Bethel Music – Ever Be

Christian juggernaut Bethel Music dominated the airwaves, churches, and Berean Test reviews in 2019.  They are well-known for hits such as No Longer Slaves, One Thing Remains, and Raise a Hallelujah.  There is no sign of slowing down into 2020.

My review of Ever Be will mark my seventh Bethel Music review, which includes Extravagant, Goodness of God, and It Is Well.

Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Bethel-music-ever-be-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.  I strongly encourage you to consider the potential blessings and dangers of this artist‘s theology by visiting Resources.

1. What message does the song communicate?

God’s steadfast love for us is so devoted, it can be compared to that of a marriage, a tried pledge, and the Old Covenant.  His renewed daily mercies persist, regardless of what happens to us.  In response, we praise God eternally.

Bethel also describes many acts of God:

• He adopts us as His children
• His kindness leads us to repentance, which begins our sanctification process towards holiness
• He bears our inadequacies
• He becomes the source of our power
• He conforms us to His image
• He clothes us white as snow
• He trades ashes for a crown of beauty

God will have His guiltless, shameless, bride known simply as the church.  This listing provides further reasoning as to why we show our devotion to God. We will join the angels and saints in worship.

Side Note: For those sensitive to excessive repetition, towards the end of the song, Chorus contains the same phrase repeated four times, followed by a three-line phrase repeated four times, followed by the Chorus again.

Score: 10/10

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

All lines are in agreement with the Bible.

[Verse 1]

Line 1: Excitement!

Line 2: “Your” contextualized as “Lord” based on lyrics in Bridge.

Line 3: The ring represents a wedding ring.  God’s faithful affection for us is compared to that of a husband and wife to one another.  Paul commands husbands in Ephesians 5:25 to love their wives as Christ sacrificially gave and loved His bride, the church.

Lines 4 and 5: Though there are several covenants that exist throughout the Old Testament, the “Old Covenant” typically refers to the Mosaic Covenant consisting of 613 separate laws listed from Exodus 20 to the end of Deuteronomy. The vow that God makes to the budding nation of Israel is to bless them if they obey, and curse them if they disobey (Deuteronomy 28:1-68).

How is God’s steadfast love like this covenant and vow of blessing/cursing?  The rules and regulations that exist in ancient Israel’s laws are meant for holy living.  He commands them to be holy as He is holy (Leviticus 19:2, Leviticus 20:7, Leviticus 20:26, Leviticus 21:8, and Exodus 19:6).  Holy means “set apart”.  Set apart from what?  Worldly living.

Thus, God’s dedicated intimacy is like rules and regulations meant to protect us from living as the world does; to prevent us from hurting ourselves and other people.  The same is true for children under the care of parents, who create house rules to help their child develop, grow, and prevent harm.

What of the tested vow? I mentioned that God’s blessing and cursing are contingent upon Israel’s collective behavior. God’s love is so devoted to that nation that He sents them prophets so that they may repent. A nation can avoid the wrath of God through repentance (Jeremiah 18:7-11). The book of Judges is replete with examples of God handing Israel over to other nations for failed repentance.

Thus, God’s unyielding compassion for us is like men who test God’s promise and find that He is unwavering, despite the earthly consequences He causes or allows due to disobedience.

Line 6-9: God’s enduring love for us is constant, regardless of our own trials and tribulations.  His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:1-24).

[Pre-Chorus]

Lines 1 and 2: That is, God’s love for us is unending (Lamentations 3:22-24).

Line 3: Though some may view this as self-centered, as if God is our servant, a pledge is defined, there are two possibilities that are Scriptural:

1. According to Merriam-Webster, as “a bailment of a chattel as security for a debt or other obligation without involving transfer of title”.  What does that mean?  It is an asset (land, house, money, etc.) that will be seized should an owner of a debt default on their ability to pay off their debt.  A classic example of this is a co-signer of a loan.  If I co-sign with my daughter for a car loan and she defaults, I owe the debt.How does this relate to the pledge God makes for us.  It says in Revelation 13:8 that Christ was slain before the world began.  God had in mind Christ’s sacrifice before we were created or sinned against Him.  That is the pledge offered for our debt.
2. Another definition is “a binding promise or agreement to do or forbear”, speaking of God’s promises to mankind.  There are several promises God makes to His children (including adopted children), some of which include:
   • He will never leave or forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:8 and Joshua 1:9).
   • He gives us rest (Matthew 11:28-30).
   • He is faithful to forgive those who ask for it (Romans 10:9-10).

Line 4: In either case, whether God’s pledge is in regard to His pre-ordained payment for sin, or promises to His children, it causes us to respond a certain way, described in the Chorus.

[Chorus]

Lines 1 and 2: Our response to God’s faithfulness is eternal worship (Nehemiah 9:5, Psalm 30:12, Psalm 52:9, Psalm 86:12, Psalm 89:1, Psalm 115:18, Psalm 145:1-2, Psalm 145:21, and Revelation 5:9-13).

Lines 3-8: Repeats lines 1 and 2.

NOTE: The final choral repeat contains a shift in lines, adding a repeated Pre-Chorus, line 4 to the beginning, a call to Casper the friendly ghost in line 10, and a final repeat of line 2 (now 3) in line 11.

[Verse 2]

Line 1: That is, God adopts us as His sons and daughters (John 1:12-13, John 14:18, Romans 8:14-17, Romans 8:23, Romans 9:1-8, Galatians 3:26, Galatians 4:5-7, Ephesians 1:3-14, Ephesians 2:11-22, Hebrews 9:15, and 1 John 3:1-3).

Line 2: That is, God’s kindness leads to repentance (Romans 2:4) and repentance leads to a personal relationship with Jesus, which makes us whole (Colossians 2:10). As does His Word (2 Timothy 3:17).

Line 3 and 4: That is, He bore our weakness (Isaiah 53:4, Matthew 8:17, and Romans 5:6-8).  His strength is made perfect in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Line 5: That is, God is conforming us to His image (Ezekiel 11:19-20, Ezekiel 36:26, Romans 8:29, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 2:10, and Revelation 21:5).

Line 6: A common theme in the book of Revelation is Christ followers clothed in white (Revelation 3:5, Revelation 3:18, Revelation 4:4, Revelation 6:11, Revelation 7:9, Revelation 7:13, and Revelation 19:14).

Line 7: References trading the crown of beauty for ashes in Isaiah 61:1-3.

Lines 8-11: I touched on Ephesians 5 in Verse 1, line 3. If we keep reading, in Ephesians 5:25-27, it expands upon this idea of Christ’s example for husbands. Christ gave Himself for His bride to sanctify her; to present her as blameless before the Father (Ephesians 5:25-27). The bride’s name is called the church (Ephesians 5:32).

Line 12: Repeats Pre-Chorus, line 4.

[Bridge]

Lines 1-3: We join the angels and other saints in praising God (Revelation 5:11-14).

Lines 4-12: Repeats lines 1-3.

Score: 10/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

Those outside the camp of Christ will likely see boyfriend as a viable interpretation until Chorus, where they receive their first hint that, perhaps, it’s not.  As they work through Verse 2 and Bridge, God will become a more likely explanation.

It’s hard to know how much of Bethel’s deep Christianese will be comprehensible.

Score: 7/10

4. What does this song glorify?

It glorifies God through its lengthy list of God’s wonderful acts.

Score: 10/10

Closing Comments

Bethel’s Ever Be is good. Their Biblical message of God’s daily renewed mercies, kindness that leads to repentance, and sanctifying power glorify Him.  Unbelievers will likely struggle with Bethel’s expressed theology without further study.

While it’s not my cup of tea, it might be worth considering for corporate worship.

Final Score: 9.5/10

Artist Info

Track: Ever Be (Live) (listen to the song)

Artist: Bethel Music

Album: We Will Not Be Shaken (Live)

Genre: Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)

Release Year: 2015

Duration: 5:22

Agree?  Disagree?  Don’t be shy or have a cow!  Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.

Updates:

06/11/2021 – Per Artist Theology announcement, I expanded the red text to encourage others to study Bethel Music’s theology.

03/17/2021 – Updated per repetition announcement.  After raising section 1’s score, this raised the overall score from 9/10 to 9.5/10.

03/27/2020 – Upon further reflection and prayer, I decided that repetition does not impact an unbeliever’s interpretation or the lyrics’ inherent glorification of God. Therefore, I changed my score in sections 3 and 4, raising this review from 8/10 to 9/10.