I can describe Keith Green in three words: passionate for God.

He was always radical. At age 21, Keith turned from drugs and non-Christian religions to serving Jesus. He devoted his life, including singing and songwriting skills, to the one who died for his sins.

Keith’s music career skyrocketed. He released four popular albums between 1977 and 1982. In July of 1982, the unexpected happened. Keith and two of his young children died in a plane crash. He was 28.

The Egypt Experience

After he’d released two albums with Sparrow Records, Keith started his own label, Pretty Good Records. He titled his first album, So You Wanna Go Back to Egypt. What set it apart from his previous endeavors was the pricetag. He offered it for “whatever you can afford.”

No matter what anyone did or didn’t pay, they received ten songs that challenged their spiritual lives.

The album’s title song is full-throttle energy, loaded with humor. It delivers an unmistakable message. Keith’s heartfelt surrender in songs like “Pledge My Head to Heaven” and “I Want to Be More Like Jesus” draws us to want to be more devotionally minded. Then there’s “Oh Lord, You’re Beautiful.”

Prayer of a Lifetime

Keith’s wife, Melody, awoke one morning to the sound of soft piano music. She found Keith at the keyboard, weeping. He told her, “The Lord brought me right into the throne room, and I sang to Him and just worshiped.”

The lyrics to that song, “Oh Lord, You’re Beautiful,” are a prayer.

They begin, “Oh Lord, You’re beautiful, Your face is all I seek, For when Your eyes are on this child, Your grace abounds to me.” Then, like Isaiah’s time in God’s presence (Isaiah 6), Keith’s next thought is availability for God’s purposes.

The song continues, “I wanna take Your word and shine it all around, But first help me to just live it Lord, And when I’m doing well, help me to never seek a crown, For my reward is giving glory to You.”

Feeling dying embers in his love for God, Keith adds, “Oh Lord, please light the fire, That once burned bright and clear, Replace the lamp of my first love, That burns with holy fear.” That’s a model prayer for any Christian.

Recurring Theme

The phrase, “Your face is all I seek,” is the key to all of Keith’s songs. In his passion for God, he poured honest feelings into every one. He bared his heart, not only in his love for God, but in his imperfection as a Christ-follower.

Immediately after the line, “Your face is all I seek,” Keith wrote, “For when Your eyes are on this child, Your grace abounds to me.” He admonished listeners in his concerts and he sang a few preachy songs. It was Keith admitting both our need and his ever-present need for God’s grace

Keith risked his career. When he sang, “And when I’m doing well, help me to never seek a crown, For my reward is giving glory to You,” he lived by it.

Before Keith started giving away albums, he debated the balance between ministry and money with some of his peers. He exited Sparrow Records as their most profitable client.

Keith Green remains an enigma in Christian music. His honesty and his love for Jesus continue to challenge all who hear his songs and all who create and sing Christian music.

Since 1980

“Oh Lord, You’re Beautiful” resurrects in various worship settings. It’s also been recorded by the following groups, among others.

• In 1998, Insyderz recorded a ska -punk version on Skallelujah!
• It’s the title of a CD by Times Square Church Children’s Choir.
• Jesus Culture included it on their Consumed album.
• Shane and Shane made it part of the Worship Initiative.
• In 2018, Mercy Me sang it in the movie, I Can Only Imagine. It appears on the film’s soundtrack recording.

Listen to Keith Green sing Oh Lord, You’re Beautiful.

The Road Ahead:

1. On a scale from one to ten, how does “passionate for God” describe you? Is God’s face all you seek? If you need to, pray, “Oh Lord, please light the fire, That once burned bright and clear.”
2. If you’re older than 28, reflect on your service for God since that age. If you knew you had three months to live, what aspect of living for Jesus would you want to change before seeing Him face to face? Make a short list and pray for God to help you.

Further Fuel: I Chronicles 16:11; Psalm 51:10; I Corinthians 15:58; Psalm 90:12.