530 A Glad New Song
Soon I shall sing the glad, new song,
Of Moses and the Lamb,
With all the sainted hosts above,
Before the great I Am.
159 Wondrous Love
To God and to the Lamb,
I will sing; I will sing;
Who is the great I Am,
While millions join the theme,
I will sing.
These "I AM" uses appear to me to have a double reference. First, to God's name as given to Moses on the mountain, from the burning bush (not familiar with this? pick up a Bible and start reading Exodus -- some spots are a bit hard but overall it's a ripping good story)
Exodus 3:14
And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. (kjv)
So, in this case, I AM is a translation/explanation of the divine name. The Hebrew could also be rendered into English as: I am who I am, I am what I am, I will be who/what I will be, I will be whatever I will be!
I'm afraid I've loaned out my Jewish Torah commentary (Torah = first five books of the Judeo/Christian scripture; Exodus is book two.) so I can't give you the fuller treatment of this.
So on to second reference: picking up on the name of God, the writers of these songs doubtless also thought of Jesus and the "I am" saying given to us in John's Gospel, e.g. "I am the door", "I am the true vine", "I am the good shepherd", etc
(... also "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me." Interesting to me that even the most literalist of Bible interpreters do not imagine that Jesus was made of wood and had a handle, or had roots and leaves and you could pick grapes from him, yet the thought that this statement might also be metaphorical is seen as gravest heresy. For the record, it is my experience and belief that Jesus is indeed the way, and countless Buddhists, Hindus, aboriginal peoples, etc are faithfully following in the way without the least thought of Jesus. Thankfully, God is not limited by our logic.)
