From Newsgroup: rec.music.christian

I read that Corrie Ten Boom's father quoted the Bible verse Psalm 119:114,"You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your Word," to the women taken captive during the Holocaust.
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From Newsgroup: rec.music.christian

Song Scoops
I am fascinated by song stories...the glimpses of composers' lives that their creations permit us to see, although oftentimes not so readily. Here are my my "scoops", posted here for your enjoyment, and for what I hope will feed our mutual curiosity about His musical purposes for us. Join me in this history adventure, as we find what circumstances coalesced to create the songs we all love! Play detective with me, and tell me what song "scoops" you may know that I don't...yet.
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David Cain
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Sunday, November 3, 2013
You Are My Hiding Place -- Michael Ledner
Michael Ledner felt really vulnerable as he reflected on his circumstances one day in 1980. He couldnrCOt ignore how he felt, though he was a firm believer in the One to whom he turned as he sat on a bed with a guitar and his bible close by. rCLYou Are My Hiding PlacerCY, he called out to God, using the words of David, his ancient spiritual compatriot who likewise sought Him who can reassure the lonely. He wasnrCOt completely certain he wanted to dwell in this place, however, or if he wanted to share with others the feelings the song evoked. It was a private moment. It took his travelling halfway around the globe to discover others needed to link with that intimacy, to rest in the comfort He offers.
Up and out of the pit came Michael Ledner, from a low moment into a broader appreciation for His God and the life he began to experience after this difficult period. Ledner was separated from his wife at the time and living in a tiny room in Arizona, so small that it must have been easy for him to feel isolated and forgotten. But, he clung to something rCo or rather, someone -- one day as he read Psalms and strummed his guitar. King DavidrCOs Psalms 32 (one of the rCymaskilrCO Psalms) and 56 provided the inspiration that Michael needed, as he pondered and worshipped alone, but not without purpose. HerCOd often turned to music, not unlike his predecessor whose words struck him and provided the prose Michael used to vocalize his own hiding place, some three millennia later. (David sometimes sought physical refuge in a cave, not too unlike the manmade one shown here, along a coastal area in Israel.)
But, as he reflected for some time afterwards, he wondered how wise it would be to share his feelings. Was he being a weakling? He recorded the song for himself a couple of different times, including once with a few friends, but he didnrCOt really share it otherwise in churches he visited for a while. It was still a difficult part of his life, as his marriage finally and permanently dissolved. Many months later, he was in DavidrCOs homeland, and again he shared the song with some visiting friends. Unbeknownst to him initially, they took the song back home, where it found wide acceptance; a formal recording by Maranatha Music soon ensued. From a private, difficult moment, to another where his experience found broad camaraderie with other believers, this was a sweet turnaround for Ledner. It was his renewal moment, and his life progressed positively after that. Many years later, herCOd become a pastor and was married again, feeling as though herCOd learned a valuable lesson from the day he sat in a small room with his guitar, bible, and feelings he didnrCOt want at the time.
DonrCOt run away, or try to ignore the pain rCo that perhaps best sums up what Michael Ledner discovered from a challenging episode in his late 20rCOs. He wasnrCOt alone after all. ThererCOs no place to hide, but there is a person who can hide me. Seems kinda strange to realize this, until you understand, as Ledner probably did, that hiding in a place only makes you lonely. Hiding in a person is radically different.
Sources for the song story are the books rCLCelebrate Jesus: The Stories behind Your Favorite Praise and Worship SongsrCY, by Phil Christensen and Shari MacDonald, Kregel Publications, 2003; and rCLThe Complete Book of Hymns rCo Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise SongsrCY, by William J. and Ardythe Petersen, 2006.
Posted by David Cain at 10:38 AM
Labels: audience-God, era-1900s, Ledner, loneliness, maskil, Psalms, turning point, weakness
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