Aaron Williams (Feat. Mission House) – Abide

“Aaron is a worship leader, songwriter, and founder of The Way of Worship.

Aaron is passionate about mentoring and developing young leaders and spends much of his time investing in and training emerging leaders and teams. Aaron frequently travels to lead worship for and teach at events, churches, and conferences on the topics of worship, songwriting, theology, and development.

He passionate about seeing spiritual awakening in this generation. Whether its investing in a small group of leaders in a living-room setting, or leading with a band in a large auditorium, Aaron’s leadership is consistently thoughtful, creative, and Christ-centered.”

Source: https://aaronwmusic.com/.

Williams released two albums, including:

• Rend Your Heart (2016)
• The Hope of Christ (Live) (2022)

Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Aaron-williams-abide-live-lyrics.

Side Note: Although the live version came first, radio versions tend to rate better.

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?

God gives Williams provision to sustain him: food, drink, air, and of course the Holy Spirit.  That is, Williams is wholly dependent on Him who is the Way, Truth, and Life in this life and the one to come.

Score: 10/10

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

The whole song.

[Verse 1]

Lines 1-3: Williams depends on God for provision (Genesis 2:15-16, Genesis 9:3, Genesis 22:8, Exodus 16:1-36, Psalm 18:2, Psalm 34:10, Psalm 81:10, Psalm 84:11, Psalm 107:9, Proverbs 10:3, Malachi 3:10, Matthew 6:25-30, Matthew 7:7-8, Matthew 21:22, John 14:13-14, John 14:26, John 15:1-10, John 15:16, Romans 8:32, Ephesians 3:20, Philippians 4:19, 2 Corinthians 9:8, and 2 Corinthians 12:9).  “Daily bread” is specifically stated in the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6:11 and Luke 11:3.

Line 4: Repeats line 3.

Lines 5-8: Same concept.  Lines 7 and 8 repeats line 3.

[Chorus 1]

Line 1: Essentially quotes the first part of John 14:6.

Line 2: Essentially quotes from Isaiah 58:11.

Line 3: The first part of John 15:5 reordered.

Line 4: Curiously, the word “Abide” (or remain in some translations) shows up 10 times in John 15:1-10.  It’s like Jesus is trying to teach Williams something but I can’t quite put my finger on what it is.

[Verse 2]

Lines 1 and 2: As summarized in Galatians 5:18.

Lines 3 and 4: Repeats Verse 1, line 3.

Lines 5 and 6: For Williams is more than a conqueror (Romans 8:37).

Lines 7 and 8: Repeats Verse 1, line 3.

[Chorus 2]

Lines 1-4: Repeats Chorus, lines 1-4.

Line 5: Williams’ strength is found in Him (Nehemiah 8:10, Psalm 22:19, Psalm 28:7-8, Psalm 46:1, Psalm 118:14, Isaiah 12:2, Isaiah 33:2, Isaiah 40:29-31, Habakkuk 3:19, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Ephesians 3:16, Ephesians 6:10, and Philippians 4:13).

Line 6: That is, God (1 Corinthians 9:24-27).

Line 7: As summarized in John 17:10.

Line 8: Repeats Chorus (1), line 4.

[Verse 3]

Lines 1-8: As stated in Mark 10:29-30, John 3:15-16, John 3:36, John 4:14, John 5:24, John 5:39-40, John 6:27, John 6:40, John 10:28, John 17:3, John 20:31, Romans 5:21, Romans 6:22-23, Romans 8:18, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, Galatians 6:8, 1 Timothy 1:16, 1 Timothy 6:12, 2 Timothy 2:11, Hebrews 5:9, 1 Peter 5:10, 1 John 2:23-27, 1 John 5:10-13, 1 John 5:20, Jude 1:20-21, Revelation 3:5, Revelation 7:16-17, and Revelation 21:3-4.  Lines 3, 4, 7, and 8 repeat Verse 1, line 3.

[Tag (1)]

Lines 1 and 2: Essentially repeats Chorus (1) line 4.

[Tag (2)]

Lines 1 and 2: Repeats Verse 1, line 3.

Score: 10/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

Unbelievers will easily interpret this similarly to my commentary in section 1 despite Williams’ heavy use of Christianese language.  The “way the truth and the life” is the dead giveaway that this song is about Jesus, yet, Christ is explicitly mentioned towards the song’s end.

Score: 10/10

4. What does this song glorify?

It glorifies Jesus as the sustainer of Williams’ life.

Score: 10/10

Closing Comments

Aaron Williams’ Abide helps us understand our need for Jesus.  He is the only way to the Father, the One who gives us what we need, and the source of eternal life.  These bring Him glory.  Unbelievers should have little to no issues interpreting this song.

I highly recommend this song for corporate worship.

Final Score: 10/10

Artist Info

Track: Abide (listen to the song)

Artist: Aaron Williams (Feat. Mission House)

Album: N/A

Genre: Rock

Release Year: 2023

Duration: 3:46

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