Most Christians are familiar with the song “He Could Have Called Ten Thousand Angels.” It has been covered by many famous country and western stars. The chorus goes:
He could have called ten thousand angels
To destroy the world and set him free
He could have called ten thousand angels
But he died alone, for you and me.
There is an interesting story behind the song. Ray Overholt made his living as a country and western singer. One day he thought to himself: I’ve written secular songs, I’d like to write a song about Christ.
He opened his Bible. He knew a little about it from his mom. He began to read how Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane told Peter to put away his sword. Jesus told Peter that he could ask his Father and he would send twelve legions of angels to protect them (Matthew 26:53). Ray didn’t know at the time that would have been more than 72,000 angels, not just ten thousand.
The more he read about Jesus, the more Ray admired him for what he had done. In 1958 Ray was playing in a nightclub in Battle Creek, Michigan, when the Lord inspired him to start writing the song. He wrote the first verse and put it in his guitar case. Ray then told the club that he was quitting.
He finished the song and sent it to a publishing house, which reluctantly agreed to publish it. Sometime later he was asked to sing it at a small church. Following his singing, a preacher spoke a message that gripped Ray’s heart. He knew he needed Christ. So he knelt there and accepted, as his Savior, the One whom he had been singing and writing about. Ray Overholt went on to become a traveling singer and preacher.
Think about it – he was led to Christ by his own song. It is a song about what Jesus could have done, but didn’t, because he had something greater to do, the salvation of our souls.