Track 7 on That I May Know Him
The Pursuit of MajestyA.W. Tozer
Built on Philippians 3:10, Philippians 3:12, and Philippians 3:7–8
01Read along
The study behind the song
Built on Philippians 3:10, Philippians 3:12, Philippians 3:7–8, and John 11:43–44.
In Philippians 3, Paul counts his impressive religious credentials as loss and names a single goal: to know Christ and the power of His resurrection, pressing on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of him. On the album That I May Know Him, Doulos of Jesus gathers voices from the history of the church around this chapter, and here the voice is A.W. Tozer, quoted throughout as a man shouting a sleeping church awake.
The verses set Philippians 3:10 and 3:12 beside Tozer's conviction that an infinite God does not hand out pieces of Himself but gives all of Himself to each believer. The song pictures today's church as Lazarus standing in his shroud, raised by Jesus' call yet still bound in grave clothes. Real spiritual power is found not in relics but in the living Lord, whose resurrection turns every loss into gain.
The closing lines drive the point home: shake off the grave clothes, strip away self-trust and worldly praise, and refuse a surface faith. Do not settle for a rumor. Pursue the Majesty.
02Sing along
Lyrics
We are a church asleep, wrapped up in our own design
Trading the eternal gold for trinkets down the line
But Tozer stands and shouts, "Wake up from your sleep!"
You cannot navigate the shallows when the call is to the deep
Philippians 3 verse 10, the Holman text breaks through the dark
"My goal is to know Him and the power of His resurrection"
But we are modern-day Lazarus, standing in our shroud
Hearing the call to rise, but still bound before the crowd
Oh, to know Him, past the surface of a lukewarm faith!
Tozer cried, "An infinite God gives all of Himself to you!"
"He doesn't distribute Himself that each may have a part,"
"But to each one He gives ALL of Himself, breaking the heart!"
True spiritual power doesn't live inside the relics of the tree
It’s found in the living Lord who sets the prisoner free!
"The resurrection has placed a glorious crown upon His pain,"
Turning every loss we suffer into our eternal gain
HCSB verse 12, "I press on to take hold of that"
"For which Christ Jesus also took hold of me"
Strip away your self-trust, throw away the worldly praise
The pursuit of God demands a revolution in our days
Shake off the grave clothes! Step out of the tomb!
The resurrected Savior is filling up the room!
"All power belongs to Jesus Christ our Lord!"
Do not settle for a rumor.
Do not settle for a surface faith.
Pursue the Majesty.
03Keep listening