Composition
"Here I Am to Worship" (2000) was written by Tim Hughes (b. 1977), an Anglican musician associated with the Soul Survivor and Vineyard networks, while he was a student at King's College London. The song's structure - verse presenting the incarnate Christ, chorus expressing the worshipper's response - follows the pattern of Philippians 2:6-11 (the kenosis hymn) applied to contemporary praise. Released on the Soul Survivor Live 2001 album, it spread globally through the Contemporary Christian Music distribution network and became one of the defining worship songs of the early 21st century.
Biblical Text
Philippians 2:5-8 - "In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant" - provides the theological substance of the verses. The incarnation is presented as voluntary self-emptying (kenosis): the divine choosing limitation, the eternal entering time, the all-sufficient making himself dependent.
John 1:14 - "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us" - is the summary statement that the hymn's opening verse enacts musically: "Light of the world, you stepped down into darkness." The metaphor of light entering darkness draws on both John 1's prologue and the darkness-light contrast that runs throughout John's Gospel.
Galatians 6:14 - "May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" - anchors the bridge's response to the incarnation in the cross: "I'll never know how much it cost / To see my sin upon that cross."
Creator and Legacy
"Here I Am to Worship" became one of the most-sung contemporary Christian songs globally, crossing denominational and cultural lines with unusual breadth. Its combination of clear Christological content (incarnation and atonement) and accessible melody made it popular in conservative evangelical and charismatic contexts simultaneously. Hughes subsequently became a significant figure in British contemporary worship music; the song's success opened doors for an entire generation of British worship musicians in the global Contemporary Christian Music market.