Author: Jason Henry

I THANK GOD – Maverick City Music, UPPERROOM, Dante Bowe

/ Jason Henry / 3 Comments

I try to list artists who have covered a song in the title of my review to make it easier for people to find, but with this one, there are so many! “I Thank God,” written by Aaron Moses, Chuck Butler, Dante Bowe, Enrique Holmes, Jesse Cline, and Maryanne J. George, seems to have taken worship world by storm over the last couple of years. It’s a relentlessly joyful anthem of gratitude, and it’s almost impossible not to clap along to.

I think another reason people love “I Thank God” is the way it fosters church unity. On Loop Community’s “Top Selling Songs” page, it is consistently in the top five in the Praise & Worship and Gospel categories. I think the genre blurring and racially unifying character of this song is part of what makes it so special. Black and white congregations celebrate their salvation together every week with this song.

So what is this smash hit about? Why exactly are we thanking God? Why can’t Hell keep track of anybody? And who are you calling a bag of bones? Is “I Thank God” biblical, and will it worship? Keep reading, and we’ll find out!

Focus

This song is all about gratitude toward God for saving us. It tells the story of converting from wandering lost in sin to being found and given new life in Jesus.

This song talks about God in 3rd person, calling Master, Savior, and God. No trinitarian specificity, but Master and Savior are both titles applied to Jesus specifically throughout the New Testament

What are the main themes of the song? Is it God-centered or me-centered? How does it address God?

Lyric Analysis

VERSE 1
Bad news: the bag of bones is you. Verse 1 describes the condition of the singer before encountering God. They’re wandering, drifting, trying and failing, looking for shelter, lifeless like a skeleton (cf. Ez. 37:1-14, the Valley of Dry Bones). This sounds a little bit like Paul’s description of life apart from Christ in Ephesians 2:1-6. He calls us children of disobedience, following the ways of the world, lost in the passions of the flesh, dead in our trespasses, until God steps in.

PRE-CHORUS 1
In this brief, transitional section, the singer encounters Jesus for the first time. The image of a road calls to mind Saul/Paul’s first meeting with Jesus on the road to Damascus. The whole direction of his life is changed through this single encounter with the Lord (Ac. 9:1-22).

Jesus tells us that we’re not alone in a few different places, notably in the Great Commission, when he tells his followers, “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Mt. 28:19-20), and when he promises that his Spirit will swell in us and with us after he departs to be with the Father (Jn. 14:15-17). I think it’s important that in both of these passages, the presence of God is connected with obedience to Jesus’ commands. So if we want to experience God’s nearness, we ought to follow his instructions and be about his mission.

CHORUS
In this part of the song, we do what the title says and thank God for several things, calling him our Master and Savior. Master and Savior are both titles of Jesus used in the New Testament (Ac. 5:38, Jd. 1:4), and they emphasize that Jesus both offers us grace, salvation, and forgiveness, and that he deserves our trust and obedience. Indeed, calling him Master is itself an expression of surrender to his will. It’s interesting to me that whenever the disciples in the Gospel of Luke call Jesus Master, they’re in the process of totally missing the point of what he’s doing. So perhaps using this title can also remind us that we too miss the picture of what God is doing, and we’re all on a journey of growing closer to him.

The first two lines of the chorus draw on Psalm 40:2 where God lifts David up from the pit and puts his feet on solid rock. They also emphasize the act of repentance and God’s role in it. We are unable to turn ourselves around on our own; we need God’s grace to turn us away from sin and toward him. Repentance requires human action, but it is always a response to God’s saving grace. We also find another connection to obedience here, in the Parable of the Wise and Foolish builders, Jesus says, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” Do you want to feel solid ground under your feet? Turn to Jesus and do what he says!

Healing hearts isn’t a phrase that the Bible uses often, but it’s certainly something Jesus does (Ps. 147:3, Ps. 34:18). However, healing is regularly connected to the forgiveness of sin throughout the Bible (see these verses). Healing can be physical, mental, or emotional, but it’s always connected to the spirit which needs to be healed from sin. So when this songs talks about healing the heart, I think it’s primarily referring to the healing of sin-sickness in the spirit of the person who turns to Jesus.

Receiving a new name is another feature Saul/Paul’s experience on the road to Damascus (Ac. 9:1-22). When Jesus calls us to repentance and heals us from our sins, he also gives us a new identity that is centered on him and his Kingdom (Rev. 2:17). We are no longer slaves of the world, but sons and daughters of God (Rom. 8:15). We are set free from the chains of sin in order to live in love toward God and others (Gal. 5:1, 13).

VERSE 2
I have some hesitation toward this verse. The singer describes seeing such evidence for Jesus that he has no choice but to believe, and his doubts burn up and evaporate in the wind. He sends burden and bitterness packing, declaring them no longer welcome in his life. None of this is bad exactly, and the authors are certainly describing experiences that many Christians have, but I don’t think these lyrics will speak to everyone in the congregation, and they may be discouraging to some who find themselves struggling with doubt or bitterness. This verse implies that those things shrivel up and vanish immediately when one turns to Christ, when in reality, Christians often struggle with doubt, bitterness, and other burdens throughout their lives. I worry that the blithe, joyful tone of this verse might brush aside the serious concerns and struggles of people in the congregation who need encouragement.

“No choice but to believe” also sounds pretty Calvinist, so if your church doesn’t lean that way, it might be an awkward line to sing.

PRE-CHORUS 2:
I wasn’t sure if streets of gold were actually mentioned in the Bible, but they are! Again, in Revelation, John sees the New Jerusalem, where God and his people will dwell forever, and describes the streets as pure gold (Rv. 21:21). So the singer is promising to continue singing about God’s saving grace until he reaches that eternal city.

The line about the wayward son is a reference to the story of the Prodigal Son, one of the most poignant pictures of God’s love in the Bible (Luke 15:11-32).

BRIDGE
There’s only one line here, and it’s pretty straightforward. In celebrating our salvation, we are celebrating the truth that Jesus has saved us from death, sin, and hell. When we say “hell lost another one,” we are declaring that the forces of evil no longer have any claim on us; we are bound for heaven, not hell.

It’s worth mentioning here that Christian freedom does not mean freedom from all constraints or freedom to do whatever we want. It means being released from bondage to sin so that our hearts are free to love God and do his will, to love others and serve them (Gal. 5:1, 13).

SPONTANEOUS STUFF
The remainder of this song’s lyrics have the character of spontaneous praise and exhortation. I imagine they came to the worship leader on the spot while leading this song, and then became incorporated into its text.

The most repeated statement here is “Get up out of that grave.” This is a straightforward exhortation to the congregation to leave their lives of sin, deadness, and lostness and turn toward Jesus. It echoes Jesus’ command to Lazarus and offers an invitation to join in the abundant, resurrected life of Christ.

The “If he did it for me, he can do it for you,” part is saying that if Jesus can raise me to new life, he can do the same for you. This phrase is a good reminder that we can and should share Christ with our neighbors by sharing the testimonies of how he’s changed our lives.

I have no idea what the line “the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” means in this song. It comes from Revelation 19:10, and in its context there, it seems to mean that the heart of any true prophecy is the Gospel, or the testimony of Jesus. This makes sense in Revelation, since John has just received this huge, astounding vision, and he falls down at the feet of an angel to worship it. The angel rebukes him and tells him to worship only God. So it seems to be a statement that prophecy is about the glory of Jesus, no one else. Again, I’m not really sure how that connects to this song. My guess is that the church in which this song was written engages regularly in prophetic utterances, and this line might make more sense in that context where prophecy is frequently discussed and practiced.

Accessibility

I find “I Thank God” pretty easy to understand. It uses clear metaphors to paint a picture of being lost and then finding (or being found by) God. As mentioned above, I do have a concern about verse 2. I think it gives the impression that the Christian life is doubt-free and burden-free, which just isn’t the case (Jn. 16:33, Jd. 1:21-22). I also think you should leave out the spontaneous section at the end; it makes the song go on forever and adds the confusing part about the spirit of prophecy.

The melody of this song is super catchy and relatively easy to learn. The rhythms are repetitive which helps a lot. The range is an octave and a fifth, which is pretty wide, but not unusual for a worship song. So it’s fairly singable but rangy.

Music

“I Thank God” is full of energy! Like I said before, it’s almost impossible not to clap or bounce along to the beat. The fusion of CCM worship and black gospel styles is extremely appealing and unifying for a wide range of worshipers.

For the band, the chords don’t do anything crazy. There are some gospel licks in there, but they’re extra things that individual band members can learn, not obligatory parts of the chord progression. I’m not a drummer, but this one sounds like it would be difficult to play on drums. This song isn’t too difficult for the worship leader as long as it’s transposed into a singable key for him or her.

Conclusions

Will it worship? Maybe.

This song has a lot going for it! The music is great, and the lyrics are joyful, uplifting, Christ-centered, and tell the story of salvation. Unfortunately, verse 2 paints a simplistic picture of leaving behind doubts and struggles rather than continuing to face them with Jesus’ presence and strength. I just keep thinking about how it might make someone facing doubts and obstacles feel like they’re an inferior Christian for not yet being totally freed from those things.

What do you think? Am I being too harsh on verse 2? Should I interpret it differently? Let me know in the comments and share your vote in the poll below.

Image by Courtney Cook on Unsplash

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.

A THOUSAND SHORES – Citizens

/ Jason Henry / Leave a comment

“A Thousand Shores” (not Hallelujahs, Names, Tongues or Reasons. For real, I’m starting to get all of these “thousand” songs mixed up. 😂) is written by Leeland Mooring, Leslie Jordan, and Zachary Bolen. It ‘s part of Citizens’ 2023 album I Can’t Find the Edges of You, the home of certified banger “Good Ground,” which I love and have reviewed already.

While “Good Ground” and “Everything and More” were my initial favorites from this release, “A Thousand Shores” grew on me every time I heard it, and some of my fellow worship leaders agreed, so we introduced it at Christ’s Church a couple weeks ago. The band has really enjoyed it, and the congregation has grabbed ahold of it as well, but is “A Thousand Shores” biblical, and will it worship? Let’s figure out what we’ve been singing!

Focus

This song expresses the wonder and joy of being known by Jesus and filled with his life-sustaining love. The most repeated line and heartbeat of the song is “Jesus, You are my everything,” an expression of devotion to Jesus and a statement of his all-sufficiency.

This song is about the closeness of Jesus to the believer, so there’s lots of “my” in the song, and also lots of “You” referring to Jesus. Jesus is the only member of the Trinity mentioned specifically.

Lyric Analysis

VERSES 1 & 2
These verses express wonder at how deeply Jesus knows us and at the sovereign way he works in our lives. The author says God can read our hearts like a book, a sentiment the Eleven Disciples share in Acts 1:24, and that he knows what is in our minds before we ask it, an important principle Jesus teaches along with the Lord’s Prayer (Matt 6:8).

When this song says, “You write my story and call it good,” I think it’s paraphrasing Romans 8:28, which says “for those who love God, all things work together for good.” God is the author of our faith journey (Heb 12:2), and we can trust that his plans are good even as we are unable to imagine or comprehend his ways (Job 9:10, Isa 55:8). The phrase “You’re in my future, You’re in my past” reminds me of Psalm 139:13-16, where David praises God for knowing him and every one of his days even before he was formed in the womb.

As a response to this God’s wondrous knowledge of our inmost being and his unsearchable plans, we cry out with Moses, “Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?” (Ex 15:11).

CHORUS
“You give my lungs the air to breathe // You are my everything”

In the chorus, we praise Jesus for things that he gives us. We’re not really talking about material blessings here; we’re more describing the experience of knowing Christ and walking with him. He gives light to our eyes (Pro 29:11), words to our lips (Matt 10:19), and breath to our lungs (Gen 2:7) as well putting a song in our soul (Zeph 3:17) and giving us every beat of our hearts. Jesus doesn’t just give us life when we’re born or when we become Christians, he sustains us by his power every moment, and the whole universe only holds together because of his active involvement (Col 1:17). “In him, we live and move and have our being.” (Ac 17:28) This is what we mean when we say, “You are my everything.”

I think it’s important to note that calling Jesus our everything does not dishonor the other Persons of the Trinity, devalue the community of the church, or denigrate our bodily and emotional needs. Regarding the Trinity, all of God fully receives all worship offered to Jesus. He is creator, sustainer, the head of the church, the beginning and the end, given preeminence in all things. The fullness of God is pleased to dwell in him (Col 1:15-20). The Father and Spirit are never threatened by honor given to Jesus but are fully included in it. The church is the very body of Christ, the fulness of his presence, the earthly epicenter of his all-in-all-ness (Eph 1:22-23). So participating in Christian community is part of what it means to have Jesus as our everything. Regarding physical needs, Christ promises that his Father provides for them when we seek after him (Matt 6:32-33). Trusting in Jesus as our everything means subordinating all those needs because we know that we need him more.

VERSE 3
This short verse is about the immensity and infinity of Jesus’ love. Much like the uncountable grains of sand on a thousand shores, the love of Christ can never run out. It is eternal, abounding, steadfast, forgiving, and perfect (1 Jn 4:18, John 3:16, Ps 136:26). I can’t imagine a greater truth than that either!

BRIDGE
The phrase “too wonderful” appears in the Bible when the speaker acknowledges that he can’t comprehend God’s power and wisdom and love. Job says this of God’s tremendous power in creating and sustaining the world, and of the way God has been active even through Job’s suffering (Job 42:3). David says it when praising God for how deeply and perfectly God knows each one of us (Ps 139:6). It conveys an inability to understand, but also a deep awe, reverence, and amazement.

If you are in Christ, you never have to worry about what life or eternity would be like without Jesus, because nothing can ever separate you from his love or rip you out of his hand (John 17:11-12, Rom 8:39). I’m not going to get into the once-saved-always-saved debate here; suffice it to say that the Bible warns us against falling away from Christ, but it also reassures us that nothing short of a full rejection of the Son of God can ever sever our relationship with him (Heb 6:4-6, 2 Tim 2:12-13).

Accessibility

While God’s ways and his love are incomprehensible, “A Thousand Shores” is not. It uses easy-to-understand language to describe and celebrate beautiful, biblical truths about God and his relationship to us. You don’t need a theology degree or a lifetime of accumulated Sunday school lessons to understand this one. 👍👍

I don’t see any danger of serious misunderstandings in this song. Some church people might think the song excludes the Father and Holy Spirit, or that it takes a particular stance on eternal security, but that’s just not the case, as I discussed above.

This song is highly congregational, as long as your congregation isn’t scared of a little syncopation! The melodies are highly repetitive, making them easy to learn, and the range is only a sixth! That’s super rare in contemporary worship songs and it means that just about anyone can find a comfortable place to sing this song whatever key you put it in.

Music

Simple, repetitive chord changes. Repetitive melody. Nothing insane going on rhythmically. The basic drum pattern of kick and snare is easy to grab onto. There’s lots of synth in this one, so I like to use a track for those arpeggiators and atmospheric effects. The only real challenge for the band is going to be the highly syncopated lyrics. It’s a little tricky to stay in time when the melody seems to avoid the beat.

The key to the dynamics of this song is contrast. The dramatic entrances and exits of different instruments, the octave jumps, the nearly yelled vocals on the bridge with almost no instrumentation, all of it makes this song exciting and easy to engage with.

I mentioned earlier that the range of this song is only a sixth. That’s not quite true for the lead vocalist. 😬 There is an octave jump from verse 3 to the chorus, so that makes the range for the lead singer an octave plus a sixth. Yikes! Fortunately, this is easily fixed by just not singing the first part of the song an octave lower, or having a singer of the opposite sex sing that portion. I’ve found that if I include the octave jump, it is helpful to have another man continue singing the melody an octave lower to give the men in the congregation an anchor so they don’t have to jump up high with me.

Conclusions

Will it worship? Totally. “A Thousand Shores” revels in the mysteries of Jesus: his love, his deep knowing, his life-giving presence. It is an exuberant anthem of joy and devotion, and I plan to keep on singing it!

Image by Mitchell Shwartz on Unsplash

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.

LITTLE DRUMMER BOY –  Katherine Kennicott Davis

/ Jason Henry / Leave a comment

Most of us are familiar with Bing Crosby‘s version of “The Little Drummer Boy,” and some of us grew up watching the stop motion television special with the same name. More recently, it’s been covered by the Pentatonix and for KING & COUNTRY. This song originates with the pen of Katherine Kennicott Davis in 1941, and it was first recorded ten years later by the Trapp family of Sound of Music fame (thanks, Wikipedia!).

But is “The Little Drummer Boy” biblically accurate, and should you sing it in church? Excellent questions! Many traditional Christmas songs are obviously not worship songs (looking at you, Frosty and Rudolph!) while others are eminently Christ-centered. This one is a little trickier because it seems to sit somewhere in the middle. Let’s imagine ourselves in the scene this song paints and ask, will it worship?

Focus

“The Little Drummer Boy” teaches the importance of bringing God our best, whatever that may be, and it does so through a simple fictional story of a poor boy playing a drum for baby Jesus in the manger.

This song isn’t addressed to God, and God isn’t the main subject. It’s primarily about the drummer boy and his gift. Jesus is portrayed as a poor, newborn king in a stable. Some versions call him Baby Jesus (or Jesu), but others just say “little baby.”

Lyric Analysis

VERSE 1
The first verse seems to be from the perspective of the wise men. Matthew 2:1-18 gives us their story in Scripture. As the song says, they had come to honor the baby king, and they offered him gold, frankincense, and myrrh, fine gifts indeed. So far, so good!

This verse also perpetuates the misunderstanding that the wise men came to visit baby Jesus at the manger. Matthew indicates that their visit took place at a house, not a stable, and Herod’s murder of all male babies in Bethlehem two years old and younger indicates that Jesus was likely a year or two old at the time. Is this an important error? I don’t know. I don’t see the harm in compressing the nativity story for narrative purposes, and I don’t think this inaccuracy has any practical or theological implications.

VERSE 2
Now we shift to the perspective of the little drummer boy himself. He’s a fictitious character inserted into the nativity story as a stand-in for ourselves. The drummer boy sees that baby Jesus is poor like he is, and he regrets that he has no gift to offer alongside the treasures presented by the wise men. I appreciate that this verse encourages us to identify with the poor, a regular concern of Christ and his disciples in the New Testament (Matt. 19:21, Luke 14:13, Rom. 15:26). In lieu of lavish gifts, the drummer boy can only offer his skill as a musician in worship.

VERSE 3
The author imagines Mary and the animals participating in the music. Again, fictitious, but harmless.

An important principle is presented in the line “I played my best for Him.” In the Old Testament, the Israelites were commanded that their sacrifices to God should be the best of their produce and livestock (Exo. 34:26, Num. 18:29). The New Testament teaches that in all our work we should strive for excellence, taking the perspective that our work is for the Lord, not merely for human masters (Col. 3:23-24).

Is response to the drummer boy’s gift, the baby Jesus smiles. This is reflective of Jesus’ attitude toward those who give generously out of their poor estate. In the story of the Widow’s Offering, Jesus elevates the humble gift of a poor widow above the large sums offered by the rich (Mark 12:41-43). Similarly, he honors Mary of Bethany for pouring out expensive perfume on him in worship rather than taking financial considerations into account (Mark 14:3-9). It seems clear that Jesus’ concern is the total offering of the heart in worship, not the monetary value of the gift.

Accessibility

This song uses a fictionalized version of a Bible story to make a simple point from the heart. I don’t think anyone who is paying attention will miss that. The message of giving the best that we have to Jesus instead of fretting about what we don’t have is easy for even a seeker or brand new believer to understand.

It is possible that someone could misinterpret this song as saying that God doesn’t want your money, just your worship or your talents or spiritual gifts. This would be an error. God wants your whole heart, and if he has your heart, your time, money, and talents will all become glad sacrifices (Matt. 6:21).

The repetitive melody and pa-rum-pum-pum-pums are easy to learn, and the whole song falls within the range of a minor 7th, so it is very singable.

Music

The song is short and has a simple 3-verse structure. Contemporary arrangements sometimes add instrumentals for added excitement. The tonicization in the middle of each verse adds tonal interest. This song can range from simple to very difficult depending on the arrangement chosen.

Conclusions

I’ve gone back and forth a few times while writing this post! At first, I thought this song would be a no. Then as I meditated on the line “I played my best for him,” and thought of the baby Jesus’ smiling on this offering like the adult Christ smiled on the widow’s offering, I changed my tune. God wants our hearts, and a heart devoted to Jesus will always offer him its best. This is an offering that God delights in. That is a timeless truth that bears repeating. Then I thought about whether this song is really to God or about God, and if I’m honest, it’s neither.

So, in summary, I think I have to give “Little Drummer Boy” a no for Sunday worship. Will it worship? Not really, though it might meditate. In my opinion, a kernel of truth couched in a cute fictional story isn’t the best use of the limited time we have to sing together on Sunday morning. But it is a beautiful kernel! If you’re looking for a Christmas Carol that expresses this idea more fully, I would encourage you to consider “In the Bleak Midwinter.”

In any case, our diminutive percussionist friend is a much better witness to Christ than either a nasally effulgent reindeer or an anthropomorphic snow creature, so let’s call it a soft no. 😉🎄

Image by Colin Lloyd on Unsplash

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.

ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE – Bethel Music, Dante Bowe

/ Jason Henry / Leave a comment

“Anything Is Possible” is from Bethel Music’s 2020 album Revival’s in the Air. Dante Bowe delivers a powerful lead vocal on this track, and he is one of its writers along with Brandon Lake, Hannah McClure, and Michaela Gentile. I usually focus on reviewing brand new songs, but this one came to my attention because of a post in a Facebook group for worship leaders. The comments were divided; some people loved the song’s celebration of God’s power while others thought a particular line verged on heresy! Let’s take a look at this popular, divisive church tune and ask if “Anything is Possible” is biblical, and if it should worship.

Focus

This song celebrates God’s indomitable power. He can do anything, and nothing has any chance of stopping him. We also celebrate the breakthrough and victory that we experience through his victory.

The verses and bridge are sung directly to God (2nd person) while the chorus is sung to the congregation about him (3rd person). We mostly call him “you,” but in the chorus he is identified as “God.”

The chorus mentions “me” a lot, but only in a figure of speech: “show me one thing he can’t do.” The bridge uses a lot of “I” to describe the victory celebration of the worshipers and their leaving behind of negative emotions.

Lyric Analysis

VERSES 1 & 2
The first two verses follow the same pattern: they list powerful, bad things and declare that they are powerless before God. This is a great way to celebrate God’s power! When we list things that we are afraid of and then remind ourselves that God is greater, we mute the power of fear in our lives and redirect it as awe to the God who deserves it (Matt. 10:28). Regarding armies lacking the power to conquer truth, Church history has demonstrated that while persecution and violence may threaten or even decimate a Christian population, they can never fully stamp out the truth of the Gospel.

At the end of each verse, we remind ourselves that God has always been with us (John 14:16-17, Josh. 1:8-9), and then we say that we’ve already won every battle because God has already won every battle. This is true in a now/not yet kind of way. We’ve already won every battle because Jesus has already defeated sin and death on the cross. But we also haven’t already won every battle, because he hasn’t returned and ushered in the perfect new creation yet. We know the outcome will be victory, but we can’t pretend that we’re not still in the battle here and now.

My first problem with this song is the major Christological heresy in verse 2 (I don’t get to use the H word very often!). The song states (talking to God) that “there is no weapon that has ever left a mark on You.” That statement is true of God the Father and God the Spirit, but it is untrue of God the Son. Jesus was crucified, a spear pierced his side, and he still bears those wounds (John 19:18, 34, 20:27, Rev. 5:6). This isn’t a minor, obscure point of theology; this is at the very core of who Jesus is and how he saves us! The invincible God took on human flesh and allowed himself to be killed for us (Phil. 2:7-9).

Are there some ways to wiggle around this error? Sure. You could say that this song is addressed to the Father, not the Son. Or you could say that since the spear doesn’t exist anymore, the line is technically correct. Those arguments don’t hold up. We serve and sing to a triune God, and the emphasis of this line is on God’s inability to be wounded, not on the survival of the Spear of Destiny (which, incidentally, four different churches claim to possess). Pedantry notwithstanding, I’m not going to sing a lyric that contradicts the essential Gospel truth of Jesus’ wounds and scars.

CHORUS
The chorus uses rhetorical challenges to invite the listener to name anything that is impossible for God. Is anything too hard for him? Any mountain too high or waters too deep for him (Ex. 14, Matt. 17:20)? Of course not! We should face life with the knowledge that “with man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matt. 19:26).

I’m not quite sure what “God of the breakthrough” means because “breakthrough” has several different meanings. For most people, a breakthrough is a sudden leap forward in technology or understanding, or maybe the first hit single of a previously unknown music artist. In the context of this song, I think it means overcoming some sort of obstacle or defeating an enemy, like breaking through enemy lines in a battle. The main point of the song is that anything is possible for God, so I think the anticipated breakthrough could be any obstacle in the life of the worshiper.

VERSE 3
There is, in fact, a Kingdom, and it is, in fact advancing (Matt. 10:7, Matt. 16:18)! Saying it’s at the speed of light is an exciting line, but I’m not sure it really means anything. Certainly there have been times when the Kingdom has exploded in growth and influence, but there have also been lots of periods of regression and stagnation in Church history.

The line “every dead thing is bound to rise” could be misunderstood as teaching universalism, the idea that everyone will be saved, regardless of their belief in Jesus. The preceding phrase “and in his Kingdom…” mitigates this somewhat.

God is certainly our Redeemer (Gal. 3:13), and he is faithful, reviving our dead hearts in Christ, and one day he will fully resurrect those who believe in Jesus in a resurrection like his (Rom. 6:5). Hallelujah!

BRIDGE
The bridge celebrates a great reversal of fortune in the spirit of Psalm 30:11-12, “You have turned for me my mourning into dancing…that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!” A small but important difference is that in the Psalm, it is God who turns the mourning into dancing, while in this song, tho one crushing disappointment and turning fear into praise is “I.” It’s odd that the rest of the song is focused on God bringing breakthrough, but this part seems to present a pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps mentality. We can’t just shake off fear and despair and break chains on our own; we need God for that. I think that’s actually the truth this song is trying to present, but the first-person wording on the bridge confuses the issue.

Accessibility

“Anything Is Possible” is 95% easy to understand. The song uses plain, everyday language except for the churchy word “breakthrough.”

The bridge might be misunderstood. Based on the lyrics alone, it is the worshiper who is shaking off their own negative emotions. I think the author probably means that God is helping them do this, that just isn’t clear from the words.

The range is an octave plus a fifth, which is pretty wide for a congregation but not uncommon in worship songs. The rhythmic monotone singing of the bridge and chorus makes them more like a victory chant than a melody; they’re very easy to learn. The verses are easy to pick up too. This song is infectious and very congregational.

Music

This is an exciting, upbeat, celebratory song. It’s pretty easy to play, and it carries an almost irresistible impetus to get up and dance and clap. The music effectively supports the themes of the lyrics.

Conclusions

Will it worship? Nope.

Verse 1 was good, but I felt like this song’s theology went downhill from there. Even ignoring verse 2’s Christological heresy, the overall thrust of this song is triumphalistic. It hypes up the idea of living in Christ’s victory and having him break down all our obstacles without acknowledging that we don’t get to fully experience that victory this side of heaven. Jesus promises that we will face trouble in this world (John 16:33), and for anyone in the midst of suffering, I worry that this song extends toxic positivity rather than the peace of Jesus’ completed work on the cross.

Image by Ambreen Hasan from Unsplash

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.

I SPEAK JESUS – Charity Gayle, Here Be Lions

/ Jason Henry / Leave a comment

Few songs in recent memory have captured the power of living in Christ like “I Speak Jesus.” It is a declaration of victory, a commitment to persevere, and an anthem of faith in God. The most popular recording of “I Speak Jesus” is of Charity Gayle and Steven Musso, but it was originally released by Here Be Lions in 2019, and the songwriters behind this hit are Abby Benton, Carlene Prince, Dustin Smith, Jesse Reeves, Kristen Dutton, and Raina Pratt.

Something about this song really stirs up the heart toward faith, hope, and action, and as a new parent, the line “Jesus for my family” speaks to me in a way I can’t quite describe. But what does it actually mean to speak the name of Jesus? And what does it do? Is “I Speak Jesus” built on the promises of God’s Word, or empty assumptions? Should you sing it this Sunday? Let’s dig in and find out.

Focus

“I Speak Jesus” is about the power of Jesus’ name to transform our lives and our world. It describes the strengths of his name and situations that will be helped by his name.

This song (obviously) mentions Jesus’ name frequently. The verses seem to be sung to the congregation about Jesus and his name, while the choruses are addressed to Jesus and offer him praise and supplication.

Lyric Analysis

The meaning of this song hinges on one ambiguous phrase: “I speak Jesus.” What do we actually mean when we sing these words? I think these words can have several beneficial, healthy, scriptural meanings, and one unhealthy, dangerous meaning.

A REMINDER
Sometimes we speak Jesus’ name as a reminder to ourselves and others that he is with us. The lyrics of verse 1 talk about speaking his name over “every heart and every mind” because of the peace found in his presence (John 14:27). It is easy to forget that God himself is with us. It is easy to forget the hope that we have in Jesus’ death and resurrection. It is easy to seek temporary pleasure and security rather than his eternal Kingdom. Sometimes we just need to be reminded!

A WEAPON
Next, we see the name of Jesus as a weapon to fight spiritual battles. The songwriters portray his name as a breaker of addictions, chains, and strongholds. Paul talks about wielding spiritual weapons in this way in 2 Corinthians 10:3-8. The strongholds he mentions are arguments against God, thoughts that don’t honor Christ, and disobedience to Jesus. He fights these battles within his congregations in the authority Christ has given him, or in the name of Jesus. He also rebukes and casts out a demon in the name of Jesus Christ in Acts 16:18.

So we don’t just remind ourselves who Jesus is when we invoke his name, we also remind the powers of darkness that try to enslave and destroy us that Christ has already defeated them, and they must bow before his authority. It’s important to note that using Jesus’ name does not guarantee immediate victory in every spiritual battle. Paul himself struggled with a “thorn in his flesh” that God would not remove despite Paul’s pleading (2 Cor. 12:7-9). Sometimes, God wants to take the attacks of Satan and use them for good rather than prevent them, and we never see the full picture of the spiritual battles we face.

A PRAYER
Sometimes, when we talk about speaking Jesus’ name, we might just mean that we’re praying to him. That is absolutely an appropriate way to face every situation named in this song. The Bible instructs us to bring our requests—especially those that cause us anxiety—to God in prayer (Phil. 4:6). Furthermore, James tells us that praying for one another is powerful and may bring healing (James 5:16).

We often close our prayers with the phrase, “in Jesus’ name, amen.” I suspect this habit reduces Jesus’ name to a stamp that we affix to the end of our prayers, preventing us from considering what it really means to pray or act in Jesus’ name. When I look at the various uses of “in my name” in the New Testament, I don’t get the impression that Jesus means we should simply slap his name onto the end of each prayer, and that that will make God answer it, as is sometimes misunderstood from passages like John 16:23. Rather, doing something in someone’s name means doing it on their behalf, in their authority, as instructed and permitted by that person. I think praying in Jesus’ name means joining the Son of God in the prayers he is already praying to the Father, echoing his promises, obeying his commands, being about his business, making his name known. Those are the kinds of requests God always grants.

A DECLARATION
In the previous section, I mentioned that part of praying and acting in Jesus’ name is making his name known. That’s part of what this song means too. When we speak Jesus’ name into all kinds of situations, we give God glory by trusting in him and thanking him for what he has already done. I think this is what the chorus means when it asks him to burn like a fire. We want his glory to shine forth from our lives and every circumstance.

We also declare our intent when we speak Jesus’ name over something or someone. For instance, when I speak Jesus over my family, I am declaring that I will bring his love, holiness, and influence into our home. If I declare Jesus over a sin struggle, I am surrendering it and expressing my intent to obey him rather than my deceitful desires (Eph. 4:21-23).

AN INVITATION
“I Speak Jesus” also has an evangelistic component. In exhorting one another to “shout Jesus from the mountains, Jesus in the streets,” we are encouraging the spread of the Gospel. We want to proclaim the good news of Christ’s death, resurrection, and coming Kingdom so loudly that everyone can hear it.

A MAGIC WORD
What the name of Jesus is not is a magic word. Physically speaking Jesus’ name is not a charm against misfortune or a guarantee that God will answer our prayers the way we want him to. Our temptations to sin, our addictions, our mental health struggles, and our life circumstances do not vanish when we speak the word “Jesus.” We do well to approach Jesus’ name humbly, bringing our requests to him with thanksgiving rather than insisting on our way or demanding things “in his name.”

My primary concern with this song is that there is a large segment of the Church that teaches that through a word of faith, believers can immediately claim their “right” to prosperity, healing, power, and victory. Since this song doesn’t explain what it means to speak the name of Jesus, it lends itself to this erroneous and harmful belief.

Accessibility

“I Speak Jesus” is eminently singable and congregational, especially the chorus. It’s easy to learn, and I find that congregations latch onto it almost immediately.

The words of this song are accessible but easily misapplied. This song focuses an awful lot on Jesus’ name, ascribing various characteristics to his name rather than himself. I don’t think this is necessarily an error, since a name is a representation of the thing itself, not a separate entity, but I do worry that it builds up the name of Jesus as a magic word that guarantees our success and answered prayers.

Music

The simple, almost plaintive first verses are a quiet expression of our need and God’s power. The instrumentation stays very sparse and the vocals are very restrained through the first chorus. Only in verse three do the kick and toms come in to accompany the crescendoing vocals. By chorus two, we hit our stride. We drop back down for the emotional intensity of the bridge which builds dramatically with driving snare and guitars to lead into another big chorus. The recording makes excellent use of antiphony here between the leader and the Gospel choir, but if your church doesn’t normally lead worship in that style, I wouldn’t try to add it for just this song. The song ends quietly on a note of peace and trust.

…or you can fake the congregation out and then build back up for another few bridges! 😂

The rhythms of this song are pretty straightforward, and there aren’t any super crazy chords (unless you do the second ending, in which you’ll need to watch out for some jazzy Gospel additions to the progression). The timing of the chord changes is a little tricky on the choruses, so it’s probably worth taking a minute to get the band on the same page about them.

Conclusions

Will it worship? Maybe.

This is a powerful and deeply moving song. It exalts the power of Jesus and declares his name into all kinds of circumstances. We can and should speak the name of Jesus often and in many different ways! I just hope that we’re teaching our congregations to speak his name reverently in prayer, declaration, and invitation rather than presumptuously as a magic word of faith.

Image by Thomas Schütze from Unsplash

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.

KIND – Cory Asbury

/ Jason Henry / Leave a comment


I’ve been a Cory Asbury fan since his IHOP days. “So Good to Me” and “Where I Belong” were impactful songs for me during my high school days, “Reckless Love” is a classic, and “The Father’s House” is one of my recent worship faves (I should really write blogs about both of those. Everybody loves to argue about whether God’s love is reckless or not! 🤓). But “Kind” isn’t just a Cory song; it also benefits from the writing talents of Jesse Reeves, Paul Mabury, and Steve Fee.

I stumbled upon “Kind” when my wife sent it to me on TikTok in February this year. Since then, it’s been published on his most recent album Pioneer. A far cry from the goofball antics that often populate Cory’s social media, “Kind” is a heartbreaking testimony of trying to find God’s goodness in the midst of sin and pain. In this blog, I’m not just trying to discern whether a song is true or good but whether it will be beneficial in most corporate worship services. So, is “Kind” biblical? And is it appropriate for Sunday worship? Let’s find out!

Focus

This song is about our doubt, sin, and pain, and God’s response of kindness toward us, specifically in the cross of Christ.

“Kind” spends a lot of words talking about “me.” It takes a first-person perspective to intimately reflect on our thoughts, feelings, and experiences. But I don’t think that makes it a self-centered song. The simple phrase “all He’s ever been is kind” stands in sharp contrast to the many words of our striving, failing, and questioning. God’s kindness is magnified by our desperate need for it.

This song mostly refers to God as “He,” assuming that we will know who it’s referring to. In case we don’t, Jesus is identified by name in the chorus.

Lyric Analysis

VERSE 1
The first verse addresses some of the most painful circumstances we experience in this life: divorce, loss of a child, addiction, and praying for healing without receiving it. Rather than making truth claims, this verse expresses personal experience. The singer admits to having doubts about God’s existence and his character, wondering how he decides who should receive healing.

I have mixed feelings about expressing this kind of doubt in worship. On the one hand, everyone experiences doubts on their faith journey. Many people in the Bible also express pain and doubt, including Lazarus’ sisters, David, the psalmists, the Teacher in Ecclesiastes, and Job. While each worshiper may not have suffered the same experiences as the songwriters of “Kind,” this verse casts a wide net for the kinds of things in life that lead us to doubt God. Acknowledging these doubts together in worship reminds us that we’re not alone, and that our doubts don’t make us “bad” Christians or condemn us to hell.

A friend and colleague asked me recently about worship songs for people struggling with their mental health. I found that almost all the songs we sing are positive and celebratory. Even those that acknowledge our pain and sin end on a note of victory. In a sense, that is appropriate, since we believe that the victory of Jesus is the ultimate destiny of creation. But in the here and now, ending every song on a happy note sometimes negates the pain and doubt people are still experiencing.

On the other hand, these kind of doubts certainly don’t praise God, so it just feels weird to sing them in church. Is that a real problem or just my discomfort with difficult emotions? I’m not sure. I do know that praise isn’t the only kind of worship. Trusting God with our doubts, fears, and pain honors him too.

VERSE 2
Where the first verse was focused on suffering and bad circumstances, this verse stressed regret for the wrong things we have done. The singer admits to burning bridges with people, abandoning relationships and situations after making a mess of them. This verse acknowledges that God forgives us for these things, but that we often find it difficult to forgive ourselves for our sins. We sometimes feel that we are somehow worse than everyone else, too broken for God to love. Again, these particular experiences and feelings might not be universal, but they are representative.

CHORUS
The chorus describes more personal experiences, mostly paired as opposites. Sometimes the author has fled from God, and sometimes he has hurt people in his zealotry. He’s been patient and insistent in turns. He’s even gone so far as to “curse His name in anger,” the most provocative line in the song.

Cursing God is mentioned a few times in Scripture, most notably in Job. The title character of this book experiences the loss of his livestock, his health, and even his children. Far from encouraging him, his wife tells him to quiet being so righteous and just “curse God and die.” Job refuses, and the text tells us that to do so would have been sin, but the rest of the book shows us his struggle with his faith (Job 2:9-10). The reward for sin is death, but forgiveness and eternal life can be found in Jesus (Rom. 3:23), and he tells us that even blasphemy will be forgiven (Matt. 12:32). So cursing God is not recommended by this song, and it is not something that all Christians have done per se, but we have all sinned, and we have all dishonored God sometimes in response to our pain and circumstances.

The chorus also contains the primary truth claim of this song: “all He’s ever been is kind.” But is God only ever kind? Paul seems to push back on this in Romans 11:11-24. In verse 22, he says, “Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.” So those who cut themselves off from God experience his severity, and those who remain in him experience his kindness. But in the very next verse, we learn that even God’s punishment is intended to bring people back into his family: “even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again.” There is kindness even in the severity of God.

So the chorus gives us opportunity to acknowledge the ways we have sinned against God, and it tells us that he responds to all of our failings with kindness. At the end of the song we replace the line about cursing God with the admission, “He knows I don’t deserve it, but He’s never changed His mind.” This echoes Paul’s words in Romans 5:8, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Even in the midst of our rebellion and failures, God maintains faithful lovingkindness towards us.

BRIDGE
God’s kindness is not squishy or passive. He does not ignore our sin, but instead bears it himself on the cross. God’s kindness is at the expense of his own Son, also God himself, dying a criminal’s torturous death. This stark image shows us that God’s kindness is not cheap, not will it be mocked or taken advantage of. It is a serious kindness, bent on our redemption at any cost.

Accessibility

The meaning of this song is clear to anyone: God is kind even when we doubt and even in the midst of our pain. There is some risk of misapprehending the line “all He’s ever been is kind,” as an endorsement of cheap grace or a vision of God lacking justice, wrath, or discipline. The bridge does much to counteract this concern. I think a lot of people will be uncomfortable singing, “I’ve cursed His name in anger.”

The range of this song is an octave and a second, which is actually pretty small for contemporary worship. I don’t find the verses especially easy for a congregation to pick up immediately, but the chorus is catchy and 3 times is likely enough to pick it up.

Music

Like the rest of the Pioneer, “Kind” has a country flavor. It relies on acoustic finger-picking, some light snare work (probably with brushes), and simple piano chords for the rhythmic backbone. Steel guitar, bass, and “ooh” vocals fill out the soundscape. The simple, subdued instrumentation is this song’s strength, and church bands who play it should exercise lots of restraint. This is definitely one of those “fragile egg” songs that will break if you aren’t gentle with it.

The chords themselves are simple, but there are a lot of them, so it’s probably worth a couple minutes to make sure everybody in the band is playing them at the same times. Other than that, the song isn’t rhythmically challenging. The lead vocal has some tricky timing.

Conclusions

“Kind” is a powerful song that reflects seriously on the pain and doubt that are part of the human experience. Rather than explaining or minimizing them, it simply places God’s kindness in their midst and reminds us that Jesus suffered too.

I thought this song was going to be a “no.” I thought the blunt and sometimes harsh descriptions of our doubts and pains were too uncomfortable and personal for a worship service. But if the author of Psalm 88 can say express his feelings of loss and abandonment and doubt before God, then maybe we should too. This song honors the suffering and doubt that all Christians experience in a way that few other songs do, and it presents God’s kindness in a clear and unique way. So then I wanted to say “yes!”

But I can’t get past the feeling that this song isn’t very congregational. I also still feel weird that roughly 1/3 of this song’s 26 lines are about God and his character while 2/3 are about our problems. This song could function very meaningfully in a worship service, but (like many testimony songs) it might be better suited to special music than congregational singing. Not everyone can fully identify with all the problems listed in this song, and many people will have a problem confessing to cursing God’s name in anger when that’s something they don’t believe they’ve done.

So after all that, I think we land in “maybe” territory with this one. “Kind” is a beautiful, valuable, insightful song that will continue to minister to many people in the depths of fear, doubt, and pain. It respects those trials by refusing to give them a trite answer, and it glorifies Jesus by declaring his kindness into the midst of them. But I don’t think Sunday-morning congregational singing is the best vehicle for this song to do its work.

Image by Francisco Gonzalez from Unsplash

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.

THE DOVE – Kari Jobe, Cody Carnes, Passion, The Belonging Co.

/ Jason Henry / 3 Comments

I don’t usually gravitate toward Holy Spirit songs. I’m not exactly a cessationist, but I grew up with the idea that the Holy Spirit primarily acts as the Christian’s conscience, helping us to know right and wrong, and maybe prompting us to share the Gospel or do something nice for someone once in a while. I often feel that songs focused on the Holy Spirit are too centered on a certain emotional experience or the outpouring of charismatic spiritual gifts.

“The Dove” is different. This song by Andrew Holt, Austin Davis, Cody Carnes and Kari Jobe traces the imagery of the Dove as a representation of God’s Spirit from the beginning of creation to the present. I’ve never seen this particular image drawn out through worship lyrics, and I hadn’t previously made some of the connections this song makes. These things made me excited to try this song out and dig deeper into its meaning! But is “The Dove” Biblical? What do the lyrics mean? And will it worship?

Focus

This song is all about the Holy Spirit, his different roles, and our need for him. It tells the story of Creation, Fall, and Redemption through the dove imagery that appears throughout Scripture. It also considers the connection between Jesus’ work and the presence of his Spirit.

This song touches on all three Persons of the Trinity, especially the Holy Spirit and Christ the Son. The Father is identified less specifically. In a couple places, the song refers to the Holy Spirit as “it,” but

“The Dove” includes the singing congregation as “we,” dwelling on our need and desire for more of the Holy Spirit. In the final verse, the individual “I” finds a moment for humble reflection and an opportunity to personally invite the Spirit to dwell within.

Lyric Analysis

VERSE 1
The story of the Dove begins in Genesis 1. In the very second verse of the Bible, we see the Spirit of God fluttering (or hovering or brooding) over the unorganized, pre-creation waters. The Bible doesn’t speak of a dove here, but saying that the Spirit was fluttering over the waters suggests the image of a bird. This line introduces us to the Spirit’s role in creation.

God speaks, ordering the cosmos in six days, and then after he makes man in his image, he calls the whole creation good. At first, man and woman dwell in the garden with God. We don’t get many details about their relationship in the text, but much later in the Bible, Jesus calls his followers his “friends,” so we see that this is the kind of relationship God desires to have with us (John 15:15).

CHORUS 1
The first chorus is simple. We say that all we need is more of the Holy Spirit. We ask him to give us more. What does that mean? The answer here is pretty subjective, and is going to vary by church and individual.

In my understanding of Scripture, you either have the Holy Spirit or you don’t. You don’t receive 10% of the Spirit at your baptism, 20% when you get really emotional at church sometime, and then the rest at a later date. God dwells within you fully when you turn to him and spiritually join Jesus in his death and resurrection (Acts 2:38).

What can and should increase is the influence and prominence of the Spirit in your life. When I pray for more of the Holy Spirit, I’m joining John the Baptist when he said of Jesus: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:39-31). I’m asking the Spirit to fill my life with more of his fruit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, and to kill the fruit of evil and selfishness within me (Gal. 5:19-20). I’m also asking the Spirit to give me the spiritual gifts I need to serve better in his church. This is the purpose of spiritual gifts: to serve one another (1 Pet. 4:10). So when I ask for more of the Spirit, I’m not exactly asking for more of the Spirit. I’m really offering him more control of my life, and asking for his work to be more and more evident in me.

I briefly wondered if it is wrong to say that all we need is more of the Spirit. After all, we need Jesus and the Father too! But I think that’s a misguided concern. When we exalt one member of the Trinity, we exalt them all. After all, when God the Father exalts Jesus, giving him the name above every other name, he isn’t in any way diminishing his own glory (Phil. 2:5-11).

VERSE 2
Now, “The Dove” addresses the consequences of sin and the Holy Spirit’s response. The songwriters do this through the story of the Flood. This narrative begins with creation so ruined and corrupted by sin that God regrets having made it (Gen. 6:5-7). The Flood destroys all humanity except Noah and his family, and then when the waters begin to recede, Noah sends out a dove. Initially, the dove can’t find anywhere to land because there is too much water, but then the dove brings back an olive branch, and then it fails to return because it has finally find a place to build its nest (8:6-12). In this song, this dove is a metaphor for the activity of the Holy Spirit throughout Scripture. In the Old Testament, God’s Spirit sometimes “rushes upon” various people to empower them in battle or to prophesy. And He finds a temporary dwelling place in the Temple, but then the Temple is destroyed. When we get to the New Testament, the Spirit of God descends in Jesus at his baptism, and this time the dwelling is permanent. Jesus is the true Vine, and we are the branches, nourished in him to bear spiritual fruit and love one another (John 15:1-17). He is our redeemer and the source of our eternal life.

CHORUS 2
This chorus introduces some new material in the form of four titles applied to the Holy Spirit: Truth, Living Water, Helper, and Healer. These titles illustrated four of the main ways the Spirit works in our lives.

The Holy Spirit is the Truth because he teaches us the things of God and helps us to remember Jesus’ words (John 14:17, 14:26). The Holy Spirit is the Living Water that Jesus promises us. He not only satisfies our spiritual thirst, but overflows from our hearts to nourish and refresh others (John 7:37-39). Jesus calls the Spirit the Helper and sends him to us to dwell with us forever, since Jesus is no longer physically present with his people (John 14:16). We need the Holy Spirit’s help to complete the Church’s mission of making disciples and building God’s Kingdom, and he is the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise to be with us in that mission (Matt. 28:18-20, Acts 1:6-8). The Holy Spirit is the source of spiritual gifts, including every gift of healing that God provides (1 Cor. 12:9), and even more importantly, he is the power that raised Christ from the dead and that raises us to new life in Christ now and forever (Rom. 8:11).

BRIDGE:
The Upper Room is where the first disciples received the Holy Spirit on the Jewish holiday of Pentecost. He appeared to them as tongues of fire resting on each of them on accompanied by the sound of a mighty rushing wind. The Spirit enabled them to speak in other languages so that the visiting Jews from all over the world would be able to hear the Gospel (Acts 2:1-13).

In evoking this scene and asking God to pour out his Spirit in the same way, we’re not asking for the same visible manifestations of tongues of fire, rushing wind, and speaking in other languages. Rather, we are asking for the Holy Spirit to empower us for ministry and fill us with his light to shine forth the Good News about Jesus and his Kingdom.

VAMP:
As the third Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit is worthy to be worshiped as “holy, holy, holy,” the same cry that never ceases around God’s throne (Rev. 4:8, Isa. 6:3).

Calling God holy means that he is set apart, different from us, morally pure and perfect, sacred. Throughout the Bible, when something unholy (like our sin) comes into contact with something holy, either the holy thing becomes polluted, or in the case of God’s presence, the source of sin is destroyed. Because of Jesus’ incarnation, death, and resurrection, God’s Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us and make us holy instead of destroying us in our sin. The Bible Project has an excellent video that does a much better job of explaining this idea of God’s holiness.

VERSE 3:
Probably my favorite part of the song, this verse connects the work of the Holy Spirit to the work of Christ.

In Acts 2:38, Peter tells the listening multitude “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” So the presence of the Spirit is possible because of the forgiveness we have in Jesus’ death. Moreover, it is connected directly to baptism, which is our act of joining Christ in his death and resurrection (Rom. 6:3).

For a deep dive into how we are cleansed by Jesus’ blood, see my review on “Thank You Jesus for the Blood.”

At the end of this verse, we finally tie the whole narrative of the Dove together. Throughout the song, we’ve seen the Dove searching for a place to create, or to recreate, and he found a resting place on Jesus at his baptism. Now, that same Spirit is transforming us into the image of Christ! Put another way, Christ is being formed in us (Gal. 4:18-19).

So we see this beautiful picture that the Dove of the Spirit is resting on the image of Jesus being formed inside each one of us. There’s a beautiful sense of completion and rightness here. This is how God intended to dwell among us; it’s been his plan ever since the beginning.

Accessibility

This one’s deep! I think most people will understand portions of the song, but the full meaning isn’t clear without a wealth of Biblical background knowledge. Having said that, this song teaches the story of God from a fresh perspective and a different angle, and it illuminates the work of the Holy Spirit in a way I think is unique and valuable.

People might misunderstand what it means to ask for more of the Holy Spirit, or to ask for another Pentecost, or what “the Christ in me” is, especially if they have been influenced by charismatic or new age theology.

I think the melody of this song is singable and congregational. It repeats itself a lot and is easy to learn, except possibly the bridge.

Music

This song tells an epic story, and it needs some time to do it! The live version of “The Dove” is 10 minutes long, and I’ve managed to shorten it to about 7:00, but that’s all I can do without seriously reducing the effectiveness of the lyrics. With this kind of marathon worship song, dynamics are super important. It’s got to start soft and stay that way for a while, so the lead vocalist needs to support the song with intensity rather than volume. In the second half of the song, a couple of strategic builds accentuate the majesty of God’s Spirit finding a dwelling place with his people through Christ the Son.

The chord progression is familiar and doesn’t pose any particular challenges, except that no one likes to play in Ab, so I suggest lowering it a half step to G. The quick passing chords in the chorus and bridge give the song forward motion. As I mentioned, the lead vocalist has to carry a lot of weight in this song, especially in dynamics and range (octave +5). The instrumentalists shouldn’t have much difficulty with this one.

Conclusions

I knew this one was going to take some analysis, but I feel like I learned a lot about the Holy Spirit through studying this song! “The Dove” is a magical unicorn of a worship song that teaches deep things about God and his story through fresh lyrics and imagery. It never feels stilted or belabored, and it also doesn’t get mushy about the Holy Spirit or focus too much on feeling the Spirit, which Holy Spirit songs sometimes have a tendency to do. It’s congregational, and I think the complexity of the lyrics serve to call the people to a better understanding of God’s Spirit rather than to confuse them. My only concern is the challenge of leading this song vocally.

Will it worship? 100%. I’m grateful for this song and the spiritual nourishment it is providing me and my congregation!

Image by Lenstravelier from Unsplash

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.

LOOK TO THE LAMB – Jesus Culture, Lindy Cofer, Bryan & Katie Torwalt

/ Jason Henry / Leave a comment

It turns out I like songs with lots of words.

“Look to the Lamb” has a lot of words. The people who wrote those words are Bryan Torwalt, Lindy Cofer, Mitch Wong, and Tommy Iceland. Jesus Culture released it as a single in March of this year, and then again on their album Why Not Right Now? in July.

This song captured my attention with its irresistible energy and the soaring exhortation, “look to the Lamb!” and held it with the deep scriptural imagery and theology of its lyrics. Let’s dive into those lyrics and ask if “Look to the Lamb” is biblical and if it will worship!

Focus

“Look to the Lamb” is about Jesus: his identity, his work of redemption, and especially his glory & worth as depicted in Revelation. It calls him King, the Way to the Father, the Life and Resurrection, the Lamb, the Son of God, the Savior, Alpha & Omega, the Christ, and our God. There is no “I” or “me” in this song, but we sing it to one another, exhorting our fellow believers to see Jesus and worship him.

Lyric Analysis

VERSE 1
Jesus is highly exalted and worthy of worship. His name is above every other name (Phil. 2:9). He calls himself the Light of Life (John 8:12).

I think the throne here is the throne we see in Revelation 4-5, since this scene is evoked later in the bridge. If that’s the case, we might have a little bit of Trinitarian confusion in this verse. It seems that we are calling Jesus the King on the throne, but in Revelation 5, God the Father is the one seated on the throne giving the scroll to the Lamb (Rev. 5:6-7). Jesus is God, and the Father is God, and God is the only King on the throne, so there’s not really a problem here, it’s just odd that this one line describes the Father while the rest of the song is specific to Christ the Son.

VERSE 2
Jesus himself tells us that no one can come to the Father apart from him (John 14:6). He also calls himself the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25).

In Ezekiel, God tells his people that their hearts are like stone: dead, stubborn, and refusing to worship or listen to him. But he promises that one day he will send his Spirit to dwell in his people and soften their stone hearts (Ezek. 36:24-28). This songs says that it is Jesus’ love that melts our stone hearts. A little different from Ezekiel’s words, but Jesus and the Father send the Holy Spirit, an act of love, so it seems like a good use of this biblical imagery to me (John 15:26).

CHORUS
“Look to the Lamb! // See the Son of God, the Savior crucified // see the crown of thorns, his nails, his wounded side”

What lamb are we looking to? Jesus! Specifically, Jesus as the slain lamb in Revelation 5. He is the Son of God and the Savior. We also get a short, vivid picture of his suffering and passion: the author invites us to see the crown of thorns on his head, the nails piercing his hands and feet, the spear puncturing his side (John 19:2,18,24). Because of this saving work, we call him worthy.

The second half of the chorus focuses on Jesus’ eternal glory. It draws attention to his eyes, where the author finds both love and fire. The love is a no-brainer. God is love, so of course there is love in Jesus’ eyes when he looks at us (1 John 4:8, Zeph. 3:17). But what’s the fire about? We’ll look at that when we get to the bridge. And what exactly is he worthy of? Be patient, I’m getting there!

My favorite thing about this chorus is that it parallels Paul’s line of thought in Philippians 2:5-11. Because Jesus became a man and suffered humbly on our behalf, he is exalted and given the name above every other name. Jesus’ glory flows out of his suffering.

VERSE 3:
The first two lines of this verse are exactly how God describes himself in Revelation 1:8. As alpha and omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, so Jesus is the first and last of all existence; everything comes from him and is for him (Rev. 22:13, Rom. 11:36). Saying that Jesus “was and is and is to come,” means that he always has existed, exists right now, and always will. This seems like a reference to the name God gives himself at the burning bush: I Am (Ex. 3:13-14). The author of Revelation expands this present-tense name into the past and future, because God is forever and ever.

I can’t find a specific Scripture that talks about shouting at Jesus’ return, but he will return in glory and power with a host of angels (Matt. 25:31), so it’s hard to imagine that there won’t be triumphal shouts far louder than the cries of “hosanna” during his Palm Sunday entrance to Jerusalem (John 12:13). Verse 3 concludes with our own shout identifying the object of our praise as Jesus, both Christ and God (2 Pet. 1:1).

BRIDGE
“The elders bow, the creatures cry // saints and angels glorify”

I discussed this song with one of my team members before introducing it to our church and asked him what he thought the bridge was about. He came up with a beautiful description of how the elders are the leaders of the local church, and how it’s important that they set an example for the congregation by bowing to God, and the creatures are everybody else joining in worship together. I had to tell him he was wrong. 😬 At this point, it shouldn’t come as a big surprise that these lyrics are a reference to the scene around God’s throne in Revelation 4-5. The four living creatures are angelic beings with way too many eyes that surround God’s throne. The elders mentioned are 24 elders who bow down to the Lamb and cast down their crowns before him. Since there are 12 sons of Israel in the Old Testament and 12 Apostles in the New, I deduce that these 24 elders are meant to represent all of God’s people throughout all time and space. The saints and angels are all the angels, and all of God’s people (Rev. 5:11-14). We also learn that this declaration of God’s glory continues 24/7 (Rev. 4:8).

What about the strange description of Jesus? Fiery eyes, hair like wool, the voice of roaring waters? You guessed it: Revelation!

“Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.”

Revelation 1:12-16

These descriptors are meant to convey the majesty and beauty and power of Jesus. Fire in his eyes represents his jealousy over his people and his mighty power; he has the strength to burn up his enemies and refine/purify his people (Zech. 13:9, Zeph. 3:8). Comparing his hair to wool (and snow) is about the color, not the texture. White (or gray) hair is celebrated in the Bible as a symbol of age, wisdom, and righteousness (Pr. 16:31). His voice thunders like many waters, celebrating the power of his word (Ps. 93:4).

If you were part of Revelation’s original audience, these words would have reminded you of another important, psychedelic throne room scene in Daniel 7. Here, God is called the Ancient of Days, and his hair is white like wool or snow, and his throne is fiery. One called the Son of Man appears before him and is given glory and eternal authority over all creation. All God’s enemies are defeated, and he restores his people to share his dominion. So, Revelation 1, Daniel 7, and this song are all showing us the splendor, power, unity, and victory of God the Father and his Son Jesus.

To sum up: the words of the bridge invite us to envision the heavenly throne room at the conclusion of this age, when all creation bows down to the slain, resurrected, glorified Lamb.

TAG
“Worthy is the Lamb!”

Finally, we come to the central line of this song and find that it is a bit ambiguous. What exactly is Jesus worthy of? In general, when a worship song says God is worthy, I think we assume that he’s worthy of our praise, and he is! But he is also worthy of so much more than that. Again, we find a robust answer in Revelation 4 and 5. The 24 elders declare that the Lord God is worthy of glory, honor, and power (Rev. 4:10-11). The myriad angels repeat these of the slain Lamb and add that he is worthy to receive wealth, wisdom, might, and blessing (Rev. 5:11-12).

The last one is easy to skip over, but it’s is also crucial to this passage, Jesus’ identity, and the meaning of this song: the Lamb is worthy to open the scroll. This scroll usher’s in God’s plan for the culmination of his plan; his enemies are judged and defeated and his people are vindicated and saved, made into priests who will reign with him over a restored creation. John weeps because no one can be found to open this scroll, but then the Lion/Lamb appears (Rev. 5:2-5). Jesus is found worthy to open the scroll because he was slain to ransom God’s people from every people and nation (Rev. 5:9-10).

Accessibility

The verses and the chorus are poetic but straightforward. The bridge is the tricky part, relying on an in-depth understanding of Revelation 4-5, and ideally several Old Testament metaphors. Throughout the song, it’s not apparent exactly what Jesus is worthy of, though we repeatedly call him worthy. So there will be significant gaps in understanding for most congregants. People might try to fill these in with their own assumptions, and they may be wrong, but I don’t see any danger of false theology here. I would encourage worship leaders to use this song as an opportunity to explain some of these metaphors and connections to help people grow in their understanding of Jesus and his glory.

The melody is mostly stepwise with several big skips. So it’s challenging to lead, but it’s pretty easy for the congregation to pick up on and sing along with. Also, the congregation doesn’t have to leap up as high as Lindy Cofer on the latter part of the song, so that helps reduce the range to about an octave.

Music

Classic worship song dynamic arc, builds great; I love the high descant part that the lead vocalist sings during the last bridge and chorus. Unfortunately, part of the vocal work that makes this song so exciting also makes it really challenging for your lead singer! The range works out to an octave+4 The melody line is one of this songs big strengths; it’s engaging and fun without being too difficult to learn.

The chord changes in this song are frequent and almost hymn-like. This has the advantage of making the song feel timeless and fresh, but it also makes it pretty tricky for guitars and keys, especially if you transpose it to any key other than C! Expect to take some time to work through the chord changes with your instrumentalists to make sure they’re all falling at the same time.

Conclusions

Will it worship? Yes!

I think worship songs should be accessible while still teaching us and challenging us to grow in our understanding of God and his word. This song emphatically does both. It is passionate in its worship of Jesus, and I love the way it anchors his glory and final victory in his redemptive work on the cross.

My only reservation with this song is its difficulty for the lead vocalist and band members. If your worship team is up for it, give it a go!

Image by Josh Eckstein from Unsplash

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.

WE RESOUND – Jordan Pride

/ Jason Henry / Leave a comment

I’ve been meaning to do this song for a long time. Jordan Pride is a good friend and I’m excited for him and his journey as a worship singer/songwriter! “We Resound,” Jordan’s biggest single so far, is an anthem of Jesus’ glory and exaltation and an echo of the song around his eternal throne. But is “We Resound” Biblical, and does it belong in your worship service? Let’s take a look at the lyrics, music, and accessibility of this song together and ask, “will it worship?”

Focus

“We Resound” looks forward to Christ’s final victory and imagines all creation resonating together in praise. Each verse gives a different glimpse of that glorious day, and the bridge positions us in the worshiping multitude, adding our own voices.

This is a truly corporate song: lots of “we,” no “I.” It’s also very God-oriented. We sing to him directly as “you” and declare that he’s worthy of praise. We also give lots of reasons that he’s worthy. The recipient of our praise is very clearly identified as Jesus, the Christ, the Lord God Almighty, the Father, and the Lord of Hosts.

Lyric Analysis

VERSE 1
This first verse is a succinct paraphrase of Ephesians 3:8-11. God’s plan for all time has been to pour out the riches of Christ’s grace on and through the Church. (I appreciate that this verse defines riches as God’s fullness and the hope of Christ, not material wealth!) This plan was hidden for ages, but now God’s wisdom is made known through the work of Jesus and his Church.

CHORUS
“Resound” is such a rich word! It has the sense of a loud sound that echoes, bounces around, reverberates. By extension, it can also mean to praise or spread the fame of someone or something. Sounds that resound don’t stay put; they carry. They don’t die out, they keep on ringing. A famous person or event can also be said to resound through history; that is, their effect is so profound that they create ripples for decades or centuries. In this sense, we, the Church, are the reverberations of Christ’s victory.

The words that we *resound* with come from Revelation 4. In this passage, four angelic beings around God’s throne are eternally proclaiming “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” At the same time, 24 elders in heaven fall down before the one seated on the throne and throw their own crows to the floor at his feet. They say: “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” (Rev. 4:1-11)

VERSE 2
This verse is a paraphrase of Philippians 2:10-11, where Paul is describing the glory Jesus will receive for his death on the cross. Just like this song, the passage in Philippians ascribes tremendous worth and power to the name of Jesus.

The only change Jordan makes here is to replace “under the earth” with “Hell.” We think of Hell as the fiery place of suffering where demons and bad people go, but “under the earth” is a little more neutral; it suggests a waiting place rather than eternal punishment. While this word change alters the tone of the passage a little bit, I think Paul’s point in Philippians is that every knee will bow, so Jordan’s not wrong. Indeed, Mark 5:6-8 shows us a demon bowing down before Jesus.

BRIDGE
This section evokes the book of Revelation, especially chapter 4, where, as we’ve discussed we find the elders casting down their crowns in worship, and chapter 22 where the river and tree of life from the garden of Eden are restored.

What I especially like about the bridge is the unique line “restoring Eden as we sing.” Jordan puts this line in the present rather than the future, as though our song is somehow having a restorative effect right now. I think this is in line with the Kingdom-building ministry of Jesus. Jesus prayed for the Father’s will and Kingdom to be established on earth as they are in heaven, and he taught us to pray the same way (Mat. 6:9-13). Yes, his kingdom will ultimately be established at his return, but we get to play a part in building it here and now, and part of that comes through worship and prayer.

In the final bridge, we also get the line “You are worthy to open the scroll.” This is said of Jesus in Revelation 5 where he is introduced as a mighty lion, but then appears as a slain lamb. Jesus is the only one worthy to complete God’s plan for his creation because he was slain and bought back his people with his blood. Throughout the song, we have been saying that Jesus is worthy, but in this section of Scripture, we see what he is worthy of. Praise, yes, but also “power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory” (Rev. 5:12).

Accessibility

“Resound” is kind of a self-explanatory word. Even if people don’t think through its layers of meaning, the song still makes sense. The verses of the song are clear and easy to understand, and the chorus is obviously a corporate celebration of God and his praise.

The average congregant might not have a great understanding of what it means to call God holy or what it is that Jesus is worthy of, but they will understand that they are terms of praise. The end of the song explains that Jesus is worthy to open the scroll, but most people will not understand what that means either. Similarly, many people will not understand that the bridge is painting a scene from Revelation.

Having said that, I don’t think there’s anything people are likely to misinterpret or misapply from this song.

The melody of “We Resound” is catchy and easy to pick up. The range is an octave+3, which is about par for a worship song. I would transpose it down to C instead of E because I’m a baritone (and Jordan is definitely a tenor!), but different keys suit different voices. Overall, I think the tune is very singable!

Music

This song has great dynamics, building up through the bridge, then dropping out for a quiet bridge and then coming back in for a giant, celebratory closing chorus and bridge. The sweet harmonies on “glory to God the Father” get me every time!

The main drum beats are playable; less experienced drummers can omit some fills to make it easier to play. Nothing crazy in the chord structure; a beginner/intermediate guitarist should be able to play along with this song. I would discourage worship leaders from imitating the extra vocal ad libs throughout the song; these would be difficult to master and a little distracting in a worship service.

Conclusions

In “We Resound,” Jordan has crafted an excellent, congregational, Christ-centered, biblical worship song. The allusions to Revelation make for thought-provoking lyrics that experienced saints will find rich and meaningful. At the same time, new believers will find plenty to latch onto in this celebration of Jesus’ glory and worth. Will it worship? You bet!

Image by Jeremy Bishop from Unsplash

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.

I’VE WITNESSED IT – Passion, Melodie Malone

/ Jason Henry / Leave a comment

Listening to this year’s Passion album (also called I’ve Witnessed It), this song struck me with its commitment to action in the closing lines: “I’ll tell them what I’ve witnessed.” What a bold exhortation to share your story! Melodie Malone sings this track live from Passion 2023, and she has a writing credit along with Austin Davis and Andrew Holt. Let’s see if “I’ve Witnessed It” begins as powerfully as it ends, and ask ourselves “Will it worship?”

Focus

“I’ve Witnessed It” is about God’s faithfulness. It explores what he has done both on an individual/personal level and a corporate/historical level. It ends with a list of his characteristics and actions that we have witnessed, culminating in a promise to share what we’ve seen about God with the people and the world around us.

This song is written to God. We mostly call him “you,” and each chorus makes the subject explicit by saying “God, you’re worthy of all of it.” We also call him “Savior” and identify many of his characteristics and acts. There is a lot of “I” in this song, primarily in positioning each singer of the song as a witness of God’s goodness.

Lyric Analysis

VERSE 1
“When I was lost and all alone // Your presence was where I found hope”

The song opens on a personal, subjective note. This verse is a testimony with the serial numbers filed off. We were all lost and alone without Jesus, and God has given us a place with him (Eph. 2:1-6). He is always with us, even when we think we have cause to worry (Heb. 13:5-6). He always has been and will always be good (Ps. 23:6, Ti. 3:4-5). These truths are general enough that almost any believer can find him/herself in the story. It might even be good to pause before or during the song to invite worshipers to consider times when God has been especially good to them.

Note also that each tercet ends with a were/are statement. God was present then, and he still is now. God was good then, and he’s good now. In this verse, the “then” is referring to moments in our own walk with God when he demonstrated those characteristics. Because he was good and present then, I can trust that he still is now.

VERSE 2
“You left the throne and chose the cross // laid down Your life to rescue us // the Savior then, the Savior now”

Skipping the chorus for the moment, let’s look at verse 2, where we turn from personal testimony to the corporate realities of the cross. This verse succinctly summarizes the Christ-event: Jesus humbled himself and chose to die for us (Phil. 2:5-8), then triumphed over death and hell by his resurrection (1 Cor. 15-54, Col. 2:15). Of course, this work earns him the title of Savior, then, now and forever. Jesus raised himself from the dead, and even now he continues resurrecting those who believe in him (Col. 2:12-13).

It’s worth pointing out here that all of the salvation language in this song is oriented around the Christus Victor model of atonement. We see Jesus’ work on the cross as a triumph over death and hell through which he brings life and resurrection. Nowhere does “I’ve Witnessed It” acknowledge our sin or need for forgiveness, nor does it view Christ’s death as a substitutionary sacrifice. I wouldn’t call this a weakness—no song can address every point of theology—but it’s important that the songs we sing as a church provide a balanced view of the atonement. If we only sing about Christ’s death as a victory, we will never understand the depth of our sin and the magnitude of Jesus’ forgiveness (Rom. 3:23-25), nor see him as the slain sacrificial lamb who “bore our sins in his body on the tree” (Rev. 5:6, 1 Pet. 2:24). So let’s sing Christus Victor songs, and let’s also sing songs about finding forgiveness for our sins in the death Jesus died on our behalf.

(For more discussion of different theories of atonement and why we need penal substitution, not just Christus Victor, check out this blog by Sam Storms. It helped me think through this section of my review.)

CHORUS
“I’ve got stories I’ll live to tell // so I’ll pour out my praise again”

God’s faithfulness means that he keeps his covenant. Jesus’ covenant with us, made through his blood, means that we are free from our sins and guaranteed an eternal inheritance with him (1 Cor. 11:15, Heb. 9:15). We also know that God is true to all his promises, and they find their fulfillment in Jesus (1 Cor. 1:20).

Now that we’ve explored God’s faithfulness and life-giving power in our own lives and in the Gospel, “I’ve Witnessed It” gives us the opportunity to respond. This response is twofold: we praise God, and we tell people about him. This is where the song becomes personally challenging. I can pour out my praise easily, but will I really live to tell people about what Jesus has done for me? When we sing “God You’re worthy of all of it,” we aren’t just referring to the praise, but also to the testimony. He is worthy that we should tell his story.

BRIDGE 1
I love a good adjective list! In this bridge we claim to have witnessed six things about God: he’s good (Ps. 68:9-10), he’s strong (24:8), he’s constant (89:34), he loves (13:5), he heals (41:2-4), and he saves (3:8). All of these are easy to demonstrate from multiple Scriptures; I’ve just included one psalm for each. But have we witnessed them? Is there a time in my life where I can identify that God has brought healing (physical, emotional, spiritual, mental, relational, etc.)? Is there a time when I’ve witnessed God’s strength? Has he saved me?

Just like in the verses (and in the song “Same God“) we base our confidence in God and how he will act in the future on how he has acted in the past. If we don’t have a solid foundation of his faithfulness in the Bible and in our own lives, we are going to lack confidence—or faith—in him moving forward. Again, I recommend some introspection to find those places in your own story where God has been good to you. Write those stories down, tell them to your heart over and over to remember who he is and that we can trust him.

BRIDGE 2
Now the writers play with the two meanings of the word “witness.” “Witness” can mean just to see something, and that’s the meaning we’ve used so far in this analysis. But it can also mean to witness to someone, to bear witness. That means telling people about what you’ve seen. In the conclusion to this song, also the musical climax, we commit to bearing witness of God’s goodness to the broken, the hurting, the lost, our families, cities, and nations. We even promise it.

Accessibility

Most of this song uses clear, accessible language. Verse 2 references core Christian beliefs without full explanation, so most congregants will understand them, but people with no church experience might not. At first glance, not everyone might understand that the stories this song encourages us to tell are stories of God’s faithfulness.

I don’t see anything in this song that it likely to be misinterpreted in a harmful way. The closest thing is that it only describes salvation in terms of new life and Christ’s victory. As described in my review of verse 2, this is not a flaw, just an omission to be aware of during song selection.

The melody of the verses is very easy to learn, and I heard members of my congregation singing it the very first time we did it in church. The chorus is a little trickier with some big skips, but it repeats enough that it can be learned quickly. The bridge is almost chant-like in its simplicity, though not everyone will be able to make the leap up to the higher bridge. I would recommend one singer continuing with the original bridge melody prominently in the mix so that the congregation can sing along with them.

Music

Nobody likes playing in Db, so I’m going to assume we’ve transposed this a half-step down to C. 😂 The chords used are pretty basic without any super fast changes that would throw off beginner/intermediate players. The drum patterns are standard to this kind of anthemic worship song: basic chorus groove, lots of snare and tom builds on the bridges. The lead vocalist is expected to stay in her upper belt range for the whole final chorus, so plan accordingly.

I appreciate the dynamic arc of this song and the contrast between verse, chorus, and bridge. The verses are lilting, melodic, and peaceful. The choruses are declarative and driving. The bridges are anthemic and soaring. Musically, “I’ve Witnessed It” feels familiar without feeling stale.

Conclusions

Will it worship? Yes. It will also preach!

“I’ve Witnessed It” takes the familiar form of a worship anthem and makes it fresh with its exhortative lyrics. This song praises God for his faithfulness in the present and throughout Scripture, and it spurs us on to sharing the story of what he’s done. (Actually, this song would pair really nicely with “What He’s Done” from last year’s Passion album!)

I have two cautions with this song. The first was discussed above and boils down to “make sure you have other songs in your library that address sin, Christ’s substitutionary atonement, and his forgiveness.” The second is “don’t sing it unless you mean it!” Songs like this contain words of strong commitment (promise!), and we do well to examine our hearts before we sing them. Do I really believe that God is worthy both of my praise and of my testimony? Do I have stories of his faithfulness to tell? Who am I sharing them with? Hopefully this song encourages us to ask those questions and arrive at real, world-changing answers.

Image by S O C I A L . C U T from Unsplash

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.