Our Hymnbook

Here I Am to Worship

Tim Hughes, 2000

Verse 1

Light of the world,

You stepped down into darkness,

Opened my eyes, let me see

Beauty that made this heart adore You,

Hope of a life spent with You.

Chorus

So, here I am to worship,

Here I am to bow down

Here I am to say that You’re my God!

You’re altogether lovely, altogether worthy

Altogether wonderful to me!

Verse 2

King of all days,

Oh so highly exalted,

Glorious in Heaven above,

Humbly You came to the earth You created,

All for love’s sake became poor.

Chorus

So, here I am to worship,

Here I am to bow down

Here I am to say that You’re my God

You’re altogether lovely, altogether worthy

Altogether wonderful to me!

Bridge

I’ll never know how much it cost

To see my sin upon that cross!

I’ll never know how much it cost

To see my sin upon that cross!

Chorus

So, here I am to worship,

Here I am to bow down

Here I am to say that You’re my God

You’re altogether lovely, altogether worthy

Altogether wonderful to me!

For musicians

Open the Chords view to see the chords over the words, move the song into any key, and download the chart. Written in D.

Download chord chart

Behind the hymn

"Here I Am to Worship" (also known as "Light of the World") was written by Tim Hughes in 2000 while he was a young worship leader at Soul Survivor Church in Watford, England, under the mentorship of Matt Redman. Hughes was inspired by the passage in Philippians 2:6-11, where Paul describes Christ's willingness to set aside the glory of heaven to take on human flesh and die on a cross. The song captures the wonder of the incarnation — that the "Light of the World" would step down into darkness for the sake of sinful humanity. Hughes has said the song came together quickly during a time of personal worship and reflection on the humility of Christ. It was first performed at the Soul Survivor youth festival and spread rapidly through the global worship community, becoming one of the defining songs of the early 2000s worship movement. The simple, reverent chorus — "Here I am to worship, here I am to bow down, here I am to say that You're my God" — gave millions of Christians a posture of humble adoration that contrasted with the triumphalism sometimes associated with contemporary worship.

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