[Title: NOBODY'S WATCHING THIS MAN] [Intro] September. Dallas. The twenty-fifth anniversary of 9/11 is upon us. And the snake-poem reader comes to Dallas. The cameras gather. The nation watches. The old wound comes back into view. Then September eleventh— at sundown, the Feast of Trumpets begins. A memorial of blowing of trumpets. [Trumpet swell] And ten days later— September twenty-first. The cameras are gone. No famous man standing on the stage. Just an auditorium at a college. People gathered from different countries. Different histories. Different tongues. And one man from Norway raises his hand to take an oath to this nation. [Silence] The world was watching Dallas. But my eyes are fixed above. Because I remember the words— “Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.” Lord... I don't know what You're doing. But here are we. Use us. [Verse 1] I've watched the world long enough to know it loves a spectacle. Kings. Power. Fear. Dark sayings. Everybody staring where they're told to stare. But I've learned to look somewhere else. “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” Sometimes what God is doing isn't standing under the brightest light. Sometimes it walks quietly through an ordinary door. [Hook] NOBODY'S WATCHING THIS MAN— BUT HEAVEN KNOWS HIS NAME! THE WORLD JUST WATCHED THE STAGE— NOW WE WALK IN UNSEEN! I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING, LORD— I ONLY KNOW WHO HOLDS THE KEY! IF YOU OPEN— NO MAN SHUTTETH! HERE ARE WE! LORD, USE US! JESUS CHRIST IS OUR GLORY! [Verse 2] Years ago— a boy in Norway. Then two aliases online. One little “Hello.” An ocean crossed. Texas. Norway. Luke opened on my parents' porch. Two Holy Rollers who couldn't understand what they were reading. But we opened it again. And again. Until the Word started opening us. Then the water. Then unconditional LOVE. Then hundreds of songs— Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. And through the hardest years I watched the outward man grow weaker while the inward man was renewed day by day. And now sometimes I hear those hands— [Typing rhythm] moving across the keys again. Fast. Alive. And I smile. [Verse 3] Then I remember Norway. I was studying Aaron's rod— dead wood that budded. I measured without understanding why. Took the picture. Kept walking. Then later in Texas— at our front door— a dried-up branch, twisted like a serpent. I called him Moses. I didn't know what it meant. Maybe I still don't. But I learned something through all these years— I will not call something dead just because that's how it looks. [Instrumental build] [Bridge] September twenty-first. He raises his hand. He takes the oath. People from nations stand around us. And inside my heart— “Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.” [Silence] Lord... if he simply takes the oath— thank You. If I cry, we embrace, and come home— thank You. That is enough. But if You open something nobody expected— here are we. If You open his mouth— let Jesus come out. If You give him silence— let Jesus be seen. If You give him one sentence— let every word belong to You. [Build] THE DATE ISN'T THE GLORY! THE SIGN ISN'T THE GLORY! THE VESSEL ISN'T THE GLORY! JESUS IS OUR GLORY! [Final Hook] NOBODY'S WATCHING THIS MAN— AND THAT'S ALL RIGHT WITH ME! LET THE CAMERAS WATCH THEIR KINGS! OUR EYES ARE FIXED ABOVE! MANY PEOPLES! MANY NATIONS! MANY TONGUES! ONE LORD! IF YOU OPEN— NO MAN SHUTTETH! IF YOU SEND— HERE ARE WE! NOT BY MIGHT! NOR BY POWER! BUT BY MY SPIRIT, SAITH THE LORD OF HOSTS! LORD, USE HIS HANDS! LORD, USE MY FEET! LORD, USE OUR SONGS! LORD, USE OUR LIVES! WHATEVER YOU'RE DOING— HERE ARE WE! [Outro — nearly silent] September twenty-first. I'll stand beside him. He'll raise his hand. And my heart will be listening. Not for the crowd. Not for the world. For You. Here am I. Send me. Jesus is our Glory. Jesus is the Lord.
