Where Could I Go But To The Lord? arranged by Dan Mitchell, a duet with Greg Young.
This song, “Where Could I Go but to the Lord”, was written in 1940 by James (J. B.) Coats from the Gitano Community (Jones County), Mississippi. The inspiration for the song came some years earlier when Mr. Coats was at the bedside of one of his dying neighbours, an African–American gentleman named Joe Keyes.
Being a preacher, Mr. Coats had asked Mr. Keyes if he knew where he would spend eternity when he did. Mr. Keyes simply replied, “Where could I go but to the Lord?” Some years later, as he was away from home teaching a singing school, Mr. Coats finally included these words in a gospel song. Mr. Coats died on December 15th 1961.
Where could I GO, but to The LORD!! This indeed ought to be our conclusion. Even though most of the time in our lives things run smoothly and they go great for us, there are occasionally going to be obstacles that try to bring us down, You see, they come in a lot of different shapes and sizes, the devil doesn’t care what it takes to bring you down, just as long as you come down.
What I like about this particular hymn is that it asks a simple, yet profound, question – Where could I go but to the Lord? The phrasing of this particular question communicates a couple of different things to me. The first thing I get from this phrase is “I have no other option but going to the Lord.” This is a mindset that God, and only God, can help me in difficult times in my life. It is an acknowledgement that there is no one that can help but God. Sometimes we lean on doctors, family, friends, the Church, or our finances to get us through, and all of those things can be tools God uses to help us through difficult times. But the reality is there is no other option for us to take our problems to but to Him.
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1,725
Dan Mitchell
- Guitar
