Darlene Zschech is amused when asked to tell the story behind the song. “There is no big story,” she insists. “I really didn’t sit down one day and decide to write an incredible song that would touch the nations.”
If anything, Darlene has been surprised and almost embarrassed by the attention the song has received. That is her nature: modest and humble about her God-given talents. She doesn’t want any glory, because she knows it is not hers alone. It is the purity of her heart and her deep love for God that have raised her up to become the acclaimed worship leader she is today.
“It was one of those dark days in my life,” she remembers. “Everything felt as if it was on top of me. There seemed to be no way out, and the only one I could turn to was the Lord.” Desperate for His peace, she opened to the Psalms. Sitting at her old piano, she began to play, and “Shout to the Lord” flowed from her heart.
She smiles as she describes the scene. “The piano was a gift from my parents when I was five years old. It’s old and, I’m sure, was even a little out of tune. I wasn’t even consciously thinking about the song,” she says, “but I sang it and sang it, over and over again, and it lifted me up.”
That is how the song was born. From the depths of despair, it carried her to the heights of faith. Over the next few days the song didn’t leave her, and it began to dawn on her that it might be a worship song.
Terribly shy and a little embarrassed, she told Geoff Bullock, then Music Pastor at Hills CLC, and Russell Fragar that she thought she had written a song. “My hands were sweaty and I could hardly play it, I was so nervous,” she said. “I kept starting and stopping and apologising for it before they had even heard it.” Eventually she made them stand with their backs to her, facing the wall, while she played. Even when they turned around and declared it magnificent, Darlene was convinced they were just being polite.
When Pastor Brian Houston heard the song for the first time, he predicted it would be sung around the world. The rest is history.
We hadn’t even recorded it and I began receiving letters from people all over the world who had sung the song in their churches. One came from a seven-year-old boy in Nigeria, thanking me for writing it.
Darlene Zschech
“Shout to the Lord” was written when a child of God ran to her Lord, seeking Him in the midst of desperation. As you sing it, you are filled with faith, strength and peace, exactly what Darlene experienced the day she wrote it.
Darlene picks up a Bible and turns to Psalm 96. You can see her passion for the Word as she describes what it means to her: the sea roaring and the mountains bowing down. You catch a glimpse of what inspired the song: a true love and a pure heart, focused completely on her beloved Lord.