Aaron Shust – Give Me Words to Speak

American Contemporary Christian artist Aaron Shust began his career in 2005.  He released nine albums, including:

• Anything Worth Saying (2005)
• Whispered and Shouted (2007)
• Take Over (2009)
• This Is What We Believe (2011)
• Morning Rises (2013)
• Unto Us (2014)
• Doxology (2015)
• Love Made a Way (2017)
• Nothing to Fear (2019)

He won three GMA Dove awards in 2007, including New Artist of the Year, Songwriter of the Year, and Song of the Year (My Savior My God).

Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Aaron-shust-give-me-words-to-speak-lyrics.

Note to new users: This is a different kind of review site!  Read About the Berean Test and Evaluation Criteria prior to reading this review.

1. What message does the song communicate?

Aaron Shust’s soul is in anguish.  He is unsatisfied with his life, unable to comprehend why he believed lies.  It is implied that somewhere along the way, “you” came and restored him.  With gratitude and thanks, Shust depends on “you” to speak words of life to others.

Who is “you”?  It doesn’t say.  There are no acts, attributes, or explicit names that point to God.

Score: 4/10

2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?

This song does not contain a Verse/Chorus/Bridge format.  Therefore, I assigned stanzas to each paragraph.  Also, I deducted two points to assume that “you” is God.

With that in mind, This song lines up with Scripture.

[Stanza 1]

Lines 1-7: Shust has become aware of his brokenness, concluding that he is spiritually dead (John 3:36, Romans 5:12-15, Romans 8:13, Ephesians 2:1-3, Ephesians 2:1-2, Ephesians 4:18, Ephesians 5:8, Colossians 2:13, 2 Thessalonians 1:9, 1 John 5:12, Revelation 2:11, Revelation 20:6, Revelation 20:14-15, and Revelation 21:8).

Line 8: Repeats line 7.

[Stanza 2]

Lines 1-3: Shust wants to add value to others through words, depending on God on what to say (Exodus 4:10-12, Matthew 10:20, Luke 12:12, Luke 21:15, Acts 4:8, Acts 6:10).  He wishes to avoid returning to his spiritual deadness in Stanza 1 (Proverbs 26:11).

Side Note: Words are important and can help build others up (Colossians 4:6), but words unaccompanied by love are useless (1 Corinthians 13:1).  Though we must be careful with our speech (Ephesians 4:15 and James 3:1-11), it’s also important to love with action and truth (1 John 3:18).

Line 4: Shust owes a debt of gratitude because God saved him (1 Chronicles 16:34, Psalm 7:17, Psalm 28:7, Psalm 35:18, Psalm 95:1-3, Psalm 100:4, Psalm 106:1, Psalm 107:1, Psalm 118:1, Jeremiah 33:11, Jonah 2:9, 2 Corinthians 4:15, 2 Corinthians 9:11-12, Philippians 4:6, Colossians 3:15-17, Colossians 4:2, 1 Thessalonians 5:18, 1 Timothy 4:4-5, and Hebrews 12:28-29).

Lines 5 and 6: Repeats lines 1 and 2.

[Stanza 3]

Lines 1-5: See Stanza 2, lines 1-3.

Line 6: Repeats line 5.

[Stanza 4]

Lines 1-6: Essentially repeats Stanza 2.

[Stanza 5]

Line 1: Neither did the Apostle Paul.  He wars against his sin and knows that it will cause him harm, but continues to do it (Romans 7:14-25).

Line 2: Essentially repeats the first part of line 2 twice.

Line 3: Shust behaved sinfully (see line 1) because he believed wrongly.

Line 4: Repeats line 2.

[Stanza 6]

Lines 1-6: Repeats Stanza 2.

[Stanza 7]

Lines 1-6: Essentially repeats Stanza 2.

[Stanza 8]

Lines 1-6: Repeats parts of Stanza 4, line 4, in different ways.

Score: 8/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

Those outside the camp of Christ will walk away with a good message without much clarity that Shust sings about God. Though some may interpret it as such, it could easily be interpreted as a wise human who helped Shust without any lyrical changes.

Score: 3/10

4. What does this song glorify?

Though Shust glorifies God in his transformational message when we assume “You” as “God”, His identity is not clearly shown throughout this song.

Score: 5/10

Closing Comments

Aaron Shust’s Give Me Words to Speak is ambiguous.  If we assume it refers to God, the lyrics agree with the Bible, that God transformed Shust from his spiritual deadness to dependant on God.  This brings God glory.  However, without any clear pointers, this song is easily interpreted as a wise human, veiling its power.

I cannot recommend this song for corporate worship.

Final Score: 5.5/10

Artist Info

Track: Give Me Words to Speak (listen to the song)

Artist: Aaron Shust

Album: Whispered And Shouted

Genre: Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)

Release Year: 2007

Duration: 4:29

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