Like The Trees
When some dear friends and I were writing songs for “Children of Light” back in 2017, I thought there might be something missing from my debut worship album. I’m admittedly not a “nature person” (Ha!). That may be the understatement of the century, but my concept for the record was to take listeners out of the hustle and bustle and into the mountains or the woods—a more natural setting—where they could reconnect to a more primitive faith, a purer spirituality. But the album did need something earnest and straight from the heart.
Most of our original songs at Summit Church came from a meditation on scripture, but “Like the Trees” is more of a personal prayer. Our church had gone through some tough seasons. Like so many of us, I had my own personal inner chaos and I was feeling pretty disconnected from the Christianity I’d see in politics and social media. I wanted to write a simple song that got back to the basics and declared a simple truth: Jesus is my Savior even in the midst of uncertainty.
Lines like “Lord, make me sturdy like the trees”, “Keep me firm like the anchor’s hold” and “Carve me out like the mountain range” remind me of where I was in life. My children, Jonah and Lydia, were six and three years old. I’m sure other parents are familiar with the weight of responsibility that comes with raising young children. So I was asking God to give me the gift of deeper wisdom not only for my own sake but also for these poor souls who had to live with me!
At first, I had no idea what to do for a chorus. I just started jotting down basic ideas about who God is. Once I had some lyrics down (even the ones that ended up actually making it into the final version) I still wasn’t sure they fit. Did I just write down a bunch of clichés? Then, I realized…there’s a story here within these jumbled thoughts, I just need to find the right order!
The lyric “Jesus Christ, Lord of all. You are my foundation” points to a God who has a greatness and is over everything—all of these different struggles we face. Just as we’ve learned in our summer series “Wisdom in a World of Information”, my own understanding would only take me so far. I needed the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. After all, God was here long before the universe was spun into existence and he’d be here long after. His ways were higher than mine.
The “Son of Man. Lamb of God” lines show us that God’s greatness was only made greater when he left his throne to take on the punishment we deserved. Then comes the tag, “You are my Salvation.” Every time I sing those words or even say them aloud, they come with a vulnerability. In this one line, the overarching idea of the song becomes personal.
Throughout this summer’s series, we’ve quoted Proverbs 9:10, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom:” The next often forgotten part of that verse is, “… and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”
I think this song really helps focus us on who God is and places our hearts in a humble posture to begin receiving his guidance. My hope has always been that my songwriting could be a gift to the church. It brings me great joy to share this one with you today and I hope hearing this story inspires you to use your talents and creativity to help others as well. Thank you so much for listening!
David Burleson has been on staff and leading worship at Summit for more than 12 years now. You might’ve also seen him helping with Summit Student Ministries or performing in a musical with Base Camp Live. His two full length worship albums are available for your listening pleasure on all audio platforms. Along with songwriting, David enjoys trying new restaurants, playing soccer and basketball, designing games, writing stories and fantasy football. You can reach out to him here.