengths, to help us become more like Him, and eventually return to Him and our heavenly home.
I hope this hymn provides a spark of hope in Christ and a reassurance that no one is beyond His power to save.
Michael Whatcott, June 2019
Ether 12:27
27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.
Ether 12:37
37 And it came to pass that the Lord said unto me: ...thou hast been faithful; wherefore, thy garments shall be made clean. And because thou hast seen thy weakness thou shalt be made strong, even unto the sitting down in the place which I have prepared in the mansions of my Father.
-Michael Whatcott