Turn My Ears Into Eyes grew out of a convention talk that encouraged us to use our imagination when reading the Scriptures — not to invent things, but to inhabit the truth. To hear the wind, see the faces, and walk beside the people in the account. The song became a prayer: that Jehovah would help me move beyond reading the words and begin living inside the story.
Coffee steaming on the table
Golden sunlight fills the space
Both dogs curl up beside me
As the stories take their place
I’ve read the words a thousand times
Yet now I see his face
The memory of your son’s smile
May it never be erased
Turn my ears into eyes
Let me walk those dusty roads
See their faces, hear their hearts
Feel the things that moved them so
Draw me closer through your word
Past the letters on the page
Help me live inside the story
Till it shapes the way I see
A woman knelt before him
With tears upon his feet
The room was full of judgment
Yet she would not retreat
She came with all her burdens
Hoping mercy could be true
And as that scene unfolded
I saw a little of me, too
Turn my ears into eyes
Let me walk those dusty roads
See their faces, hear their hearts
Feel the things that moved them so
Draw me closer through your word
Past the letters on the page
Help me live inside the story
Till it remakes who I am
Jehovah, help me linger
When I open up your word
Help me stay a little longer
With the lines I’ve always heard
Refine my senses, O Jehovah
And teach my ears to see
As you reveal your son to me,
You become the air I breathe
Turn my ears into eyes
Let me walk those dusty roads
See their faces, hear their hearts
Feel the things that moved them so
Draw me closer through your word
Past the letters on the page
Help me live inside the story
Til you ARE the air I breathe
Turn My Ears Into Eyes was a pivotal takeaway for me from this convention. I can get so much more from the Scriptures if I imagine the sights, sounds, smells, and feelings of the topic at hand.
This was so true as I watched the video and saw Jesus smile at Matthew and say, “Be my follower.”
And then came the video of the woman who washed Jesus’s feet with her tears and her hair. The images were stunning and emotional, and they stick with me still.
This song began with the chorus, and as soon as the first four lines were on the page —
I knew this song was a prayer.
I will sing it often as a reminder that using my imagination with more intention can get me from simply gaining head knowledge to “you ARE the air I breathe.”
Amen.