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September 2003 Table of Contents
Stories Behind the Songs
On The Nineteenth Day Of The Fast
By Lindsay Terry
As The Deer
Psalm 42:1 As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God.
In 1991, Marty Nystrom entered the Seoul Stadium in Seoul Korea, and around him were more than 100,000 Koreans gathered for a great worship conference. As they opened the conference they began to sing "As the Deer." He was moved very deeply in his heart to think that God had used Him to provide that Scriptural song, not only for the people of Korea, but for Christians around the world. Nystrom told me the following about his songwriting:
"I am a morning person, so my best work is done shortly after I get up. However, I get ideas for songs at the most unlikely times. I got an idea for a song last night in our family meeting time. I, of course, didn't begin writing, I just jotted down a few notes to help me to remember. I seem to write songs best when I am not purposefully trying to write one." A good example of that would be the writing of As the Deer. Following is that story as Marty told it to me:
"I was a school teacher here in Seattle, and since I had the summer off I decided to go back to Bible College, but only for the summer term. I headed for Dallas, Texas and Christ For the Nations Institute. Little did I know what was about to happen to me, especially with all that I would be exposed to and all of the worship emphasis of the school.
It was a spiritual renewal time for me. I had graduated from Oral Roberts University, and frankly I was a little overwhelmed in ministry. I had been involved in so many things at the school, not the least of which was the television ministry of ORU. All of my studies mixed with the many other activities caused the stress of it all to take its toll on my spiritual life.
The summer was a time for me to restore my passion for Jesus, who had saved me years earlier. I didn't need man's approval or other motivations; it was just time for me to get back to my relationship with Jesus. I was not messed up horribly, but I knew that Jesus was not number one in my life at the time.
I had a roommate at CFNI who was a very vibrant Christian. He challenged me to go on a fast, thinking it would help me to recover my joy. I took up the challenge and on the nineteenth day of the fast I found myself sitting at a piano in a room of the school, trying to write a song. I was simply playing chord progressions when I noticed an open Bible on the music stand of the piano, and it was open to Psalm 42. My eyes fell on the first verse of that chapter. After reading the verse I began to sing its message, right off the page. I wrote the first verse and the chorus of a song, pretty much straight through. The whole of the adventure was completed in a matter of minutes. I then repeated the song I had just written, just to seal it in my mind.
I had no intention of showing it to anyone. It was to be for my own worship time with the Lord. However, before leaving the school to go back to Seattle, I did share it with one person, Dave Butterbaugh. He in turn introduced it to the kids of the school and it became a favorite.
As was their custom, the school recorded the song and put it into one of their cassette projects and mailed it out across the country, and apparently to other nations. The next thing I knew As the Deer was being sung everywhere. It has been translated into several different languages. Orchestras have used it. It has been sung in unusually different styles."
It is amazing that so many songs have sprung from the cassette ministry of Christ For the Nations Institute. Numerous songwriters got their start there. In an interview with Sondra Corbett Wood, who wrote, "I Worship You Almighty God," she told me that she was at CFNI when Marty was a student, as well as Tommy Walker, who wrote, "Mourning Into Dancing." Kirk and Deby Dearman, authors of "We Bring the Sacrifice of Praise," related to me that their song had been brought to the attention of the nation from the cassette music ministry of CFNI. The list goes on and on.
Marty continues to write songs and has authored between 150 and 200 at this juncture in his music ministry career. He also travels the world teaching in worship conferences, spending a considerable amount of time in Asia. He speaks for numerous church retreats for choirs and worship teams here in the United States.
Marty and his wife Jeannie have been married for twenty years and have two sons, Nathan and Benjamin. They make their home in the Seattle area, and attend the Eastside Four Square Church, pastored by Jim Hayford, brother to Jack Hayford, who wrote "Majesty." Marty shares his joy of worship through his many popular albums and CD's.
Reflection: Fortunate is the soul, who when thirsty for God, can determine how to remedy the problem, must as Marty did. It can only be done as we find fellowship with the Lord, in His Word. Then we rest in Him and praise Him for his goodness.
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