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.