Bethel Music (Feat. William Matthews) – Deep Cries Out

Bethel Music is a juggernaut organization, contending with Hillsong and Elevation Worship as the king of Christian music.  Bethel employs a countless set of albums.  Ok not completely countless, just more than I care to count myself.

They won two GMA Dove in 2016: one is Worship Song of the Year for their work on No Longer Slaves.  The other Instrumental Album of the Year for their album Without Words: Synthesia.

Check out my other twelve Bethel Music reviews!

Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Bethel-music-deep-cries-out-lyrics.

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1. What message does the song communicate?

This song’s message is based on a misunderstanding of Psalm 42.  While the song speaks of the “deep that calls to deep” of God’s living water, I learned recently that the Psalm that inspired it is about the depth of pain and anguish.  I applaud Bethel for this positive message, but cannot praise them for decontextualizing it as I once did.  Bethel gets a few things right:

• Living water is a refreshing fountain that never ends.
• Dancing, jumping, and shouting in this river is a great thing.
• If we follow Jesus’ steps to a tea, this implicitly requires yielding to His will.

Side Note: To those sensitive to massive repetition, there are many small repeats throughout this song.  Post-Bridge is the longest with four sets, though the last two lines of each repeated set slightly change each time.

Score: 3/10

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

Most of this song hinges on one Bible verse taken out of context, rendering the majority of these lyrics unbiblical.  As mentioned in section 1, there’s a few nuggets of truth sprinkled throughout this song.

[Verse]

Lines 1-4: Refers to living water found in Jeremiah 17:13, Zechariah 14:8-9, John 4:7-26, John 7:37-39, Acts 2:1-13, Revelation 6:9-11, Revelation 7:13-17, Revelation 21:6-7, and Revelation 22:1-5.

[Pre-Chorus]

Lines 1-3: These lines are transitionary from the living water in Verse 1 to the “deep that calls to deep” in Chorus.  The idea here is that we will dance in the deep waters of God’s living water.  As I will explain in Chorus, Bethel takes a Bible verse out of context to make this connection.

Lines 4-6: Repeats lines 1-3, substituting “dance” for “jump”.

[Chorus]

Line 1: In connection 1 Verse and Pre-Chorus, Bethel presents a happy occasion, based on Psalm 42:7.  The problem is, Psalm 42 is more somber than joyous.  The sons of Korah cry out to God because they are in trouble.  It says in Psalm 42:3 that “My tears have been my food day and night” because their enemies say, “Where is your God?”  The deep that calls to deep are not the depths of God’s living water but the pit of anguish.

Line 2: Repeats line 1.

Line 3: Despite taking Psalm 42 out of context, Bethel is correct: we cry out to Jesus when we’re in trouble, for there is no other name that can save us (John 14:6 and Acts 4:12).

[Bridge]

Lines 1 and 2: See commentary on Chorus, line 1.

[Post-Bridge]

Lines 1 and 2: This speaks to our willingness to follow Jesus completely, surrendered to His will (Isaiah 64:8, Matthew 10:38, Matthew 11:28-30, Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:34-38, Mark 10:28, Luke 9:23, Luke 14:27, John 15:1-11, Romans 6:13, Romans 12:1-2, Galatians 2:20, Philippians 2:5-8, Hebrews 11:6, James 4:7-10, and 1 Peter 5:6).

Lines 3 and 4: Essentially repeats Pre-Chorus, line 6.

Lines 5 and 6: Repeats lines 1 and 2.

Lines 7 and 8: Essentially repeats Pre-Chorus, line 3.

Lines 9-12: Repeats lines 1-4.

Lines 13 and 14: Repeat lines 1 and 2.

Lines 15 and 16: Essentially repeats Pre-Chorus, line 3, substituting “dance” for “shout”.

Score: 3/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

Unbelievers will probably think it’s Christian due to references to “living water” and “Jesus”, but will probably think it’s about God’s living water, just as Bethel intended.  They will probably not be aware that Bethel takes Psalm 42 out of context to make their point.  Indeed, I wasn’t aware either until I read Psalm 42 for myself.

Score: 2/10

4. What does this song glorify?

Though this song contains a few pockets of truthful statements, its overarching theme and points are based on a misunderstanding of Psalm 42, which does not glorify God.

Score: 3/10

Closing Comments

Bethel Music’s Deep Cries Out is unfortunate  Though I think it’s great to thirst for God’s living water and celebrate its depth, Bethel’s main points about its depth and crying out removes Psalm 42 from its original context, painting a picture of God’s deep living waters that this Psalm does not support.  This confuses believers and unbelievers alike and does not bring glory to God.

I cannot recommend this song for corporate worship.

Final Score: 3/10

Artist Info

Track: Deep Cries Out (listen to the song)

Artist:  Bethel Music (Feat. William Matthews)

Album: Be Lifted High

Genre: Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)

Release Year: 2011

Duration: 5:15

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