Dahasak Atharin Ma

You who chose me out from among a thousand,
Lord, for you, unceasingly
I will sing songs of devotion,
I will sing songs of thanks

To bring light to a world filled with darkness,
becoming a burning lamp,
to bring all God’s people to you,
let me become an instrument in your hand

To give comfort and ease
to a world that bears the fire of sorrow…..

To teach them not to be slaves
to empty ritual and offering…..

To help everyone see
the full worth of life…..

To give flavour to God’s people,
becoming salt for the earth….

To bring all God’s people to you,
let me become an instrument in your hand

This is a hymn of vocation, the response of someone who feels chosen by God for a purpose. It opens with grateful wonder, “you who chose me out from among a thousand,” and answers that calling with worship, “unceasingly I will sing songs of devotion and thanks.” But the heart of the song is not what the singer will receive; it is what he asks to become for the sake of others.

The requests are drawn straight from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, where he told his followers, “you are the salt of the earth, you are the light of the world.” The hymn takes both images and turns them into prayers: “to bring light to a world filled with darkness, becoming a burning lamp,” and “to give flavour to God’s people, becoming salt for the earth.” The singer wants to be useful, an “instrument in your hand” to bring people to God.

Between these run some strikingly thoughtful lines about what that mission really means. He asks “to teach them not to be slaves to empty ritual and offering,” a plea for genuine faith over hollow religion, and “to help everyone see the full worth of life,” lifting people to dignity and meaning. What the listener is left with is a beautiful picture of the purpose-filled life, someone humbled to have been chosen, asking not for blessings but to be spent, to be light in the dark, salt in the world, and a tool in God’s hand for the good of everyone around them.