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Father God, I wonder how I managed to exist
- Psalms 115:18
- Psalms 86:12
- John 14:18
- Romans 8:15-16
- Galatians 4:5-6
- Ephesians 1:5-9
- Ephesians 2:12-13
- 268
Father God, I wonder how I managed to exist
without the knowledge of your parenthood
and your loving care.
But now I am your child,
I am adopted in your family
and I can never be alone,
for, Father God, you’re there beside me.
I will sing your praises,
I will sing your praises,
I will sing your praises,
for evermore.
(Repeat)
© 1984 Kingsway's Thankyou Music
Ian Smale
The Father - His Love
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Tune
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I wonder Composer: - Smale, Ian
The story behind the hymn
This song from 1984 uses repetition differently from the previous item. Ian Smale’s words and music (later named I WONDER) became a Spring Harvest favourite in the 1980s, emerging in the MP and Songs and Hymns of Fellowship series in 1987. Not surprisingly it is also known as ‘I will sing your praises’, but the reason for praise is clear; the text reflects the personal experience of its author in the 1970s. It has become the best-known composition of a writer whose other work has often been radical, controversial, ‘innovative, almost outrageous’ (Paul Davis). Here is a simple, valuable, tender statement of the heart of scriptural adoption. ‘There is no greater privilege given in the NT to the Christian’, says John Woolley; ‘To know adoption is to know all the blessings that are the believer’s in Christ … An appreciation of our adoption is the greatest motive for consistent Christian living’. The allusion to texts such as Romans 8:15 and Ephesians 1:5 is here combined with the typical sense of amazement experienced by Christians as they look back to their days without such knowledge, faith, family, or Father.