1987 - Like many of my songs of this time period, this song is taken from the bible; Ephesians 1:4 which is the main biblical passage to coin this wonderful phrase “holy and blameless.” It is a reminder to see ourselves the way God does and to walk worthy of the calling He places on our lives. And of course, this is only possible through the power of the Holy Spirit.
In 1987, Bluegrass music was making a strong resurgence in my life and I wanted to develop this one into a smoking fast banjo and fiddle tune, something along the lines of The Newgrass Revival band. Tragically I never had the discipline to develop the level of banjo skill necessary, but nonetheless, churned out this bluegrassy number. I occasionally attended the Bluegrass club meetings and performances each Wednesday at The Grove, which was a shopping mall off College Avenue in Lemon Grove at the time. I was also tuning in to the Sunday evening Bluegrass special on KSON, which came on at midnight after the Country Oldies show. Many of those shows I recorded on my old reel to reel and still have the tapes to this day.
I discovered that Jon and Bonnie Hayman loved bluegrass too and Jon and I started jamming every now and then, working on vocal harmonies and guitar/banjo parts. HOLY AND BLAMELESS was one song that never got completed back then. Recently, I dug it out of my folder of hand written notes and it was just six lines long- a song idea waiting to be developed. I had scrawled out some guitar chords and wrote “Bluegrass?” at the top of the page along with the date 1-27-87. As of this writing, I finished the lyrics, developed the structure, and produced and recorded it. I kind of like the idea progression of the song; it starts out as a prayer for forgiveness and cleansing, then progresses to God’s forgiveness of others, and culminates in a joyful profession that we ARE Holy and Blameless through Christ.
This one is on my fifth album SONGS FROM THE WOOD. Here are the lyrics:
HOLY AND BLAMELESS
Words & music by Reggie Michaud © 1987 (ref: Ephesians 1:4 )
Forgive me oh Lord for the sin in my heart
For the lust of my eyes and the error of my ways
Cuz I’m needing You now more than ever before
I can’t wait any more for the end of my days…
To be holy and blameless in the power of the Holy Spirit
To become the work of God- a perfect man
For the holy and blameless and to all who have the ears to hear it
Let Your words be written deep down in our hearts:
Holy and Blameless!
In Him there’s redemption just as He has risen
Forgiving our trespasses every day
He teaches the mystery of all His intentions
And seeks out the prodigal sons to relay:
That they’re holy and blameless in the power of the Holy Spirit
They become the work of God- a favored son
To the holy and blameless and to all who have the ears to hear it
Let Your words be written deep down in our hearts:
Holy and Blameless!
Praise to the Father and God of our Lord Jesus
Who blesses his children in the heavenly place
He chose us to serve Him before the foundations
As holy and blameless because of His grace
We are holy and blameless in the power of the Holy Spirit
We’ve become the work of God- a spotless bride
For the holy and blameless and to all who have the ears to hear it
Let Your words be written deep down in our hearts:
Holy and Blameless!