Awesome is the Lord Most High – Jon Abel

Jon Abel is a worship leader and songwriter with Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing and GreatWorshipSongs.com. Some of his songs include “Awesome is the Lord Most High,” “Crying Out to You,” and “There is None Like You (Sovereign Lord).” Abel also leads worship at Highland Park Presbyterian’s “1105” Sunday morning gathering in Dallas, TX as well as performing various concerts and events nation wide. His newest album, Back to You, is now available on GreatWorshipSongs.com, iTunes and through his www.jonabel.com.

Click here to download the GWS.com podcast featuring Abel.

Enjoy the following song story from Jon Abel.

Awesome is the Lord Most High – Jon Abel

It all started at 33,000 feet. I was flying to El Cajon, CA where I was planning to pick out my ‘dream guitar’ at the Taylor Guitar factory outside San Diego. This was an unusually lavish gift from Sue, my wife, that year for my birthday. She bought airline tickets for a buddy and me to spend a long weekend guitar shopping and songwriting. I’m still impressed.

 

Let me pause the story and give you some background to put it into context. A few months before this, Sue and I had made a major life discision. For us, it was the kind of decision that involved the type of faith that seems very impractical and on the border of stupidity. Up until that time, I was doing music on the side, periodically traveling to lead worship at youth retreats and camps, as well as recording a couple of independent albums but never thinking that I would do it for a living. We sensed God growing the music ministry through my desire to put more of my time and energy in music and songwriting was growing simultaneously.

 

At that time, I was working at a church, directing college ministry and I hit a fork in the road. Path ‘one’ involved me going to seminary and eventually becoming an ordained pastor in our denomination. The other was to pursue the music thing which included transitioning out of my full time job, a full-time salary, moving my family (2 kids) out of our beautiful and spacious church-owned home, and jumping out into the unknown.

 

Through a process of seeking counsel and weighing the two options, I chose the more practical route, enrolled at Fuller Theological, began taking a couple of correspondence classes, and realized almost immediately that I had made the wrong choice. My heart wasn’t in it and that’s when Sue and I made that decision to follow God’s call into music ministry. God made it so clear in fact that it actually wasn’t a hard decision, even though we had no idea how it would turn out, where we would live, or how we would support our family.

 

Around that time, I met artist/songwriter/producer Cary Pierce who had recently come to faith in Christ. God used Cary to help encourage and mentor me throughout this whole process. Cary and I began to work on a new album, More Than This, that would eventually be released in 2006. We were working hard on the songs as well as raising funds necessary to produce an album that would take things to the ‘next level’ compared to my previous albums.

 

So this is about the time when my wife gave me the gift to fly to California and purchase a great guitar that would be road-worthy and studio-quality. Cary had a long-standing relationship with Taylor Guitars through his band Jackopierce, and he and Sue planned the trip together to surprise me that year.

 

Cary was dozing off in the seat next to me and I remember being so excited, like a giddy kid on his first flight ever, sensing that I was in the middle of something bigger than me. I felt alive, humbled, and in awe of this great God who would give so much to a guy so undeserving. As we reached cruising altitude, I opened my Bible to Psalm 47 and read:

“Clap your hands all you nations;

Shout to God with cries of joy.

How awesome is the Lord Most High,

The Great King over all the earth!”

 

That’s when “Awesome is the Lord Most High” was born. Originally titled “Most High,” Cary and I finished that song together over that weekend. And I did pick out my dream guitar, by the way, which is still the one I play today.

 

A few months after Sue and our family made the big transition, God began to confirm it in some pretty amazing ways, through many amazing doors. When my album was finished, we sent a few copies to producer Ed Cash and Chris Tomlin who both resonated with “Most High.” I met Chris through Cary and we all hung out a couple times when he was visiting Cary and traveling through Dallas on tour. Around this time, Chris was writing songs for what would be his See The Morning album and asked if we would mind him putting the song on his next CD. We were humbled and very excited about this possibility and it ended up being cut on Passion: Everything Glorious and Chris’ See The Morning CD. With our permission, Chris made some lyrical changes which include the title of the song. That’s how it became “Awesome is the Lord Most High.”

 

The second verse of the song became my family’s true response to God’s call in this new season of our lives.

 

“Where you send us, God we will go.

You’re the answer, we want the world to know.

We will trust You when You call our name.

Where you lead us, we’ll follow all the way.”

 

Our story is just a tiny piece in the landscape of God’s heart, His dreams and purposes for His Church to accomplish before His return. As you lead or sing this song in your church, sing it as a response to God who is completely worthy of being trusted, loved and worshiped with your lives. Awesome is the Lord Most High!!

- Jon Abel