I Stand In Awe of You

As a teenage rock 'n' roller, Mark Altrogge (pronounced "Al-troe-ghee") never would have anticipated that his criteria for judging a good song would be whether or not it was theologically sound. As a senior pastor and long-time worship leader in the university town of Indiana, Penn., however, Altrogge now places this as the top value to be embedded in any of his songs.

"The ideal song for me," he claims, "if it were possible to write, would be both doctrinally rich while also containing great emotion that captures passionate affection for God." Indeed, it is possible to compose such songs, as Altrogge demonstrated in such stand-out worship tunes as "I'm Forever Grateful" and perennial favorite "I Stand in Awe," penned in 1986.

But the road getting to where he is today was not without twists and turns. In the early 1970s, worrying about theological soundness would have been foreign to Altrogge. At that time, his primary focus was on studying art, which he would later teach before becoming a pastor, and concentrating on his own music career.

When Altrogge became a Christian in 1974 following graduation, that focus quickly shifted. "I wound up quitting the rock band and wasn't sure what God would have me do with my music. I attempted to write more performance-type songs." In a candid moment he reveals, "In my fantasies I was hoping I'd wind up like Keith Green or somebody, doing concerts. I don't think I'm actually good enough that I could have done that," he murmurs dryly, "but I was deceived into thinking I could at the time."

One climactic spiritual experience during this phase of his life, however, would dramatically alter Altrogge's plans for the future. "I can remember I was playing around," he says, "writing a song, and, although it wasn't audible or anything, I just felt like God said to me, 'Mark, do you want to be a servant with your music?' And I said, basically, 'Yeah, of course.' And I just felt the Lord said to me, 'Well, write worship songs that serve my people.' That's not to say that other kinds of songs are any less valuable-I just felt like somehow God spoke that to me."

With honesty, Altrogge admits that, "at the time, I was not real excited about worship music. I was used to seeing bands like Yes and Genesis, and their music was really complex." Worship music seemed to him to be very elementary. "I can remember thinking it would be easy to write a worship song. As I found out shortly after, it wasn't so easy!" His first few efforts were "kind of cornball," but Altrogge eventually gained a different perspective. "I began to develop a passion to try to write songs that had some lyrical and doctrinal depth, and some musical complexity."

Around this time, Altrogge began to be discipled by Brent Detwiler, a leader in the PDI (formerly People of Destiny International, now "Proclaim-ing God's Grace, Developing Local Churches, Influencing Our World with the Gospel") church who emphasized the union of theology and character in the Christian life and throughout everything that believers put their hand toward. Altrogge started working closely with other PDI leaders as well. The result, he says, was an emphasis on strong doctrinal content in his songs "because I began to see that sound doctrine created properly motivated affection for God."

Altrogge admits, "most of my songs don't have a very impressive story of how I received the inspiration. It is usually a lot of hard work and hit and miss and playing things over and over, hoping to recognize when something sounds good." Reflecting on "I Stand in Awe of You," the songwriter says, "I remember working on this song for quite a while before it finally clicked."

It was the mid-1980s and Altrogge, already a husband and father of two (two more children would follow), had become a pastor in the PDI movement. "With most of my songwriting," Altrogge explains, "I'm usually meditating on something I'm being affected by. As I am meditating, I will try to sometimes capture that meditation in song." While reading The Holiness of God by R.C. Sproul and The Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozer the theme for the song emerged. "I was deeply moved by the fact that God is infinite in all of his attributes, and that there's no way of fully understanding that."

The song quickly became a favorite in the PDI churches, though it took a bit longer for it to become published. "I got real discouraged in the early 1980s, sending songs around to publishers," he admits. "I would put three or four songs onto a tape and send them out to the churches that we were affiliated with and say, 'If you can use 'em, go ahead. They're free. I don't want anything for them. I would be honored if any of them just served the church.'"

Eventually, "I Stand in Awe" did in fact, begin to serve countless believers in worship. When PDI finally made the decision to start publishing music, Integrity Music placed the song on Bob Fitts' The Lord Reigns project released in 1989.

Altrogge recommends this approach to fledgling songwriters. "First of all, see if the song is effective in your own local church," he suggests. "If the song works within a local setting, then send it out to the churches that you're a part of and see if it takes off there. I think God will get those songs out which he wants to."

"I never would have imagined this," Altrogge says of his success. "To write a song that would help people enter into worship or to gain some deeper understanding of God's awesomeness is the most satisfying thing I could think of for my life," he says thoughtfully. "I couldn't ask for anything more."

"I Stand in Awe," Mark Altrogge, 1987, PDI Praise. Lyrics reprinted by permission of author.

Phil Christensen is worship pastor at the Church on the Mountain near Mt. Hood, Ore.

I STAND IN AWE OF YOU

You are beautiful beyond description
Too marvelous for words
Too wonderful of comprehension
Like nothing ever seen or heard
Who can grasp you infinite wisdom
Who can fathom the depth of your love
You are beautiful beyond description
Majesty enthroned above

And I stand, I stand in awe of you
I stand, I stand in awe of you
Holy God to whom all praise is due
I stand in awe of you.

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