CeCe Winans

THAT’S MY KING – Lloyd Nicks, Bridge Worship, CeCe Winans

/ Jason Henry / Leave a comment

“That’s My King” popped up a few months ago as a new release from CeCe Winans on SongSelect, and I clicked on it because I thought it was going to be based on the famous sermon “That’s My King” by S.M. Lockridge. It’s not. But what it is might be even better!

(Update: This song has exploded since I wrote this review, and it has gone on to win a Grammy and a Billboard Music Award! I love the heart and attitude of the songwriters in their acceptance speech.)

In an interview with The Christian Beat, songwriter Lloyd Nicks describes working on the song with friends Jess Russ, Kellie Gamble, and Taylor Agan, gathered around an out-of-tune piano, finding the difficulty of capturing with words the “bigness and greatness of Jesus.” He says they were trying to write a song that couldn’t be contained, because the King is himself too big to be contained. What Nicks and friends wrote is a joyful, infectious celebration of the glory, character, and heart of God.

“That’s My King” is catchy, personal, and transcendent, but is it biblical, and will it worship?

Focus

This song is about the glory and praise of God. It lists many attributes of his character and gazes in wonder upon the King who defies description. It revels in the uncontainable glory and holiness and beauty of God and also draws near to him, repeatedly emphasizing “that’s my King.”

The subject of the song is identified as King, God, and Shepherd, among other titles, and sometimes we sing directly to God in 2nd person. The song is both personal and corporate, using “I” and “my” alongside “we.”

Lyric Analysis

VERSE 1
“I wish I could tell you // wish I could describe it”

In the first verse, the worshipers address each other. We are in awe of God and can’t contain him in our words, but also can’t help but speak about him. What I love about this verse is that it sees the futility of trying to explain the wonder of God and what he’s done for us, but it still doesn’t give up trying. It’s not that there aren’t words; there just aren’t enough words.

“There aren’t enough colors to paint the whole picture” is a beautiful metaphor, and it begins to break our minds and hearts out of the box. Just like we can’t imagine colors outside the visible spectrum, we can’t fully imagine God with the limitations of our minds and experiences.

One quirk of Christian worship is that even though we acknowledge that God is indescribable, we can’t help but try to describe him! It’s not that we can’t or shouldn’t use our words, it’s just that there aren’t enough of them to explain who he is or even what he means to us.

PRE-CHORUS
This section is a rapid-fire list of seven characteristics of God, and I want unpack each one of them just a tiny bit.

Wonderful: He’s the God who creates wonders (Ps 8:3), works wonders (Ex 15:11), and fills us with awe and wonder (Ac 2:43, Heb 12:28).

Beautiful: When we speak about God being beautiful, we are talking about more than aesthetic beauty, though certainly not less. In the Psalms, when God’s beauty is mentioned, it is in connection with his temple. He shines forth out of the place where he comes to dwell with his people, drawing all nations toward himself and his goodness.

Glorious: Much like his beauty that draws people to him, God’s glory fills the temple or the tabernacle in the Old Testament. It’s described as a cloud, something so radiant that humans cannot fully look upon it (Ex 40:35). In the New Testament, we see that through Jesus’ work on the cross, the veil is torn (Mt 27:51). We are no longer kept out of God’s glorious presence but invited in!

Holy: This is one of those church words that we sometimes use without much understanding of what it means. It’s related to glory and beauty, but different too. We often think of holiness as moral goodness, and that’s part of it, but it also refers to God’s total uniqueness, his other-ness. Much like the glory that kept Moses and the Israelites from entering the tabernacle, God’s holiness is dangerous to those who would enter his presence while tainted by sin or impurity. But in Christ, God brings his holiness near to us, pouring out from him and purifying us instead of destroying us.

For an awesome (and animated!) exploration of God’s holiness, check out this video from the Bible Project. It really helped me understand it in a new way!

Merciful: God’s love is abounding towards us, and he is slow to anger and quick to forgive (Ex 34:6). Mercy is his character, always lavishing his grace and kindness on us (Eph 2:7).

Powerful: God showed his mighty power when he defeated Pharaoh and his armies to rescue Israel from Egypt (Ex 32:11). But in Christ, we see God’s power even more clearly. He chooses to conquer evil and even death itself through the humble death of our Savior on a cross (Rom 1:16). The power of his Spirit is displayed in our lives when we let him work through our weakness to show how his strength (2 Cor 12:9).

King: God made the world, and it belongs to him. Through his Church, he is building his Kingdom, and he will return to set every wrong thing right and to reign in peace, justice, and righteousness (Isa 9:6-7).

CHORUS
“Who we talking about? // That’s my King!”

If this song just said “He’s the King,” it would praise God for his sovereignty. If it just said, “He’s mine,” it would express intimacy with God. But saying “That’s my King!” does both. He is the ruler we gladly embrace, and we are overjoyed to belong to him. In one line, we honor him as ruler and delight in being his dearly loved children. I love it!

The rest of the chorus is just different ways of praising him. He’s worthy. We declare his glory and give him honor. We commit to adoring him. We agree with Paul in Romans 11:36 that all things are for him and through him and to him. Echoing the first of the Ten Commandments, we declare that there is no one before him (Ex 20:3).

VERSE 2
In Luke 19:28-40, Jesus’ disciples praise him loudly on his entry into Jerusalem, causing quite a disruption. When religious leaders object, Jesus tells him that if the people fall silent, then even the rocks will cry out in praise. In “That’s My King” we promise not to let that happen.

In Revelation 4-5, the inhabitants of heaven, angels, people, elders, and strange creatures sing several songs of praise that are reminiscent of the words of this song. They also declare God’s worthiness, his holiness, his glory, honor, and power. This is the eternal song of praise that we join into as we worship God.

BRIDGE
The bridge builds further connection between the worshiper and God as each line explains who he is to us on a personal level. When I say he is my king and God, I am offering him my fealty and obedience. When I call him my Shepherd and Protector (Jn 10:1-18), I am counting on him to protect and lead me. When I call him my Rock (Mt 7:24-27) and Anchor, I am trusting him to hold me steady through any storm I face in my life. When I call him my Defender, I know that he is the victor of every spiritual battle and that nothing can take me from his hand (Rom 8:38-39). So, these lines offer truths about who God is, but they also call for a response of faith and trust based on those truths.

Accessibility

This song is super easy to understand. We explained the theological significance of holiness, glory, and power up above, but a congregant doesn’t need to know all of that information to enter into worship with this song. Anyone who listens to even a little bit of “That’s My King” will understand that it is offering praise and glory to God. This song is clear and precise and leaves no room for misunderstandings.

Is “That’s My King” singable? I think so. The verses are a little tricky timing-wise, and the choruses have lots of syncopation, but the rhythms repeat themselves enough that the average person can learn them easily. I also love the call-and-response of “Who we talking about? // That’s my King!” It provides an entry point for someone uncomfortable with singing in church to join in the question-and-answer pattern. 95% of the melody sits within an octave, so the range is pretty accessible for a worship song.

Music

“That’s My King” is an infectious gospel celebration of the kingship of God. It is always pushing forward, and in my experience, it sweeps up the whole worship team and congregation in its joyful drive of praise. The dynamic arc is effective, straightforward, and exciting. The chord progression is fresh and will keep the congregation on their toes without them realizing exactly why. The instrumentation paints the words of this song with glory and highlights each characteristic of God that we sing about.

If your worship team is unaccustomed to playing in a gospel style, this song is going to take some extra work. The chord progression is very different from the I-V-vi-IV pattern that is so common in the Hillsong-Bethel-Passion vein of modern worship. There are some bVIIs and bVIs, and some cool instrumental sections that require changing chords in between beats. Even if you’re a white church with a white praise band, I think this song is playable, and it’s a great place to begin introducing some gospel music influence to your team and your congregation. Our team has loved playing it, and I think they’ve enjoyed the challenge of thinking and playing outside the box a little bit.

Function

Gathering | Word | Table | Sending

I probably wouldn’t do this one during Communion, but anywhere else in the service is fair game! It can serve a unifying function, gathering the congregation into a worshiping body. It declares truth about God’s power, love, and beauty. We want to send people out of church talking about the King, and this song does exactly that.

Conclusions

Will it worship? You bet!

“That’s My King” is one of my very favorite new worship songs. The music is exciting, joyful, and serves to expand the palette of churches used to a steady CCM diet without going so far outside the box as to confuse or frustrate. The lyrics are rock-solid, and what I think is really special about this song is the juxtaposition of God’s sovereign kingship with his personal relationship to each believer. We all need to be reminded that God is King and that he’s my King.

We’re singing this one again this Sunday, and I think it’s going to remain a congregational favorite for a long time!

(Update: we did, and it has.)

Image by Scarlet Ellis 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.

BELIEVE FOR IT – CeCe Winans, Lauren Daigle

/ Jason Henry / Leave a comment

Image by Marc Thunis from Unsplash

“Believe for It,” written by CeCe Winans, Dwan Hill, Kyle Lee, and Mitch Wong, is the title track from Winans’ early 2021 live album. It came to my attention when a new version came out this month featuring Lauren Daigle, and K-Love lists the original live recording as one of their top songs right now. I have enjoyed and worshiped to songs from both Grammy-winning artists before, so let’s see how the words of “Believe for It” measure up to Scripture.

Focus

There are two. The first is an unspecified obstacle, described as unmovable and unbreakable. The second (and more significant) is God’s power, as the singer trusts him to overcome the obstacle.

Lyric Analysis

VERSE 1
Jesus tells us that faith can move mountains three times in the Gospels (Matt. 17:20, 21:21, Mark 11:23) and Paul references mountain-moving faith in 1 Corinthians 13:2, calling it worthless without love. No one ever moves a literal mountain into the sea in the Bible, so I think it’s safe to see these statements as metaphorical language for God’s power through faith. Winans is also speaking metaphorically. She’s concerned with some oppressive, seemingly unchangeable circumstance in the listener’s life, not geography.

This same obstacle is described as chains and an unchanging tide. Jesus says he came to give liberty to the captives and the oppressed in Luke 4:18. While God has certainly broken literal chains, such as when he freed Paul and Silas from jail in Acts 16, I believe the primary sense in which Jesus liberates us is from the spiritual forces of sin and darkness. In John 8:32-34, he says, “‘You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’ They answered him, ‘We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, “You will become free?'” Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.'”

CHORUS
“From the impossible
We’ll see a miracle
God, we believe
God, we believe for it”

What I like about the chorus, and the rest of this song, is that it extols God’s power. Nothing is immovable or unbreakable to him (see Ps. 29) Luke 1:37, referring to the upcoming miraculous births of John and Jesus, says “For nothing will be impossible with God.”

What I don’t like is that this song lets each listener decide what they are believing for. Whatever obstacle comes to your mind in verse 1 when you sing about unmoving mountains and unbreakable chains is likely what you’re going to be singing about in the chorus and bridge. Is it cancer? Financial strain or poverty? A sin addiction? A broken marriage? An abusive situation? There’s a big difference between believing God is able to fix something and believing that he will. Of course, we will ultimately be rescued from all of those things, but Scripture doesn’t promise that we will experience that rescue in this life. Jesus promises that he will work wonders through our faith in him (Matt. 17:20, John 14:12), but he also promises that we will experience persecution (John 15:20) and trouble, but can find peace in the midst of it because of his victory. (John 16:33). Paul tells us that reliance on God is how we find contentedness in prosperity and poverty, not how we get from one to the other (Philippians 4:11-13). While these lyrics don’t necessarily contradict Scripture, I think they are too open to misapplication.

VERSE 2

Our hope can never be lost because it is laid up for us in heaven (Col. 1:5). Jesus’ grave is empty because he rose from the dead, and we get to share in that resurrection (Matt. 28:6, Rom. 6:5). We should absolutely believe that there is power in the name of Jesus; this is the witness of the whole New Testament. Just do a Bible Gateway search on “Name of Jesus.” Demons are cast out and people are healed in his name (Acts 3:6, 16:18), we are baptized and sanctified in his name (Acts 2:38, 1 Cor 6:11), and every knee will one day bow at his name (Phil. 2:10).

BRIDGE 1

Jesus is the way in John 14:6. Verse 17 clarifies that this means he is the way to the Father, and there is no other way apart from him. The whole Bible is full of reasons to trust in God. Saying he has the “final say” refers to either his final victory and judgment, which will come by his powerful word (2 Peter 3:7) or his total sovereignty over the world, and by extension our circumstances (Psalm 22:28, Romans 8:28).

BRIDGE 2
“You said it, I believe it
You said it, it is done”

We should absolutely believe everything God has promised (Josh. 21:45). But we’d better be sure that when we say we’re believing for something because he said so, we’re believing in something that he’s actually promised in Scripture, not just something that we really, really want. We also need to make sure that we’re trusting God to fulfill his promises according to his timetable, not ours. Many of God’s promises to Israel didn’t find their ultimate fulfillment until the coming of Christ (Heb. 11:13), and others will not be fulfilled until he returns (2 Peter 3:8). So let’s be careful not to believe for “it” unless “it” is something that God has actually said.

Accessibility

I don’t think anyone would have difficulty grasping the meaning of this song. The metaphors are clear, and the words of the chorus and bridge are simple and repetitive. My concern is that anyone not thoroughly grounded in what God does and does not promise in Scripture is likely to sing this song with incorrect assumptions about what we should believe for.

Music

I’m a sucker for a good chord progression with changes on beat 4 leading into the next chords on beat 1, and this song has that. I also really enjoy the drum groove, which is classic and propels the song forward while the melody soars heavenward. That same melody is very repetitive and learnable. I don’t think this song would be difficult for worship teams to learn. The most challenging part would be achieving the gospel styling of the backing vocals and the ad-libbing of the lead singer. Winans utilizes both to powerful and moving effect. Of course she does; she’s a legend.

Conclusions

In an article about this song on K-Love’s website, Lindsay Williams quotes CeCe Winans as saying, “The song challenges people to not brush off your dreams; don’t give up or give in, but it’s time to believe that you can make it. Believe that you can achieve what’s in your heart. It’s time to believe for wholeness and healing for yourself, your family, and your community. It’s time to believe for unity.” Those aspirations are all good, and most are even Biblical. But the idea of following your dreams and achieving whatever is in your heart is not based on the truth of Scripture.

It’s an inspiring song, but I have to pass on it. The belief that is at the crux of the chorus never finds a concrete promise of God to stand on, so the listener is left to supply their own meaning, which could be anything. That’s dangerous and veers uncomfortably close to Word of Faith teaching and the Prosperity Gospel. What we should believe for is the return of Christ, when he will fully and finally reconcile all creation to himself, and the working of his Kingdom in and through us now, which rarely happens the way we expect it to.

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.