Sweet Surrender

 

 Sweet, sweet surrender

Live, live without care

Like a fish in the water

Like a bird in the air 

John Denver, an amazing songwriter and musician, wrote the above words for his 1974 song "Sweet Surrender," which follows a theme common to many of his songs. a journey of self-exploration tied to themes of nature and environment. Like many, he is pursuing the meaning of life and what his future might look like in light of his past and present. It is not clear that he ever found that the true meaning of life is manifested in a person, Jesus Christ, who has paved the way for everyone to find their purpose and, therefore, real happiness. 

Other songwriters of his day expressed this journey in unique constructions. Ian Anderson, leader of the band Jethro Tull, formulated his viewpoint in this way: “And as you cross the wilderness, spinning in your emptiness, you feel you have to pray. Looking for a sign that the Universal Mind has written you into the Passion Play.” Until one grasps that finding God’s true purpose of life, referred to by many as Divine Providence, he will come up short in experiencing his true meaning.    

Purim

Now, when it was Esther's turn, the daughter of Abihail, the uncle of Mordecai, who had taken her as his daughter, came to go in to the King, she did not request anything except what Hegai, the King's eunuch who was in charge of the women, advised. And Esther found favor in the eyes of all who saw her. So, Esther was taken to King Ahasuerus to his royal palace in the tenth month, which is the month Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. The King loved Esther more than all the women, and she found favor and kindness with him more than all the virgins, so that he set the royal crown on her head and made her queen instead of Vashti. Then the King gave a great banquet, Esther's banquet, for all his princes and his servants; he also made a holiday for the provinces and gave gifts according to the King's bounty. When the virgins were gathered together the second time, then Mordecai was sitting at the King's gate. Esther had not yet made known her kindred or her people, even as Mordecai had commanded her; for Esther did what Mordecai told her as she had done when under his care.                      Esther 2:15-20 

After these events, King Ahasuerus promoted Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and established his authority over all the princes who were with him. All the King's servants who were at the King's gate bowed down and paid homage to Haman; for so the King had commanded concerning him. But Mordecai neither bowed down nor paid homage.                          Esther 3:1-2 

Purim, or the Festival of Lots, is a joyous holiday that celebrates the rescue of the Jews in ancient Persia, observed this year on March 3, 2026. It is the story of Esther and reveals God's faithfulness to His people through the abiding faith of the Jewish maiden and cousin of Mordecai, chosen by King Ahasuerus to be queen of Persia. In the above passage, we learn that what made her worthy to be selected queen was that she did not request anything personal of the King. Esther did what Mordecai told her as she had done when under his care. In Major Ian Thomas’s book, “If I Perish, I Perish,” Esther, Mordecai, and Haman are allegories, representing the human spirit, the Holy Spirit, and the flesh, respectively. The human spirit has accepted and submitted to the Holy Spirit, and not paid any homage to the flesh. Many seek the ruler’s favor, but justice for man comes from the Lord (Proverbs 29:26).

If I Perish, I Perish 

Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, "There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from those of all other people, and they do not observe the King's laws, so it is not in the King's interest to let them remain.                     Esther 3:8

Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, "Do not imagine that you in the King's palace can escape any more than all the Jews. "For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place, and you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?" Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, "Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast for me; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maidens also will fast in the same way. And thus, I will go in to the King, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish.” So, Mordecai went away and did just as Esther had commanded him.                        Esther 4:13-17

Now it came about on the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the King's palace in front of the King's rooms, and the King was sitting on his royal throne in the throne room, opposite the entrance to the palace. When the King saw Esther, the queen standing in the court, she obtained favor in his sight; and the King extended to Esther the golden scepter which was in his hand. So, Esther came near and touched the top of the scepter. Then the King said to her, “What is troubling you, Queen Esther? And what is your request? Even to half of the kingdom it shall be given to you.” Esther said, “If it pleases the king, may the king and Haman come this day to the banquet that I have prepared for him.”                       Esther 5:1-4

Paul saw clearly that the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God (Romans 8:7-8). The warfare between the flesh, represented by Haman, and the Holy Spirit (Mordecai) is an ever-present reality this side of heaven. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law (Galatians 5:17-18).

Haman promoted a law of the Persian kingdom that the Jews would be destroyed since they did not observe the King's laws. King Ahasuerus was being manipulated to put this decree in force,  and Mordecai, Haman’s nemesis, would be hanged on a gallows. God had a different plan, but it required Esther to make a stand, with the consequence being her own death. As it turns out, Haman was exposed and judged. Not only that, on that day King Ahasuerus gave the house of Haman, the enemy of the Jews, to Queen Esther; and Mordecai came before the King, for Esther had disclosed what he was to her. The King took off his signet ring which he had taken away from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman (Esther 8:1-2).

When King Ahasuerus said to Esther, “What is troubling you, Queen Esther? And what is your request?” Sweet surrender is premised on a God who wishes to hear the requests of His people. According to Hebrews 4:16, Therefore, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Knowing that the believer is not on his own but has a loving God who desires to meet every need according to His perfect will is a secure foundation for his surrender.

The Glad Surrender

The English word “surrender” has three basic meanings: 1. to relinquish possession or control of something to another; 2. to give up in favor of another, especially voluntarily; and 3. to give up or abandon. In her book “Discipline, The Glad Surrender,” Elisabeth Elliott says that we serve a loving, merciful God who allows us the freedom to choose to obey His call. She explains, “Discipline is the whole-hearted yes to the call of God. When I know myself called, summoned, addressed, taken possession of, known, acted upon, I have heard the Master. I put myself gladly, fully, and forever at His disposal, and to whatever He says my answer is yes.” 

A young woman asked her, "Is discipline the same as punishment?" She was troubled by the idea of God's wanting to "get even." Elisabeth gave her 1 Corinthians 11:32:  But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world. God’s “punishment” of his children is never retribution, but rather correction. We know that we are indeed His beloved sons, sharing in the discipline that all sons share – for a higher purpose, namely that we may some day share His holiness, “attain life.”

Absolute Surrender

Andrew Murray wrote a book entitled "Absolute Surrender" in which he addresses the principle of surrender, concluding that it must be absolute. He begins with a discussion of the filling of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). On page 14, he defines this filling as: "having my whole nature yielded to His power. When the whole soul is yielded to the Holy Spirit, God Himself will fill it." Absolute surrender has to do with the understanding that it is a work of God in the believer who recognizes that Jesus is the vine and he is a branch, getting his life from the vine. “It has no responsibility except just to receive from the root and stem, sap and nourishment.”  

Murray had three important points on this subject: (1) It is a life of absolute dependence; he has learned to be helpless. "Blessed are the poor [ptoechos – helpless, a beggar] in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:3). (2) It is a life of restfulness; he has learned to stop trying. For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf (2 Corinthians 5:14-15). And (3) The branch has learned a lesson of fruitfulness; only the life of the Holy Spirit can produce fruit.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit John 3:6).

The Lord was with Joseph

Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt; and Potiphar, an Egyptian officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the bodyguard, bought him from the Ishmaelites, who had taken him down there. The Lord was with Joseph, so he became a successful man. And he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. Now his master saw that the Lord was with him and how the Lord caused all that he did to prosper in his hand. So, Joseph found favor in his sight and became his personal servant; and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he owned he put in his charge. It came about that from the time he made him overseer in his house and over all that he owned, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house on account of Joseph; thus, the Lord’s blessing was upon all that he owned, in the house and in the field. So, he left everything he owned in Joseph's charge, and with him there, he did not concern himself with anything except the food which he ate.                       Genesis 39:1-6

Then it came about after these things, the cupbearer and the baker for the King of Egypt offended their lord, the King of Egypt. Pharaoh was furious with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker. So, he put them in confinement in the house of the captain of the bodyguard, in the jail, the same place where Joseph was imprisoned. The captain of the bodyguard put Joseph in charge of them, and he took care of them; and they were in confinement for some time.                         Genesis 40:1-4

The Testament of Joseph

The record of the testament of Joseph: when he was about to die, he called his sons and his brothers together and said to them: “My children and brothers, listen to Joseph, the beloved of Israel, your father. I have seen in my life envy and death, and I have wandered in the truth of the Lord. My brothers hated me, but the Lord loved me. They wished me dead, but the God of my fathers guarded me. They threw me into a pit, but the Most High brought me back up. I was sold for a slave, but the Lord set me free. I was taken into captivity, but His strong hand comforted me. When I was hungry, the Lord, Himself nourished me. When I was sick and alone, God was with me. When I was in prison, the Savior showed me favor and released me. Amid slanders, He rescued me and exalted me above all envy and guile.                 

Potiphar, the chief cook of Pharaoh, entrusted me to his house, and I struggled against a shameless woman, urging me to transgress with her, but the God of Israel, my father, guarded me from the burning flame. I was cast into prison, beaten, and mocked, but the Lord granted me to find pity in the sight of the keeper of the prison, for He will, in no wise, forsake those who fear Him, neither in darkness, nor bonds, nor tribulations, nor in necessities. For God is not a man. He cannot be ashamed, afraid, weak, or thrust aside. In every situation, He is there to comfort. He only departs for a little while to try your soul. In ten temptations He showed me approved, and in all of them I endured, for endurance is a mighty charm, and patience gives many good things.                          

God Granted Daniel Favor

But Daniel made up his mind [sum – determined, purposed, committed] that he would not defile himself with the King's choice food or with the wine which he drank; so, he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself. Now God granted Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the commander of the officials, and the commander of the officials said to Daniel, "I am afraid of my lord the King, who has appointed your food and your drink; for why should he see your faces looking more haggard than the youths who are your own age? Then you would make me forfeit my head to the King." But Daniel said to the overseer whom the commander of the officials had appointed over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, “Please test your servants for ten days, and let us be given some vegetables to eat and water to drink. “Then let our appearance be observed in your presence and the appearance of the youths who are eating the king’s choice food; and deal with your servants according to what you see.” So, he listened to them in this matter and tested them for ten days. At the end of ten days their appearance seemed better and they were fatter than all the youths who had been eating the King's choice food. So, the overseer continued to withhold their choice food and the wine they were to drink, and kept giving them vegetables. As for these four youths, God gave them knowledge and intelligence in every branch of literature and wisdom; Daniel even understood all kinds of visions and dreams.                  Daniel 1:8-17 

In the first exile, Daniel and his three friends, all teenagers, were forcibly removed from their home and family in Jerusalem and placed in a new kingdom, Babylon, to serve another king. We learn from Daniel's writings that they made a conscious choice, a purposed mind, to live according to their godly convictions, and God honored those convictions. In the above passage, Daniel petitioned his handler (overseer) that he could show that his diet was superior to that of the King's choice food. As a result, God gave them knowledge and intelligence in every branch of literature and wisdom. Each was to function in his divine purpose in spite of the circumstances. They found the benefits of sweet surrender.

Contentment

Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content [autarkes – self-sufficient, adequate] in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.           Philippians 4:11-13

And constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness [eusebeias – devotion, piety toward God] is a means of gain. But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either.                            1 Timothy 6:5-7

Writing from a Roman jail near the end of his life, Paul testified that he had learned the secret of being content in any and every circumstance of life. His conclusion was that his strength would not serve him in this life, but rather it was his surrender to the ability of God that gave him strength. When writing to Timothy, he included the principle of godliness, devotion to God, as a means of gain. The sweet surrender is found when the believer makes the consistent pursuit of God’s life and purpose his highest priority. 

Sweet Surrender

John Denver

 

Lost and alone on some forgotten highway

Travelled by many remembered by few

Lookin' for something that I can believe in

Lookin' for something that I'd like to do with my life

 

There's nothin' behind me and nothin' that ties me

To somethin' that might have been true yesterday

Tomorrow is open and right now it seems to be more

Than enough to just be here today

 

And I don't know what the future is holdin' in store

I don't know where I'm goin', I'm not sure where I've been

There's a spirit that guides me, a light that shines for me

My life is worth the livin', I don't need to see the end

 

Sweet, sweet surrender

Live, live without care

Like a fish in the water

Like a bird in the air