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A Lovely Wait

by Nathan Partain

supported by
Luke Morton
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Luke Morton For nearly two decades, ranging from Seattle to Indianapolis—and many places in between—Nathan has offered and honed his songwriting to and for the church. This album carries a maturity and depth only possible after years creating, playing and serving among God’s people.

Throughout these eleven tracks there’s a lushness that is, at times, so layered you forget the challenge or, in turns, deep lyrical comfort at hand. This demonstrates the alchemy Nathan has mastered: seasoned spiritual and biblical reflection offered with honey straight from the comb. For a record to accomplish this, especially in the crowded and odd world of “modern worship”, is no small thing.

If you listen to A Lovely Wait immediately after Nathan’s preceding work, one of the first things you’ll notice is how sonically restrained it is. The holy rock-n-roll swagger and vocal abandon of Jaywalker (think “Love is a Gift”) is almost entirely shelved in favor of hushed keys, heartbeat-like percussive textures and delicate melodies.  Taken as a pair, these records prove music crafted in and for the church can and, indeed, should possess a dynamic emotional and musical range. Favorite track: All You Do Is Good.
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1.
You hid from me, and so I called to you, Then you accused, and so I blessed you. Your heart was cold, so jealous was I for you, You had contempt, and I just held you. You closed your ears, so I displayed for you, You shut your eyes, so I fed you. You fought but I, was patient to wait for you, You yelled and cried, while I clothed you. You, you were not my people, but I called you my own. You, you had been so hateful, I brought you to my home. Your mind was bent and so I sang for you, Your feet were bound, I untied you. You could not speak, and so I taught you to, You were so scared, but I gently drew. You, you were not my people, but I called you my own You, you had been so hateful, I brought you to my home You, your own hands shed my blood, I have made you mine You, illegitimate, uncovered, now you are my child. You spit on me, even as I kissed you, You struck my face, while I bathed you. You raged, I poured my spirit all over you, You crucified, and I let you. You, you were not my people, but I called you my own You, you had been so hateful, I brought you to my home You, your own hands shed my blood, I have made you mine You, illegitimate, uncovered, now you are my child.
2.
Leave everything you know, the way that it should go, Give all you control, ease your will, and I will lead. Leave your anxious thoughts, the answers you can’t reach, Leave what you will never understand, and come to me. You’re so deep in my love, If you’d only believe. After all that I’ve done, all the wonders you’ve seen And I’ll give so much more, Never end the increase. So will you just stop, will you rest a while and be with me? Leave your self contempt, your inability, Don’t look at yourself, lift your eyes and look at me. Let your reasons go, your defenses leave, Let your heart lay bare before me only to receive. You’re so deep in my love, If you’d only believe. After all that I’ve done, all the wonders you’ve seen And I’ll give so much more, Never end the increase. So will you just stop, will you rest a while and be with me? Come down to the water, come and drink Leave your work and effort, come and drink Overflowing favor, come and drink I am yours forever, come and drink Come and drink, be with me. Come and drink, be with me.
3.
The Lord is my salvation and my light whom shall I fear? He is my refuge, He’s my strong defense. Foes rise up against me, they will fall, Though war surrounds me, Yet my heart in Him is confident. One thing I have asked the Lord, that I will seek That I may dwell within his house to be with him. All my days to gaze upon his beauty, And to find new joys in him whose glory has no end. Whose glory has no end. In the day of trouble he will hide me he will shelter me Under the cover of his tent. He will lift me high upon a rock, above my enemies, In victory he lifts my head. One thing I have asked the Lord, that I will seek That I may dwell within his house to be with him. All my days to gaze upon his beauty, And to find new joys in him whose glory has no end. Whose glory has no end. In your mercy hear my cry, Your dear presence do not hid. Though mother, father may forsake, The Lord take me in. The Lord will keep me safe. I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord, Among the land of those who live. Wait upon the Lord be strong and let your heart take courage And do not doubt but wait for him. One thing I have asked the Lord, that I will seek That I may dwell within his house to be with him. All my days to gaze upon his beauty, And to find new joys in him whose glory has no end. Whose glory has no end.
4.
Take me further, further than I’ve ever known, Further than I’d want to go. Overwhelm me, pour out more than I contain, More than my strength could sustain. I am frightened, you will let me be deceived, You will tire of my need. Help me know you, you are never false or harsh, You are loving toward the tender of heart. Make me humble, heal my wounded guarded soul, Change my bitterness to hope. Give me wisdom, stretch my faith and confidence, Worship through obedience. Cross my boundaries, beyond what my zeal could last, Do what I’m too scared to ask. Lose my caution, lead me so far off my path, There’s no way I could ever get back. Take me further, when I falter do not stop, Carry when I can’t go on, Draw me nearer, I’ve no option, only you, Make my one desire come true. You're my treasure, more than earthly joys or wealth, More than even life itself. There’s no limit, to what I’d lose if you I gain, At any cost, come do whatever it takes.
5.
Your Ways 04:50
My will, O Lord, my deepest need, to you I give. For what I’d seek, and what I’d gain, is foolishness. When I fight against your voice with hardened heart, I am lost, toyed with and I stumble in the dark. I want your ways and not my ways, I want your plans and not my plans, Cause when you bless it’s so much more than I could ask. You turn in me, and from my earth bring loving fruit. O Spirit breathe, abide in me and I in you. O bind your heart to mine and never leave. And Jesus keep me ever at your feet. I want your ways and not my ways, I want your plans and not my plans. Cause when you bless it’s so much more than I could ask I want your will and not my will, I want your time and not my time. Cause when your work is done, it’s beautiful and right. When you call me, I’ll obey and won’t resist. Every part and every reach of me says “yes". I want your ways and not my ways, I want your plans and not my plans. Cause when you bless it’s so much more than I could ask I want your will and not my will, I want your time and not my time. Cause when your work is done, it’s beautiful and right. I do not know how but I can taste, that I will weep and laugh with praise, Because it pleases you to overwhelm with grace.
6.
I've seen great beauty in the starlit sky, In the sweep of music, in my lover’s eyes, But it has no weight apart from you. I’ve sought for comfort, and I’ve scrounged for rest, And I’ve searched for someway I could be content, But the land is wanton, without you. I’ve known man’s glory, just how it lasts, With its fading flower and its witheried grass, Cause There’s nothing living, without you. I found innocence was stained, all the gold was lead, I drank the ocean but I thirst again. Cause the heart is restless without you. So, I eat the dust, I wear the ash, I bear the hunger, I keep the fast It’s a lovely wait, to be with you. I’m across from Canaan I’m looking in, At the beautiful splendor of the Promised land, But I will not enter, without you. There is no affection, there is no feast, There is no pleasure, there is no peace, No, there is no heaven, without you. So, I eat the dust, I wear the ash, I bear the hunger, I keep the fast It’s a lovely wait, to be with you. I cry out in losses and I wait through wars, For I know my Portion, my great Reward It’s a lovely wait, to be with you.
7.
Father, you give me comfort, When my anxious fears arise. Telling me gently I’m helpless, To change one hour of my life. Jesus, teach me your sabbath. When all my struggles are weighing me down. When I cannot stop working, Til I can figure everything out. Exhaust my reason, my effort, Thwart my control, for in this you bless. Show me how grace can’t be grace, ‘Til I stop and rest. So don't take away my troubles, I want a peace that won’t break. Cause if you only make me happy, I’m never gonna use my faith. So don’t give me only good times, I want eternal content. So I can sing through all my trials and rejoice in suffering, In the strength that you give. In the strength that you give. Spirit, lead me to worship. You turn my head and you lift my eyes. Giving me visions of Heaven, Where my Father’s face is kind Filled with the deepest thanksgiving, Sincerest prayers and tender new songs The earth may be crumbling and failing, Yet my love grows more strong. So don't take away my troubles, I want a peace that won’t break. Cause if you only make me happy, I’m never gonna use my faith. So don’t give me only good times, I want eternal content. So I can sing through all my trials and rejoice in suffering, In the strength that you give. In the strength that you give.
8.
Deliverance is a song of peace, Untying the tongue in the laugh of a child. Only one touch can calm the soul, The gentle Restorer who sets free to be known. He sets free to be known. Resurrection releases until death comes undone, In the fire of His favor, in the passion of his love. There’s a rush and there’s a current, from the graces of his blood, That pulls you deep into the healing affections of the triune God. Forgiveness is a tender kiss, A water of gladness you can cup in your hands. No burden, no weapon remains, But freedom will flourish where blessing commands. Freedom where blessing commands. Resurrection releases until death comes undone, In the fire of His favor, in the passion of his love. There’s a rush and there’s a current, from the graces of his blood, That pulls you deep into the healing affections of the triune God. In the voice of Christ Jesus, in the draw of his embrace, There’s the fullest sweet dimension of the Father’s true face, There’s a movement, there’s a stirring, in the Spirit’s caress, The eternally regiving of the very first breath. Holiness is a playful dance, A fragrance that spills from the fields of delight. His splendor in embers of glass, So rooted in heaven, they fill the earth with His life. They fill the earth with His life.
9.
You are full of compassion and abounding in love, You create things from nothing, call what’s not though it was. You are light with no shadow, with no shifting or change. You turn weeping to dancing and despair into thanks. You are good and all you do is good. You are good and all you do is good. You are good and all you do is good, all you do is good, All you do is good. You release every captive, cut the shackles from slaves, Those who hate you, you ransom, Give you blood for their shame. With the bent stem, you’re tender, shield the smoldering flame, You bring home the unwanted, call the lost back by name. You are good and all you do is good. You are good and all you do is good. You are good and all you do is good, all you do is good, All you do is good. You lift up, you, you revive, you, you restore, you, you increase, you, You anoint, you, you fill up, you, you spill out, you, you release, you, You make grow, you, you bring forth, you, you call out, you, you set free It’s who you are, It’s who you were, It’s who you will always be. Your life is eternal, not in measure but kind, Running over with healing, inexhaustible might. You in us, and we in you, the delight in your face. Resting here we enjoy you, and our joy is your praise. You are good and all you do is good. You are good and all you do is good. You are good and all you do is good, all you do is good, All you do is good.
10.
I love the Lord with all my heart, His blessings never end. Like water rolling from a fount, His Spirit is within. I love the Lord, he first loved me, Before his name, I knew His life, his death, for me his blood, healed my deserved wounds. I love the Lord though troubles tempt, My heart to doubt his will. I wrestle with my wayward mind, Until my soul is still. All I want is you, All my springs in you. All my strength and good, All my drink and all my food, All I want is you. I love the Lord with all my heart, His presence I adore. I want to linger in this place, And worship evermore. I love the Lord and I will sing, I lift my hands and voice. My heart now brims with thankfulness, In his love, I rejoice! All I want is you, All my springs in you. All my strength and good, All my drink and all my food, All I want is you. All my hope is you, All my joy is you, In all I’ve sought and searched, In heaven and on earth, All I want is you. All I want is you. I love the Lord with all my heart, His blessings never end. Each morning as I search them out, His beauty’s new again.
11.
We shall sing with hearts on fire. We shall rise and not be ashamed. We shall look and all be radiant. We shall see him face to face. Though we wait, the garden groaning, Cut down by greed, used up, bereft. What death has taken, or curse has ruined, Jesus has turned, upon its head. We shall sing with hearts on fire. Yes, we shall rise and not be ashamed. We shall look and all be radiant. For we shall see him face to face. The whole world of despair is not worth being compared To what we shall see. Though we outwardly seem, to be wasting away, Instead inwardly we, are more new day by day. Though we don’t see Him now, yet our hearts still believe. And our hope cannot die, til our joy is complete. And so we wait, the children hunger, The weak enslaved, the voiceless poor. Though weeping lasts, throughout this long night, Jesus shall come, like joyous morn. We shall sing with hearts on fire. Yes, we shall rise and not be ashamed. We shall look and all be radiant. For we shall see him face to face. The whole world of despair is not worth being compared, As we tremble with love when we meet in the air, The whole world of despair is not worth being compared, To what we shall see, What we shall see.

about

These songs were written for worship and personal devotion. My aim was to glorify my heavenly Father, exalt Jesus' name and join in the movement of the Holy Spirit. This is meant to be an offering to God and hopefully a blessing to you. From Him and through Him and to Him are all things.

All of these songs were written for the context of my local community, Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis, IN. I do not believe they would exist without this community.

This record was also made out of the love, support and generosity of a truckload of people. Thanks to all of the musicians and their spouses. They took time off of work, rearranged their family life and gave their whole selves creatively. Thanks also to the 100+ people (many of whom I barely know) who donated to help get this project finished and to our small group at church, who supported us, prayed for us and helped in any way possible. I am not worthy of this kind of generosity but am deeply grateful.

I also want to especially thank Edward Nudelman, Stan Parrish, Charles Anderson and Blake & Renata Jackson for their generous support of this record.

Finally, I want to thank my wife, Sarah. She has been a messenger of grace to me through this whole record, praying for me, encouraging me, giving wise counsel and patient support, coordinating our family world, managing the chaos of carrying on two lives and all the while giving her artistic ear and beautiful voice. What an outpouring of blessing she is to me again and again.

credits

released June 9, 2017

Produced by: Nathan and Sarah Partain
Engineered by: Nathan Partain/Kenny Meeks/Quinn Sempsrott
Mixed by: Micah Tawlks
Mastered by: Ken Love
Layout and Design: Chris Weller
Recorded on location in the Redeemer Presbyterian Church sanctuary and Clown Car Studios.

All Songs (C) & (P) 2017 Nathan Partain/Epiclesis (ASCAP)

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