The Gospel according to Elmore James

Posted on September 29, 2015 Written by Mark McIntyre 1 Comment

While driving to work this morning a version of “It Hurts Me Too” came on the radio. As I considered the lyrics, I saw a parallel to Scripture that I had not seen before. So, to Google I turned to find the lyrics. Here they are, for those who are not familiar with the song:

You said you was hurting, you almost lost your mind,
Now the man you love, he hurts you all the time.
But when things go wrong, go wrong with you,
It hurts me, too.

You love him more, when you should love him less.
I pick up behind him, and take his mess.
But when things go wrong, go wrong with you,
It hurts me, too.

He love another woman, yes I love you,
But you love him, and stick to him like glue.
When things go wrong, go wrong with you,
It hurts me, too.

Now he better leave you, or you better put him down.
No, I won’t stand, to see you pushed around.
But when things go wrong, go wrong with you,
It hurts me, too.

I listened to several versions of the song; it has been recorded many times by many people. But my favorite version is by Elmore James. If you’ve never heard his version of it, here it is on Youtube:

This song reminds me of the book of Hosea, where God uses a faithful husband to an unfaithful woman to illustrate his relationship with the Nation of Israel. Israel had wandered away and cheated on her God, a God who still cared. Israel reaped the consequences of her infidelity.Bad things happened as a result of her disobedience. But can you imagine God saying in response, “it hurts me too”?

We are like that. We snub the God who loves us and wants the best for us. We walk away from him leaving him to walk behind us and “take our mess.” It was to take our mess that Jesus came and went to the Cross.

So the next time you hear a version of “It Hurts Me Too” think of Jesus as the one who came to take our mess and make it into something beautiful.

About Mark McIntyre

A follower of Jesus Christ who shares observations about how Scripture should impact the church and the world. Mark is the original author and editor of Attempts at Honesty.

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