Image by Priscilla Du Preez from Unsplash

I’m not a country music guy. This is a country worship song. But I dig it.

Anne Wilson, Jeff Pardo, and Matthew West have crafted a personal, engaging anthem of the power of Jesus in the life of the believer. At a first listen, all my questions are grammatical, not theological, so if you can’t handle singing “ain’t” in church, go ahead and stop reading now! If you’re still with me, let’s see what “My Jesus” is all about.

Focus

No question here. This song is very clearly about Jesus, what he’s done in my life, and what he can do to change yours.

Lyric Analysis

Before we get into specific lyrics, I want to address who this is song addressed to. It’s not being sung to Jesus, but about him, to an unspecified person. A congregant might hear the words as though they are addressed to them, or sing them with a particular friend in mind. Shouldn’t we be singing to God in church, not to other people? That’s not what Paul says.

One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Ephesians 5:19, “addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart.” Do we sing to God when we come together? Absolutely. But we also have a duty to sing to one another. Part of the purpose of our songs is to build one another up as believers. Additionally, the Psalms are full of words addressed to God (Ps. 4:10), words addressed to people (Ps. 148:11-12), and even words addressed to angelic beings and inanimate natural objects (Ps. 148:2-3). So singing to someone else about Jesus is an appropriate liturgical activity.

I could also see where some people might not like the title, which is repeated twelve times through the song. Putting the word “my” in front of something could be interpreted as exercising ownership or control over it. I want to worship the real Jesus, not just my version of him that suits all my own preferences. But this song isn’t about controlling Jesus; it’s about living in a covenantal, marriage-like relationship with him that leads us to say “My Lord and my God,” with Thomas in John 28:20 and even “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine,” with the woman in Song of Solomon 6:3.

VERSE 1
“Is it all too much to carry? // Let me tell you ’bout my Jesus”

Both verses follow a pattern of questions addressed to a struggling friend followed by the refrain “let me tell you ’bout my Jesus.” In verse 1, the implication is that if your answer to any of these questions is “yes,” then you need to hear about Jesus.

Is Jesus the answer to a weary soul carrying burdens that are too heavy? Yes, he offers rest and a lighter burden (Matt. 11:29-30). If you’re feeling empty, God is the one who can satisfy you (Isa. 55:1-2). Jesus saves us from shame (Rom. 10:11) and offers healin’ (Matt. 8:16-17). Just remember that we’re not promised healing from every mental or physical ailment until our resurrection (2 Cor. 12:7, Rev. 21:4).

CHORUS
“He can do for you what He’s done for me // Let me tell you ’bout my Jesus”

We get to talk about verb tenses! Yay!

The chorus is all written in present tense, so the first couple lines feel a little odd. Jesus already made a way and already rose, didn’t he? But the writing here isn’t verb tense confusion, it’s using the historical present tense, describing past events in present language to give them more immediacy. There’s an interesting (to me, anyway…) article on it here.

God makes a way where there ain’t no way all throughout Scripture (Isa. 43:19). The parting of the Red Sea, David and Goliath, Ezra and Nehemiah’s reconstruction efforts, all of it ultimately points to Jesus making a way for us to be united to God when we were totally alienated from him (Eph. 2:4-6).

He rises from an empty grave in Matthew 28:6. He saves even the worst of sinners in 1 Timothy 1:15. Jesus’ love is so strong, it’s unstoppable (Rom. 8:39), and he saves us by the free gift of his grace (Eph. 1:6).

The line “He can do for you what he’s done for me” shouldn’t be applied to specific, physical blessings, since God provides for each of us differently (my new car isn’t proof that you’re going to get a new car). Applied more generally, it is saying that he saved me and changed my life, and he absolutely can and will do the same for you. If being made a new creation isn’t life change, I don’t know what is (2 Cor. 5:17).

TAG

“Hallel” is a Hebrew word meaning to praise joyfully with song, and “Jah” is a shortened form of the name of Israel’s God. So “Hallelujah” is a command to sing praise to Yahweh. We commonly use it today as an expression of praise in and of itself.

“Amen” is a word used throughout the Old and New Testaments, often at the end of a prayer, that emphasizes and affirms that what has just been said is true. In this particular song, make sure you say “ay-men” instead of “ah-men,” or you’ll sound silly.

VERSE 2
“Who can wipe away the tears // From broken dreams and wasted years?”

The next two verses ask “who” questions, and the answer is always Jesus. Wiping away tears is a form of comfort, and Jesus comforts us in affliction (2 Cor 1:3-4). Telling the past to disappear seems like a poetic shorthand for removing our past transgressions, which God does (Ps. 103:12), and also alludes again to the idea that we are new creations. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

The next lines say that Jesus can take even our past regrets and mistakes and work them together to our good. In Romans 8:28, Paul says that God does just that, working all things together for our good if we love him and are called according to his purpose. So in singing this song to somebody who needs to know Jesus, we’re saying that that’s what’s going to happen once they meet him.

VERSE 3
“Who would take my cross to Calvary? // Pay the price for all my guilty?”

Calling the cross of Christ my cross is a way of taking ownership of the sins for which Jesus died. Paying the price for “all my guilty” is an awkward phrase, but I think the authors are using the word “guilty” as a collective noun to describe everything I’ve done wrong, all the things over which a judge might declare, “guilty.” Jesus paid the price for that. One of the clearest Biblical descriptions of this idea, called the substitutionary atonement, is in Isaiah 53:4-6.

“Surely he has borne our griefs
    and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
    smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
    and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
    we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.”

Notice how many times Isaiah says “our.” Jesus must care very deeply about us to be willing to take on so much suffering and punishment that rightfully belonged to us.

Accessibility

This song is clear, uplifting, and easy to grab hold of. It sings the name of Jesus twelve times, so there’s no mistaking who it’s about. It offers plenty of concrete truths about God and what he does in the life of the believer, and provides two overt calls to action. I don’t see much opportunity for anyone to get the wrong message from this song.

Music

The instrumentation and vocal style of Anne Wilson’s recording are very country, and the chord structure and dynamic arc are very “worship music.” The melody is simple and repetitive and should be easy for a congregation to learn. The repeated line “let me tell you ’bout my Jesus,” is a good entry point for someone hearing it for the first time. I don’t hear anything especially challenging in the instrumental parts either. I do really enjoy the uplifting tone of the whole song and how it draws the listener in. I’ve also found that it gets stuck in my head easily.

Conclusions

Will it worship? Yes.

This song is like a life saver at the end of a rope, tossed out for a lost, hopeless soul to cling onto. The twin invitations, “Let me tell you ’bout my Jesus,” and, “Let my Jesus change your life,” are clear, evangelistic offers of relationship, both with Jesus and the person singing the song. I think it would work well at the beginning of a service, as a celebration of God’s life-changing power in our lives, or at the end of a service as a reminder to share the life-saving good news of Jesus with our friends and neighbors who desperately need him.

Two thumbs up.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. May not copy or download more than 500 consecutive verses of the ESV Bible or more than one half of any book of the ESV Bible.