Overflow

Greetings fellow hoomans. Writing a song is a tedious process—partly as I'm relatively new to the domain. But thankfully, this song was made possible through God's grace.

Overflow was originally composed for a Summer Bible program, and has undergone multiple revisions since then. The resulting work is the product of prayer, meditation, and reflection.¹ Lyrics and chords are presented below, and my deeper thoughts are expounded further down.

Lyrics

Key: B♭ Major
Vocal Range: D4 – D5 (singable by most children, I think)

Verse 1

When I wake up
I marvel at Your saving grace
I’ll follow You
No matter where You lead me to

When I feel down
I thank You for Your kind embrace
Lord fill me up
With the Holy Spirit

Chorus 1

God, Your love is stronger
Your joy is deeper
Your peace is greater than hate and lies

Your patience is higher
Your kindness is wider
Your goodness is greater than any sin

So let me overflow
With the Holy Spirit

Verse 2

When I give up
You light in me another flame
To follow You
No matter where You lead me to

When I fall down
You comfort me and bear my shame
Lord fill me up
With the Holy Spirit

Chorus 2

God, Your love is stronger
Your joy is deeper
Your peace is greater than hate and lies

God, Your faithfulness is higher
Your gentleness is wider
Your self-control is greater than fear and rage

So let me overflow
With the Holy Spirit

So let me overflow
With the Holy Spirit

Chords

Intro
B♭    Gm     E♭     F


Verse 1

B♭
            Fsus4  
When I wake up

  E♭             Dm  
I marvel at Your saving grace

     E7         Gm
I’ll follow You

   Cm7              F           B♭  
No matter where You lead me to

            Fsus4   F  
When I feel down

  E♭                 Dm  
I thank You for Your kind embrace

     Cm7            E♭sus2  
Lord fill me up

         E♭   Fsus4      F  
With the Holy Spirit


Chorus 1

F
          E♭      F  
God, Your love is stronger

     E♭     F  
Your joy is deeper

     E♭       F            Gm       F  
Your peace is greater than hate and lies

     E♭          Dm  
Your patience is higher

     E♭          Dm  
Your kindness is wider

     E♭          Dm           E♭      F  
Your goodness is greater than any sin

          Cm7       E♭sus2  
So let me overflow

          E♭   F       B♭  
With Your Holy Spirit
  

(Interlude)

B♭    Gm     E♭     F


Verse 2

B♭
            Fsus4  
When I give up

    E♭           Dm  
You light in me another flame

     E♭7           Gm  
I’ll follow You

   Cm7              F           B♭  
No matter where You lead me to

            Fsus4   F  
When I fall down

    E♭             Dm  
You comfort me and bear my shame

     Cm7           E♭sus2  
Lord fill me up

         E♭   Fsus4     F  
With the Holy Spirit


Chorus 2

F
          E♭      F  
God, Your love is stronger

     E♭     F  
Your joy is deeper

     E♭       F            Gm       F  
Your peace is greater than hate and lies

     E♭              Dm  
Your faithfulness is higher

     E♭            Dm  
Your gentleness is wider

     E♭              Dm           E♭       F  
Your self-control is greater than fear and rage

          Cm7        E♭sus2  
So let me overflow

          E♭   F       B♭  
With Your Holy Spirit


Dm
          A♭9        Ddim  
So let me overflow

          Gm7  Ddim    C  
With Your Holy Spirit

Notes:

• In the final repeat (the last two lines of "So let me overflow..."), feel free to reuse the usual chords + melody. That is, instead of A♭9 to C, feel free to opt for Cm7 to B♭.
• In the final repeat, feel free to substitute A♭9 with E♭sus♭4 [E♭ A♭ B♭], which is probably easier to play.

Rationale

My thoughts are included below for the curious reader.²

The theme of the Bible program—as you may have guessed—was Overflow. Centred around the Fruits of the Spirit, we encouraged children to overflow with Godly fruits rather than spiteful ones.

God’s Grace

When I wake up
I marvel at Your saving grace

The Word of God tells us to rejoice always. (1 Thessalonians 5:16) What better way to start the day than by praising God? (Psalm 59:16)

Soldiers start off their day by making their bed. The effect is twofold: it instils discipline, and it starts them off on the right foot. The same applies to praise and attention towards God. And this discipline (or zeal) prepares us for the...

Cost of Discipleship

I’ll follow You
No matter where You lead me to

We're familiar with the "benefits" of believing in God—love, mercy, eternal life. (Romans 6:23) But what about the costs? The gift of life comes with a heavy cost: to take up our cross and follow Jesus. (Luke 14:27)

God’s Comfort and Hope

When I feel down
I thank You for Your kind embrace

[…]

When I give up
You light in me another flame

[…]

When I fall down
You comfort me and bear my shame

Sadness, sorrow, and anger are common feelings we have. Perhaps we’ve encountered a bully at school or in the workplace. Perhaps a friend did/said something hurtful. Or perhaps we simply tripped over our own mistakes, faceplanting into hard concrete. These feelings are okay to have sometimes. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8) But when left unchecked, they may lead to outbursts of violent rage, spiky barbs of malice, and destructive thoughts—outbursts which are undesirable. (Ephesians 3:5-8)

But there is hope: our God is a God of comfort.

In Moses’ time, prior to entering the promised land, God encouraged the Israelites and leaders to “be strong and courageous” as they approached the HUMUNGOUS trials facing them. (Deuteronomy 31:6; Joshua 1:9) These fellows had to face literal giants and heavily fortified walls, unprecedented barriers in the people’s history.

After Jesus’ death, the apostles went to spread the Word of God. Two apostles, Paul and Silas, were severely persecuted for doing so: they were dragged, flogged, and chained (with little hope of escape). Funny thing is: despite all their hardships, Paul and Silas were “praying and singing hymns to God” by midnight! (Acts 16:25) They knew God was with them. Despite their gruelling pain, God’s peace was with them.

But wait—there’s more!

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

The ultimate comfort lies in Jesus’ sacrifice. In an honour-shame culture, sin is associated with shame, as we sinful mortals are separated from the almighty and Holy God. Jesus suffered a shameful death on the cross. There is relief (freedom from shame) in knowing our sins are crucified with Him on that cross, as believing in Him changes our shame into honour. (Zephaniah 3:19; Romans 10:11)

Our God is a God of comfort. It is in our darkest moments when Christ’s light shines the brightest.

Be Filled with the Holy Spirit

Lord fill me up
With the Holy Spirit

A transition to the chorus.

Paul encouraged the early church to be filled with Godly character—the fruits of the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-23) Sure, these fruits might not be granted naturally or automatically, but we can ask God through prayer to fill us. (Matthew 7:7-8; Philippians 4:6-7)

Fruits of the Spirit

God, Your love is stronger
Your joy is deeper
Your peace is greater than hate and lies

Your patience is higher
Your kindness is wider
Your goodness is greater than any sin

[…]

God, Your faithfulness is higher
Your gentleness is wider
Your self-control is greater than fear and rage

The chorus. Highly recommended with actions. :)

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These, known as the Fruits of the Spirit, are commendable qualities we should bear (Galatians 5:22-23) We can talk a lot more about each individual fruit, but that’s for a different time.

But that’s not all. God's demonstrations of these fruits are beyond the shallow things this world offers. To give a couple examples:

1. God's unconditional love goes beyond infatuations and romance. His ultimate move? Jesus' innocent death on the cross. (John 3:16; 1 Corinthians 13:4-13)
2. God's joy goes beyond materialistic joy. It's a lasting joy that persists through good or bad times. (James 1:2-4)

[…] greater than hate and lies
[…] greater than any sin
[…] greater than fear and rage

Instead of holding grudges and slandering, we can choose to love our neighbours and enemies, to rejoice always, and to be vessels of Godly peace. (Matthew 5:43-48; 1 Thessalonians 5:16; Proverbs 17:1) Instead of sinning, we can (re)turn to God, and through His patience and kindness reconsider our ways and repent. (Romans 2:4) He is good and compassionate to all. (Psalm 145:8-9) Finally, instead of being afraid, we can faithfully remain in God (John 15:4); instead of being rumbustious and angry, we can exercise gentleness and self-control, as Godly peacemakers.

All in all, the Fruits of the Spirit surpass the raw, unfiltered emotions we may be accustomed to.

Overflow

So let me overflow
With the Holy Spirit

Our final supplication: let’s overflow³ with the Holy Spirit and God's grace, just as a cup overflows, so that we may glorify God in unity. (Psalm 23:5; Romans 15:5-6; Ephesians 4:2-6)

Closing Remarks

This is meant to be a children’s song, so words are intended to be simple and paired with actions. I hope this song may be an encouragement not only to children, but also to the reader, who has kindly spent their time reading this page. Writing this song was a spiritual journey for me too.

Shoot me an email or comment if you plan to sing this song for worship, use it for a children's event, or even if you just found it encouraging/inspiring. I'd be happy to support in prayer.