All worship has a liturgy.  Liturgy simply means the form we worship. We might call our liturgy a worship order, but it is still a liturgy. Our liturgy contains new songs that were written in recent years and older songs that have been part of Christian liturgies for decades or even centuries. We sing the song Amazing Grace and join the countless others who came before us who also sung this song in their liturgy. 

 

Going back much further before a song such as Amazing Grace, we there were songs or prayers that were regularly used as part of the liturgy of that time. One of these is called the Kyrie. The lyric of the Kyrie is simply “Kyrie Eleison, Christe Eleison” or translated to English, “Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy.” Its foundation can be found in 1st Chronicles 16:24, “…give thanks to the LORD; for he is good; for his mercy endures for ever…” 

 

The Kyrie was included in the liturgy of worship and while it would be used in a variety of ways, was always found in the communion service–the mass. 

 

Composers such as J.S. Bach, Joseph Haydn, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart all wrote Kyrie’s. Here are a few examples:

 

 

In the same spirit and in the same desire to call out to God and Christ in heartfelt repentance, Chris Tomlin wrote this beautiful Kyrie for our age. As you sing and worship with this song, think of our need for God’s mercy and our thankfulness that his mercy never ends, it does endure for ever and ever.