king

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.

KING OF GLORY – Passion, Kristian Stanfill

/ Jason Henry / Leave a comment

Image by Robert Thiemann on Unsplash

Live from the Passion 2020 Conference, “King of Glory” is a peppy, encouraging call to worship. One of the high school students on my worship team recommended it to me, and I was immediately caught by the catchy instrumental hook, and then led to celebrate the power of God through the lyrics.

Focus

The clear focus here is the glory and saving power of God, followed by the awed praised that we and all creation bring as a response.

Lyric Analysis

VERSE 1
The writer addresses his soul, just like the psalmist in Psalm 42:5. Also like the psalmist, the answer to his discouragement is the hope and praise that result from God’s power and salvation.

VERSE 2
We can have peace even in life’s storms because Jesus is Lord over all of it. (Mark 4:35-41, John 14:27, John 16:33)

CHORUS
The chorus draws heavily on Psalm 24. In fact, the title “King of Glory” seems to me to be unique in Scripture to this Psalm. The Hebrew word for glory here is kabowd which has a range of meanings including abundance, riches, splendor, and honor. Kabowd is used to describe both people and God in the Old Testament. Whatever impressive things are included in its meaning, we can be confident that God exceeds all of it in splendor and is king over it all. The psalmist applies the title to Yahweh, Israel’s God, and the New Testament clearly teaches us that Jesus is that same God, so it is fitting to identify Jesus as the King of Glory (John 8:58, Philippians 2:6).
The next two lines allude to the same Psalm, where God is described as Israel’s savior, and strong and mighty in battle.
“Freedom is in his name,” doesn’t come specifically from Psalm 24, but it’s not an alien idea either. For the Israelite, freedom from the captivity in Egypt was the archetypal example of God’s saving power. In the New Testament, we see that our primary freedom in Christ is that we are set free from sin, death, corruption, and bondage to the spiritual forces of evil (Heb. 2:14-15, Rom. 8:2, Gal. 5:13). I think Psalm 24 even hints at this with its mention of vindication in verse 5.
“Open the gates of heaven” is pretty much from Psalm 24, though the gates there are more likely of Jerusalem, to allow the King into the city. I’m not particularly bothered by the inversion describing them as the gates of heaven, implying that God is coming out of his city to meet us rather than coming into ours. I think it’s the same idea.
Shouts of praise are everywhere in the Old Testament, especially in the Psalms.
The lion roaring here is obviously Jesus, the Lion of Judah (Rev. 5:5), not the devil (1 Peter 5:8). It’s interesting to me that lion symbolism throughout the Bible is split between good guys and bad guys. Lions are strong and deadly, equally able to tear you to bits or protect you from just about anyone who would harm you. Furthermore, Jesus’ title as the Lion of Judah refers back to Genesis 49:8-12, when Jacob blesses his son Judah with prophetic words about the Messiah who will come from his lineage.

VERSE 3
This verse is based on Psalm 121:1-2 with the added reminder that our help only comes from the Lord, and that we should stand in awe of him (Ps. 22:23, 33:8).

BRIDGE
Nations bow to God in Psalm 86:9, and everyone bows specifically at the name of Jesus in Philippians 2:10. Mountains quake before Yahweh in Nahum 1:5. Ephesians 1:20-21 says that Jesus is seated above every rule and authority and power and dominion; that sounds like reigning over all to me.

Accessibility

This song is clear and straightforward. Even unchurched people will be able to understand the declarations about Jesus being made here. I also like that this song specifically identifies Jesus as God, Lord, and King, worthy of praise and inspiring the awe of all creation.

Music

The dulcimer hook at the beginning is great, and I love the high-energy rubber-band arpeggiation in the background if you’ve got backing tracks. The drum beat is simple enough to emulate and keeps the song driving forward with excitement. The dynamic changes are swift, powerful, and attention-grabbing. I also like how the bass doubles the melody on the bridge. The instrumental channel from the bridge to the chorus provides a great opportunity to exhort your congregation.
The melody is easy and repetitive; congregations should have no trouble learning it.

Conclusions

Will it worship? Absolutely. We’re singing it this Sunday.
I think this song is best suited toward the beginning of your service, as it contains call-to-worship elements, and I always love starting our worship with some strong declarations about God’s character and power.