Photo by Rosie Kerr
Brandon Lake is a former American worship leader for Bethel Music and Maverick City Music. He released four albums and one EP, including:
- Closer (2016)
- House of Miracles (2020)
- House of Miracles (Live) (2021)
- Almond Eyes (EP, 2021)
- Help! (2022)
He won a GMA Dove Award for Gospel Worship Recorded Song of the Year (This Is a Move (Live), 2019) and Songwriter of the Year in 2021. He was also awarded in 2021 for his work on Graves into Gardens, receiving credit for a GMA Dove for Worship Recorded Song of the Year and a Billboard award for Top Christian Song, both in 2021.
Also, check out my reviews of Son of Heaven, Too Good To Not Believe, Pour Me Out, We Praise You, and This Is a Move.
Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Brandon-lake-gratitude-lyrics.
Side Note: For this review, I examined the studio version.
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?
Though Lake cannot find the words or song to satisfactorily thank God, he worships Him because He is eternal and a King. Lake thinks that his only method is to physically worship God, imploring others to sing loudly alongside him. While a noble response, I make a case in section 2 why obedience is our sole reply.
Score: 8/10
2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?
Much of this song aligns with the Bible, except in Chorus and Verse 3, where it states that Lake’s sole response to gratitude is physical signs of worship.
[Verse 1]
Lines 1-4: Human language cannot adequately capture how grateful Lake is for God’s immeasurable gifts (2 Corinthians 9:14-15).
[Verse 2]
Lines 1-4: Lake contrasts his human limitation of songs that end with God’s eternal existence (Deuteronomy 33:27, 1 Chronicles 16:34, Job 36:26, Psalm 48:14, Psalm 90:2-4, Psalm 102:12, Psalm 102:26-27, Proverbs 8:23, Isaiah 40:28, Isaiah 41:4, Habakkuk 1:12, John 17:5, Romans 1:20, 1 Corinthians 2:7, Ephesians 1:4, Hebrews 1:11-12, 1 Peter 1:20, 2 Peter 3:8, Revelation 1:8, Revelation 11:17, and Revelation 22:13).
[Chorus]
Lines 1-7: Lake worships God (Psalm 86:12, Psalm 103:1-2, Psalm 103:22, Psalm 119:10, and Psalm 138:1). His offering is a broken and contrite heart, acceptable to God (Psalm 51:17 and Isaiah 66:2), Lake’s King (Exodus 15:6, Exodus 15:11, 1 Chronicles 29:11, 2 Chronicles 20:6, Psalm 24:10, Psalm 93:1, Psalm 110:2-3, Psalm 104:1, Psalm 145:5, Psalm 145:12, Job 37:22, Isaiah 24:14, Isaiah 26:10, Hebrews 1:3-4, Hebrews 8:1, Revelation 4:1-11, and Revelation 19:7-16).
The word ‘Hallelujah” is a compound Hebrew phrase, with “hallelu” meaning “a joyous praise in song” and “jah” or “yah”, which refers to the Tetragrammaton YHWH/YHVH. Put together, we are singing “we joyfully praise God in song” when we use this word.
I’ll explain in my commentary to Verse 3 why this is not “all I have”.
Line 8: Repeats line 4.
[Verse 3]
Lines 1-4: This is not completely correct. Worship isn’t just about outstretched arms or praising God at church on Sunday. It goes much deeper than that.
Worship comes from an old English word, “woerthship”, which means “to proclaim to another their value and worth”. How do we show God that we value him? Hands raised towards the sky is how we show it physically. But, complete and total surrender to God in obedience (Psalm 43:5, 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) encompasses every area of our lives. God controls our finances, work ethic, political views, and how we interact with the world. Surrender is how we show that we love God more than anything else. It is the deepest form of worship that exists. If we love God, we will keep His commandments (John 14:15 and 1 John 5:1-5).
[Bridge]
Lines 1-3: Lake encourages others to express worship through loud singing or shouting (Psalm 47:1, Psalm 65:13, Psalm 66:1, Psalm 98:4, Psalm 100:1, and Isaiah 44:23).
Lines: 4-11: Repeats/essentially repeats lines 1-3.
Score: 8/10
3. How would an outsider interpret the song?
Unbelievers will likely interpret this song as christians worshipping their God with arms high, shouting, and singing because He exists forever as their ruler. They will probably think it’s Christian because Lake worships his King with the word “hallelujah”. The jury’s out on whether or not they will know that Lake didn’t mention obedience that also glorifies God.
Score: 6/10
4. What does this song glorify?
While it glorifies God that Lake shows gratitude through physical signs of worship, he is incorrect that worship is our sole reply. Obedience is another method to show gratitude.
Score: 8/10
Closing Comments
Brandon Lake’s Gratitude is decent. Though I am grateful that Lake wants us to worship God with our hands in the air, alongside loud singing, God’s eternal existence, and God’s Kingship, he is incorrect that such physical worship is our sole response. I’ve argued in section 2 that obedience is also how we show God how much we love Him. Unbelievers will likely conclude similarly, though perhaps not knowing that obeying God also glorifies Him.
I cannot recommend this song for corporate worship.
Final Score: 7.5/10
Artist Info
Track: Gratitude (listen to the song)
Artist: Brandon Lake
Album: House of Miracles
Genre: Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)
Release Year: 2020
Duration: 5:38
Agree? Disagree? Don’t be shy or have a cow! Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.
Updates:
06/28/2022 – Removed criticism that Lake didn’t explain why we worship God. I also cleaned up redundancies and updated section 4 to remove my claim that obedience is our sole reply. This increased the song’s rating from 5.5/10 to 7.5/10. Thanks to Steve Barhydt for commenting!
Comments
Steve Barhydt
Vince,
If you will permit me, I would like to expand on my Jun 26.2022 | 03:35 pm comment about Brandon Lake’s motivation behind this song.
There are so many commenters complaining that Lake does not tell us ‘Who’ he is praising and that it could be interpreted as anyone from the King of England to Hare Krishna.
I wish to show, from a simple English comprehension standpoint, that, in my opinion, this song can refer only to the God of Heaven.
The first phrase of the first verse states…
“All my words fall short”
In English, the phrase ‘fall short’ means https://www.yourdictionary.com/fall-short
‘(idiomatic) To be less satisfactory than expected; to be inadequate or insufficient.’
This indicates that, to Lake’s mind, everything that he has said before this song is ‘inadequate or insufficient.’ (We’ll get to what he said before in a minute.)
Second phrase, first verse…
‘I got nothing new”
This continues the thought from the first phrase, basically saying ‘Everything I already said is “less satisfactory than expected” and I’m at a lost to come up with a better way of saying it.’
The question arises ‘What is Lake trying to express and failing at so profoundly?’
He answers this in the next two phrases of verse number one…
‘How could I express
All my gratitude?’
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary… https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gratitude
Gratitude is ‘the state of being grateful : THANKFULNESS’
Many have also complained about Lake not listing what he is grateful for as a reason why this is not a Biblical song. After all, as one commentator stated ‘David aways gives reasons for his praise.’
My answer to both of these criticisms (‘Who’ and ‘Why’) lies in the second verses.
Verse 2, phrase 1 and 2…
‘I could sing these songs
As I often do’
To those who are reading this and have objected to this song for the reasons that I have stated above, pay attention! I’m going to answer your concerns.
What does Lake mean by ‘these songs’?. Notice that he does not say ‘this song’ but ‘these songs’ referencing more than one.
Lake, as a professional musician, has quite the discography both in songs that he helped write and songs that he has performed.
If we were analyzing a Bible passage instead of a song, this would be an external reference (or cross reference), where the author of one book (Author B-Book 2) quotes from or refers to something said previously by either another author or himself (Author A/B-Book 1) in a different book.
In proper Biblical study, to fully understand what Author B is saying in Book 2, you go back to what Author A/B said in Book 1 to get the context. You do this because the Holy Spirit would have never inspired Author A/B to misquote the writings of Author A.
Before anyone has an apoplectic fit, I am not equating this song (or any other) to be at the same level of inspiration as the written Word of God! So don’t go there!
‘These songs’ refer to the songs that Lake has written (and performed) up to the time of writing ‘Gratitude.’
One of the things that I have lauded about this website is that it lets each song stand or fail on its own merits. My feelings about that have not changed.
However, since Lake inserts an external reference (i.e. ‘these songs’) into this song, to properly understand this song we MUST examine the lyrics ‘these songs’ to see if they mention the ‘Who’ and the ‘why’.
I will limit this examination only to songs that Lake had a part in writing to fall in line with the “All my words fall short” of the first verse and only those written before ‘Gratitude’ (2022)
‘This is a Move’ 2019 https://genius.com/Brandon-lake-this-is-a-move-lyrics
This song expresses faith that God still performs the great works that He used to in the Bible (moving mountains, healing the sick, raising the dead, slaying giants, etc.)
‘We Praise You’ 2020 https://genius.com/Bethel-music-we-praise-you-live-lyrics
This song praise God (by Name) for breaking down walls, seeing giants fall, overcoming fear, etc)
‘I Need a Ghost’ 2020 https://genius.com/Brandon-lake-i-need-a-ghost-lyrics
This song, about the Holy Ghost, by Name, proclaims that ‘there’s a God who’s real’ and ‘a God who heals’
Lake, in this song, shuns the ‘counterfeit’ for the real God.
‘Just Like Heaven’ 2020 https://genius.com/Brandon-lake-just-like-heaven-live-lyrics
Even though God is not mentioned by name in this song, Lake refers to a ‘Holy…perfect Father’ that he will ‘worship forever.’ That can be said of no earthly father.
‘Too Good to Not Believe’ 2021 https://genius.com/Bethel-music-too-good-to-not-believe-live-lyrics
The entire premise of this wonderful song is the great things that God has done and the belief that He can do them again.
Jesus is mentioned, by Name, as being the source of the power to do miracles.
‘I See You’ 2021 https://genius.com/Chris-tomlin-and-brandon-lake-i-see-you-lyrics
This song praises God, by Name, for His love, His glory, and His faithfulness. The bridge expresses that even in the storm our hope is in God.
‘Honey in the Rock’ 2022 https://genius.com/Brooke-ligertwood-honey-in-the-rock-live-lyrics
This song reflects on the provision of God with the phrase ‘Everything I need You’ve got’.
Jesus is mentioned, by Name, as the ‘You’
That brings us up to 2022 and the song ‘Gratitude’.
Again, since Lake references ‘these songs’ as part of his ‘all my words fall short’, we MUST take them into consideration when reviewing this song.
When we do so, we find ample evidence of both the ‘Who’ (God, Jesus, The Holy Spirit) and ‘why’ Lake is filled with gratitude.
Regardless of the beauty and eloquence of a particular song, the latter half of verse 2 states…
‘But every song must end
And You never do’
Who is the ‘You’?
In light of the ‘these songs’, it has to be, and can only be, God.
The chorus then starts…
‘So I throw up my hands
And praise You again and again’
Once again, the ‘You’ that Lake is praising is the same ‘You’ that never ends. i.e. God and only God.
If you critics of Lake casually, or purposefully, skip over the ‘these songs’ and then, bemoan the lack of specificity on Lake’s part, you are missing the entire point of the song. As such, you have no cogent argument against it.
If, however, you investigate what is in ‘these songs’, as I have done in this post, you have to conclude that Lake, in the full context of his work to date, has adequately explained the ‘Who’ and ‘why’ elsewhere and all that he has said ‘falls short’ of fully expressing his thankfulness to God.
That is his motivation for this song. To reiterate what he has already stated elsewhere would still ‘fall short.’ So why do it?
Instead Lake concludes that, since he will never be able to completely convey his appreciation to God, the only thing left for him to do is to ‘praise You again and again’.
As I have said twice before, this is a simple song for believers that springs from a heart full of praise. It cuts through all the surface religiosity and ritual. It dispenses with the pomp and circumstance. There is no formality or formula. It’s about devotion not doctrine. It is just me, God, and the praise that He so richly deserves.
juliebrownbradley
Amen Steve, well said!
Steve Barhydt
I have refuted points one and two elsewhere on this review. So I won’t take the time to do it again.
As to your third point, I explained that the ‘lion’ is a metaphor in my comment on Mar 27.2023 | 09:33 am.
I will call you out, however, on your mischaracterization as to what Steven Furtick said about being “God”. I suggest you listen to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPTG9NRKP5c&ab_channel=JewandGreek instead of the so-called discernment ministries rampant on the internet.
This song, however, has nothing to do with Steven Furtick or Elevation worship. So attempting to bring him into the discussion is red herring fallacy.
The focus of the bridge is the singer is encouraging his soul to “Praise the Lord” (This is repeated 6 times and closes out the bridge)
I honestly fail to see the difference between…
‘Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me’ (Psalm 103:1)
and
‘So come on my soul, oh, don’t you get shy on me
Lift up your song, ’cause you’ve got a lion inside of those lungs
Get up and praise the Lord’
If the Holy Spirit had no problems inspiring the Psalmists to speak to their own souls about praising God, and this was not considered by that same Holy Spirit to be ‘about me’, what Biblical (not philosophical) reasoning do you have for having an issue with a modern day songwriter doing the same?
Timothy S Quinn
The issues I have with this song are different than those of the author. I disagree that unbelievers will see this as a song Christians sing to their God, because it never mentions the Christian God. While I would admit that I haven’t heard a lot from him, it seems Brandon has the same complex about saying the name “Jesus” as Matthew West. To use the terms “Lord,” and “God” are generic. Anything can be inserted. Muslims could sing along with this song to praise Allah. George Harrison wrote a similar praise and worship song to Krishna. He called him Lord too. That was the first question I had when it struck me that this song isn’t Biblical: Who is he singing to?
My second issue is that it does not focus on Jesus, it focuses on self. The entire song is about what “I” can do for God. There’s nothing in it that talks about what God has done for me. I perfectly understand singing praise to the One who has saved me, but Brandon never even alludes to that? For an unbeliever to listen to this song, his question would be, What has God ever done for me? Brandon never answers that question. In that regard, it’s a terrible worship song.
My third and final issue is with the bridge. How did Satan tempt Eve in Gen 3? By saying she could be like God. Jesus is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. The bridge tells me that I have a lion inside of me. I know I have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, so does that mean I’m God? According to Steven Furtick, it does. The bridge is all about me and what I’m doing. It’s not about Jesus at all. “I” have a lion in me. Come on me, get up and do this for God. The gospel isn’t about me. Worship isn’t about me. So why does Brandon feel the need to make it about me? This is more new age teaching than doctrinal worship.
Phyllis Walker
I would have to review the song again, which I don’t plan to do, but your arguments carry weight with me. Phyllis.
David Jones
Your review of the bridge is SPOT ON!!! Thank you. I could not agree more!
Christine
While I understand what you’re saying here, I think that I disagree with some of your assessment. It could just be my own interpretation of the song. I see it as this is a song from the point of view that you are so overwhelmed by whatever you’re going through, and you see that God is with you and has always been with you, and all you have is your heart felt gratitude. That you’re completely unable to put your gratitude and love to words or motion. I have felt this way before, and this is how I’ve felt. When God brought me out of paganism and healed my soul from an abortion that put me into the depths of depression, it was only Jesus who could heal me and save me. And all I had was a hallelujah and tears. There was nothing else I could do or say but thank God for his love and his sacrifice! That is what this song says to me.
Phyllis Walker
That was good, Christine. I understand when sometimes raw emotion, gratitude, humility are so overwhelming that we aren’t going to be concentrating on other things in that state of mind and heart. Phyllis.
Phyllis Walker
I hope I am not repeating, but my reply did not show up so I am entering it again. That was good, Christine. I understand when a person is so overwhelmed by God’s mercy, and is so full of gratitude and humility that we are not particularly articulate at those times. Like Mary of Mary and Martha, or the woman who wept and washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and her hair… Phyllis Walker.
Phyllis Walker
Maybe I am shallow, but I have a very hard time with songs which endlessly repeat. I also prefer songs which tell bible doctrine to listeners (we hope the unsaved) and do not mainly focus on our selves and our emotions. But overall I thought this was a good song, and I can see an echo of David’s psalms in it. I think Mr. Lake should wear his hair in a manly style and not cause me to form the mental image of his putting it up in a “do” before beginning his day. But again, I overall enjoyed the song. Phyllis Walker, Blythe, California.
Christian Hartis
I resonate deeply with your wariness of repetition, I was raised in a worship tradition that warned against the ad nauseum repetition of verse/chorus/bridge/etc. I like Vince’s take on repetition being more preferential and stylistic versus just automatically applying the Matthew 6:7 “vain repetitions” principle. However, as an worship leader/artist/amateur songwriter, I see it as stylistically lazy on an otherwise strong arrangement. I also resonate with your caution about not mainly focusing on our selves and our emotions, this was sort of embedded in me from my local church’s tradition, but I have hybridized our church’s song services to balance the more personal/testimonial content with content that praises God for who He is and His transcendent, place of majesty above all, and content that places the Gospel of Christ front and center in our hearts and minds. I love the way you connect this with David’s attitude and tone in his psalms…I agree and I do like this song. The way we have modified this for church service is simply to cut down the repetition. I do this with a lot of worship songs. My mentor would even write additional verses or refrains to layer in more thoughtfulness to the arrangement.
Phyllis Walker
Interesting- thank you.
Daniel Park
Just to add a bit of a nuance and perhaps some middle ground here – you correctly note the etymology of worship in the English language. However, it might be helpful to provide the connotation around the Greek and Hebrew words of worship. Namely, worship is a posture of submission, of acknowledging God’s sovereignty. That act naturally does lead to true and total surrender. This of course is explicitly described in Romans 12 – “in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, Holy and pleasing to God. This is your true and proper worship.”
Worship IS full and total surrender to God in light of who He is and what He has done for us.
If we strictly interpret worship as singing of songs, then I would agree with the criticisms. However, if we view worship in the full Biblical meaning of that word, the message of this song may directly line up with Romans 12 and be a message of our gratitude and surrender in response to God’s mercy.
I’m not certain what Brandon Lake intended, but in reviewing his devotional series on this song, it seems clear to me it’s likely not just about singing loudly.
https://www.air1.com/resources/faith/brandon-lakes-gratitude-devotional-day-one-5181
Derek B.
Hey Vince we have talked before and like I’ve said before I enjoy what your doing for the kingdom and I agree with most of you reviews, with that being said this one just doesn’t sit with me. I believe verse 3 is answering this: what do you do while we are waiting? what do you do regardless if your in the hill or valley? All you can do is trust and worship God. Throwing your hands up is also a signal of surrender. Since God is the ruler you put all your trust and worship in him. This is obviously just my opinion so if you feel that is not what verse 3 means then that’s fine. Stay blessed my brother!
Jaime A.
This is one of my favorite worship songs for many reasons right now and as such, I stumbled upon your post here! I am frequently critiquing popular worship songs so I love that you are doing this and basing your thoughts on Scripture. I shall have to check out some more of your posts soon!
That said, I do have a few thoughts and some slight disagreements on this particular song. 🙂
First, I feel like perhaps your thinking that his only response is to loudly sing/physically praise God in song/with a hallelujah is maybe a touch too literal for the poetry of the song. No it does not explicitly state obedience as part of worship, but as others have said in taking the whole context of the song as our hallelujah being in response to our recognition of our unworthiness when we reflect on the wonder and majesty and might of our forever eternal King of Kings and Lord of Lords, I have always interpreted it not as a literal “the only thing I can do is sing hallelujah and nothing else can be done/seen as worshiping You,” but as more of a figurative, “I will praise you with all that I have, with everything in me, whatever I’m doing.” Particularly when I reflect on the last line of the chorus, “so get up and praise the Lord,” I have always thought of that as saying not to sit and be silent but to get up, get going, get DOING (e.g., obeying God, living out His calling on your life, seeking after Him) but still with that heart posture of worship and praise throughout. I’m sure I’m also influenced in my interpretation because I literally have a chronic lung disease that at times leaves me bedridden and God continues to teach me that rest can be worship, as both an act of obedience because we are commanded to rest, and as a physical worship like you describe above where I can pray, I can sing to God, I can reflect and meditate on His goodness, loudly shout hallelujah, etc. And then on the days I’m NOT bedridden, I literally get up and continue that posture of praise and worship of the only One who is worthy of it, as I go about my day.
Similarly, I am certain my interpretation here is greatly influenced by my personal experiences with lung disease, but the line from this song that first jumped out to me many months ago when it started popping up on my Shane and Shane Pandora station was the line, “you’ve got a lion inside of those lungs.” I do like and appreciate the interpretation you gave of a loud roar of praise and another interpretation in the comments of fearless, courageous praise like a lion, but I’d like to try to make a case for even another interpretation. 🙂 The Lord Himself is compared to a lion in both Old and New Treatments (e.g., the Lion of Judah, the lion and the lamb…). To me it’s not a lion in my lungs of my own strength or fortitude but the lion of the Holy Spirit, teaching and rebuking me, crying out to God when my words can’t express, pointing me to Jesus over and over again, counseling me in knowledge and praise of our great God! Not necessarily a “disagreement” with you guys but just an additional layer of meaning to think about. Again, given my health, I often am drawn to verses in Scripture and in songs that reference lungs, breath, etc, “Because Your love is better than life, my lips shall praise You.” (Psalm 61 I believe), so certainly something I have perhaps reflected on in slightly different ways than others and obviously coloring my whole interpretation of this song since that was my initial connection to it, but still. Just some thoughts. 🙂
Lastly I guess I’d say thanks for challenging me on your thoughts on whether it’s an appropriate song for corporate worship. I see your concerns and I see others’ this that perhaps with proper framing beforehand from a worship leader/pastor, it could be appropriate. I initially was shocked by your assessment as a no-go for corporate worship because I do personally feel it is so rooted in Scripture and focused on God and our response to Him as one of worship and praise rather than some sort of “God will be good to me” (i.e., more of a prosperity gospel /what’s God gonna do for ME? type of songs) that I so often object to in worship songs. However I see your point and I see that being poetry, not everyone will interpret the song the same way I did and not everyone in a corporate worship setting may have the background and Scriptural knowledge I’ve grown up with and therefore may not connect these ideas to the Scripture and theology that sort of “fills in the gaps” when interpreting sings like this. I do think there can be a place for it in corporate worship, perhaps even especially to give some framing to it to ensure church members are not hearing this song in the radio and making the very interpretations you did that make you cautious against using it in such situations. Anyway, I guess so that to say I can see making a solid case either way on the issue to use or not use in corporate worship. 🙂
Thanks again for sharing your thoughts! It’s so critical to be mindful of the lyrics in the songs we listen to and sing to ensure they line up well with Scripture!
Jennean Alvarez
I don’t like that at one point in the song I have to address my own soul in the the third person. For this reason I am out.
Steve Barhydt
Jennean,
I would be curious as to what you think about the following passages of Scripture…
Psalm 42:5 (KJV – Here the sons of Korah (who were basically an Old Testament worship band) inquire of their soul and instruct it to ‘Hope in God’ emphasis mine)
5 Why art thou cast down, O MY SOUL? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.
Psalm 62:5-8 (KJV – Here David speaks to his soul telling it to wait on God.)
5 My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.
6 He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved.
7 In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.
8 Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.
Psalm 103:1-5 (KJV – Here David, again, speaks to his soul telling it to ‘Bless the Lord’ for all of the good things that God has done)
1 Bless the LORD, O MY SOUL: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
2 Bless the LORD, O MY SOUL, and forget not all his benefits:
3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;
4 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
5 Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
…
20 Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.
21 Bless ye the Lord, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure.
22 Bless the Lord, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the Lord, O MY SOUL.
David starts with telling his own soul to bless the Lord.
In verses 20-22a expands that call to ‘Bless the Lord’ to everything in Heaven and Earth and the whole Universe.
In verse 22b, he brings it back to his own soul again.
1Sa 30:6 (KJV – emphasis mine)
6 And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David ENCOURAGED HIMSELF in the LORD his God.
Notice that it doesn’t say that he encouraged the troops (although eventually he led them in a complete victory), he encouraged himself so as to be in the right frame of mind to encourage the troops.
It is clear from these scriptures that having a good ‘heart to heart’ with yourself can be a very good thing.
I honestly fail to see the difference between…
‘Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me’
and
‘So come on my soul, oh, don’t you get shy on me
Lift up your song, ’cause you’ve got a lion inside of those lungs
Get up and praise the Lord’
If the Holy Spirit had no problems inspiring the Psalmists to speak to their own souls about trusting in, waiting on and praising God, what Biblical reasoning do you have for having an issue with a modern day songwriter doing the same?
Timothy S Quinn
I had this discussion with my pastor about this song a few weeks ago. I told him it was not Biblical for the reasons I pointed out in my comment. His response was to point me to the Psalms. It’s not a good comparison. David always explains why he’s praising God. Psalm 42, David is praising Him for His presence and for His goodness; then he goes on to define those terms. Psalm 62, God is my Rock and my Salvation, because of Him, I cannot be moved. David defines his praise and worship by pointing to God and His mercies. David never makes his worship about himself. That would boarder on blasphemy.
Steve Barhydt
My comment here to Jennean is specifically in response to her problem about speaking to one’s soul and the fact that the Psalms are filled with such references.
As to your complaint that ‘David always explains why he’s praising God’. You should listen to your pastor.
From my first comment on this song to Vince on Jun 26.2022 | 03:35 pm
********************Begin Quote********************
The first two sentences of the first verse are…
“All my words fall short
I got nothing new”
This strongly implies that the songwriter has extoled the glories of God elsewhere in his songs and in his life. The sum total of everything that he has done to tell God how grateful he is has been found to be insufficient to “express All my gratitude?”
To return to a long litany of God’s goodness would go against this primary premise of the song.
In the second verse, Brandon states…
“But every song must end
And You never do”
This, again, alludes to the fact that regardless of the number of words in a song or the number of references to God’s greatness, the song will end. But God, and everything He is, does not.
********************End Quote********************
mrchipk
The issue I have with this song is that without outside context it’s meaning is very vague and could be sung in just about any religious setting. It could be sung to the King of England and still be in context of someone’s personal emotions. It is a beautiful song melodically but is better off for personal worship time with a mature Christian as they can add proper context to the song. To sing it in a church on a Sunday morning with probably 50% of the congregation is either spiritually or doctrinally weak or even worse totally lost and have no way of properly relating this song to God except though mindless emotional feel good towards something they don’t even understand. What does the song say he is thankful for? Who is thankful to? The only references to God are “You” , “a king”, and 1 repeated chorus reference to “Lord”. The first 2 verses are all self focused and only has one reference to “You” as God… A Sunday morning song should be able to easily have an answer to these questions. These type of song combined with watered down / dumbed down sermons are producing many emotional feeling false converts. Hence the deconstructing faith professions coming form some of these song writers. Not saying it is a BAD song, But I am saying it is very theologically weak and is not appropriate for Sunday Morning Services.
Steve Barhydt
A) You say “without outside context it’s meaning is very vague and could be sung in just about any religious setting. It could be sung to the King of England”
I disagree for the following reasons…
1) The end of verse 2 says
“But every song must end
And You never do”
This can only refer to the God of Heaven.
The “King of England” will end being the “King of England” someday as will any other earthly person. (His soul is obviously eternal, but his kingly position is not.)
God, on the other hand, will never be anyone or anything less than God. He will never not be King.
Also, as Christians, we don’t “throw up my hands and praise ” to any human being.
These phrases eliminate any earthly person.
2) The chorus uses the word “Hallelujah” 4 times
From Britannica Online https://www.britannica.com/topic/hallelujah-religious-music
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hallelujah, also spelled alleluia, Hebrew liturgical expression, usually rendered in English as “praise the Lord.” It appears in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) in several psalms, usually at the beginning or end of the psalm or in both places. In ancient Judaism it was probably chanted as an antiphon by the Levite choir. In the New Testament it appears only in Revelation 19, where it occurs four times. It was translated in the Septuagint (Jewish Greek version of the Bible made in the pre-Christian period) and became “alleluia” in the Vulgate (4th-century Christian Latin version). The early Christians adopted the expression in their worship services, and it appeared in Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican, and some Protestant liturgies and in hymns.
*******************End Quote****************************
From Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words https://www.blueletterbible.org/search/Dictionary/viewTopic.cfm?topic=ET0001598,HT0000974,IT0004032,NT0002143,VT0001286,BT0001764
*******************Begin Quote*****************************
Hallelujah:
signifies “Praise ye Jah.” It occurs as a short doxology in the Psalms, usually at the beginning, e.g., Ps. 111; 112, or the end, e.g., Ps. 104; 105, or both, e.g., Ps. 106; 135 (where it is also used in ver. 3), Ps. 146; 147; 148; 149; 150. In the NT it is found in Rev 19:1, 3, 4, 6, as the keynote in the song of the great multitude in heaven. “Alleluia,” without the initial “H,” is a misspelling.
*******************End Quote****************************
Since ancient times “hallelujah” has been understood and accepted as “Praise” to “YAH’ or “YAHWEH”
The fact that the word “hallelujah” has been appropriated by modern culture is irrelevant. Culture has perverted the terms “love”, “God”, “man”, “woman”, “rainbow” and so many others as well. I, for one, refuse to surrender Biblical meanings to modern day sensibilities.
3) In the bridge “Praise the Lord.” is repeated 6 times.
All told, there are 10 references clearly saying “Praise the Lord.” in a song of roughly 196 words (when duplicate choruses are deleted). I, therefore, fail to see how it is “vague” as to Whom the songwriter is referring.
This, in my opinion, answers your question “Who is thankful to?”
B) You say “What does the song say he is thankful for? “
Since when do we have to have a reason to be thankful to God? It’s God’s will for us to be thankful in everything.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 KJV
In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Furthermore, the entire concept of this song is spelled out in the first verse…
“All my words fall short
I got nothing new
How could I express
All my gratitude?”
The multitude of reasons have already been spoken and they still “fall short” of the gratitude that God deserves.
C) You say “The first 2 verses are all self focused and only has one reference to “You” as God”
I would say that the verses are more self-analytical, introspective self-examination, than self-focused (by which I believe you mean self-centered.)
The words of the chorus are the result of the words of the first 2 verses, where the inward examination that takes place in the 2 verses leads to an outward expression of praise.
There are many scriptures that exhort us to this type of inward “looking at ourselves in the mirror” (Psalm 119:59, Lamentations 3:40, 1 Corinthians 11:27-31, 2 Corinthians 13:3-5, Galatians 6:4)
c) Twice you refer to “emotions” as if emotions are a bad thing (“mindless emotional feel good” and “producing many emotional feeling false converts “.)
Yes, this song stirs the emotions, so what?!? God created both our emotions and our intellect. Any person who does not have both working in their lives is stunted in their growth.
Hyper-intellectualism will lead you astray just as fast (I personally believe faster) as hyper-emotionalism.
The secret to successful Christian living is to use both in our daily lives but ultimately trust in God. Proverbs 3:5-6
5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
The word ‘heart” comes from the Hebrew https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3820/kjv/wlc/0-1/
לֵב lêb, labe; a form of H3824; the heart; also used (figuratively) very widely for the feelings, the will and even the intellect; likewise for the centre of anything
whereas ‘understanding’ comes from https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h998/kjv/wlc/0-1/
בִּינָה bîynâh, bee-naw’; from H995; understanding:—knowledge, meaning,
Therefore the passage could be paraphrased “Trust in the Lord with the all of the center of your being (the feelings, the will and even the intellect) and lean not unto your own knowledge.”
D) You say “Not saying it is a BAD song, But I am saying it is very theologically weak and is not appropriate for Sunday Morning Services.”
I would say that it is no more “theologically weak” than several of the shorter Psalms. In particular, Psalm 117:1-2, Psalm 134:1-3, Psalm 150:1-6.
So many seem to demand that this, or any other song, be a complete “Genesis to maps” treatise on Christian doctrine or it is somehow “unworthy” to be sung in church.
As I have said before, this is a simple song for believers that springs from a heart full of praise. It cuts through all the surface religiosity and ritual. It dispenses with the pomp and circumstance. There is no formality or formula. It’s about devotion not doctrine. It is just me, God, and the praise that He so richly deserves.
Timothy S Quinn
Steve, you’re approaching your response from a Christian viewpoint. As you said, using this song for corporate worship would not be recommended. I’m not sure why you’re arguing for it. One issue with using this song for corporate worship is that is NOT doctrinal. Our praises to God should always be about God, not ourselves. This song never even alludes to why he’s praising God. David aways gives reasons for his praise. While the “king of England” is a bad example, the concept is spot on. Is Krishna eternal? Hindus believe he is. How about Narasimha? He’s the Hindu lion god. Hindus believe they and everything else is god. This song could very easily be sung by a Hindu and have the same perfect meaning as you attribute to the Christian God. That’s one of the biggest problems with this song. Without Brandon defining who he’s singing to, or even alluding to why he’s praising this “king” we have no idea who the song is written to.
“My Lord (hallelujah)
My sweet Lord (Hare Krishna)
My sweet Lord (Hare Krishna)
Mm, my Lord (Krishna, Krishna)
My sweet Lord (Krishna)”
Take out “Hare Krishna” and this song can be about Jesus. I thought it was until he defined his god.
Steve Barhydt
First, you say ‘you’re approaching your response from a Christian viewpoint.’
Yes, because it’s a Christian song.
Where do I say ‘using this song for corporate worship would not be recommended.”?
Vince, in his review, doesn’t recommend it. I strongly disagree with him.
My entire argument is the exact opposite of that.
You complain ‘This song never even alludes to why he’s praising God’
From my first comment on this song to Vince on Jun 26.2022 | 03:35 pm
********************Begin Quote********************
The first two sentences of the first verse are…
“All my words fall short
I got nothing new”
This strongly implies that the songwriter has extoled the glories of God elsewhere in his songs and in his life. The sum total of everything that he has done to tell God how grateful he is has been found to be insufficient to “express All my gratitude?”
To return to a long litany of God’s goodness would go against this primary premise of the song.
In the second verse, Brandon states…
“But every song must end
And You never do”
This, again, alludes to the fact that regardless of the number of words in a song or the number of references to God’s greatness, the song will end. But God, and everything He is, does not.
********************End Quote********************
Vince somewhat disagrees with my interpretation, which is okay, but I stand by it.
The premise of the song is Lake’s overwhelming gratitude for EVERYTHING that God has done for him. His response to this gratitude is to ‘throw up my hands And praise You again and again’
This is 100% Biblical
As to the word ‘Hallelujah’, I’ll repeat what I said before…
Since ancient times “hallelujah” has been understood and accepted as “Praise” to “YAH’ or “YAHWEH”
The fact that the word “hallelujah” has been appropriated by modern culture is irrelevant. Culture has perverted the terms “love”, “God”, “man”, “woman”, “rainbow” and so many others as well. I, for one, refuse to surrender Biblical meanings to modern day sensibilities.
George Harrison in ‘My Sweet Lord’ does define his ‘lord’.
I maintain that Lake, in saying ‘Praise the Lord!’ 6 times in the bridge and ‘hallelujah’ 12 times throughout the song, defines his Lord as well.
Timothy S Quinn
Steve,
I apologize, I don’t know why I thought you were the author. Please forgive me on that point.
I love how passionate you are to argue so ferociously for what you believe to be truth. I hope you do the same for the gospel out in the “wilds” (the world). I’ve outlined my major disagreements with this song and since you’ve obviously read them, there’s no need to rehash it. I’ll simply respond to a couple things you said and since I can’t speak for other people, even Brandon Lake himself, I’ll only give you my point of view.
You stated that in the first couple lines of the song, Brandon is surmising his body of work: “All my words fall short. I’ve got nothing new.” That’s great if you’ve listened to his other songs. I haven’t. If I’ve heard any of them, I couldn’t tell you which ones. This harkens to my point on Steven Furtick although in a different way (I did watch the video, so thank you for that.) Just as I may have taken Furtick’s comment out of context by not listening to his entire sermon (I’m still not certain that was not his claim, but that’s a different discussion), it’s easy to take Brandon’s song out of context if you don’t listen to him. I stand by my point that it could be a song about Allah or Krishna because he never says the name Jesus. All the characteristics you say point to God alone also points to every other god everyone else worships. Muslims believe the same things about Allah. Catholics believe Mary is eternal and place her above Jesus. Jehovah’s witnesses use “hallelujah” for their false Christ too as do the Mormons. Just because you believe that Brandon is referring to [I assume the Biblical] Christ, doesn’t mean everyone will believe it that way.
Perhaps you’re right, perhaps it is a Christian song. I remember listening to the radio in the ’90’s. I heard the song “Jesus Freak” by DC Talk on a secular station. I didn’t know Jesus then, but I did hear His name in that song. As I’m sure you’re aware, there is power in the name of Jesus. Just hearing His name changes hearts. Then hearing about the things He has done in the life of the person speaking His name, saves souls. As I’ve said, I cannot speak to Brandon’s other songs, but as for this one, no life will be changed, and no soul will be saved in hearing it. I know that not all “worship” songs say His name or refer to what He has done. To that I say, they should if you want to call them worship songs. If I heard this song on Christian radio, I’d probably sing along. If I heard it on secular radio, as a non-believer like I did in the 90’s, I’d turn the channel.
Lastly, please do not refer to people’s concerns about this song as “complaining”. It is our Biblical duty to test all things and only accept what is good, (1 Thes 5:21). If I see this, or any other song, as an issue to my discernment, then it’s my duty to say something about it. If you want to disagree with me, then please do so with respect. The Holy Spirit speaks to all of us in different ways, just as He gives us different gifts. This song causes issues with the Holy Spirit in me, especially in corporate worship in my church; and even more especially when it causes a division within the body. It is with obedience to God that I voice my concerns here as I did in my church to my pastor.
Tim
Steve Barhydt
Tim,
I meant no disrespect by using the word ‘complained’.
According to the Cambridge Dictionary https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/complained
‘Complained’ is ‘past simple and past participle of complain’ which means
1) to say that something is wrong or not satisfactory:
2) to tell someone formally that something is wrong:
Your comments, both on this website and to your pastor, were saying that, in your opinion, ‘something is wrong or not satisfactory’ about this song.
Hence, ‘complained’.
In Christ,
Steve
Keziah
I was going to remind (but see that Steve Barhydt already did) that ‘Hallelujah’ directly means “praise YH(WH)”. This is the name of our God; He told His people so Himself. And if you say the only valid name to address our God by is Jesus, then I question your theology.
If someone has a different god, and uses the name YHWH for it (ie. JWs as Timothy S Quinn retorted), then yes, they would be praising a different god with their songs.
But someone could likewise misappropriate the name Jesus.
(And they do — LDSs, Baha’is, worshippers of people who’ve claimed to be Jesus, etc.)
So if “hallelujah” isn’t clear enough for you, neither will be “praise Jesus”.
Steve Barhydt
Exactly right!!
Phyllis Walker
I agree that our Christian music is too unique a thing to allow it to be placed without alteration into the setting of a false religion. I find little value in the “worship songs” which are heavy on repetition and generic, feel-good “worship”- yet are light on the wonders of biblical truth. I am not saying their authors aren’t for real, of course. That is not my call to make.
Chris Quinn
My question about this song centers on the lines in the bridge. I agree that scripture very clearly says to cry out to the Lord loudly, but it’s the way this song portrays it that I struggle to see being in scripture.
The main line I struggle with is “you’ve got a lion inside of those kings.” I think this line needs greater clarity in the review rather than a short description of “shouting out to the Lord.”
Thanks.
Vince Wright
Chris,
Thank you for your inquiry!
It’s not just about shouting, but also the loudness of it, as well as singing praises to God. However, I came across Proverbs 28:1 recently in my daily readings. It says, “The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.” What do you think about the idea that the lion roaring inside of us, in this context, is about boldness?
-Vince Wright
Steve Barhydt
In addition to Vince’s answer, I would offer the following thoughts….
There are some who will probably disagree with me, but it is not necessary for every single phrase in a song to have solid, irrefutable scriptural backing as long as that phrase does not contradict what the Bible says about a certain subject.
It is always important to remember that most are poetic in nature, in that the songwriter will use linguistic devices (such as metaphors, hyperbole, similes, alliteration etc.) to portray the thought that they are trying to make.
In the case of the “you’ve got a lion inside of those lungs” it is a metaphor.
To understand a metaphor you must find out what qualities / characteristics in the mentioned real object (i.e. the ‘lion’) are to be transferred to the referenced object (i.e. the ‘lungs’)
From http://websites.umich.edu/~umfandsf/symbolismproject/symbolism.html/L/lion.html#:~:text=Its%20most%20common%20traits%20are,the%20Great%20Mother%20and%20protection.
*****************Begin Quote***************
The lion is a very diverse symbol. Its most common traits are: majesty, strength, courage, justice, and military might. It can be both solar and lunar. Commonly referred (sic) to as “the KING of the beasts,” it is a symbol of Kingly power and might.
****************End Quote*******************
In light of the characteristic of the lion, let’s look at the bridge of this song…
‘So come on my soul, oh, don’t you get shy on me
Lift up your song, ’cause you’ve got a lion inside of those lungs
Get up and praise the Lord’
The songwriter, speaking to his soul, says ‘don’t you get shy on me’.
What does ‘shy’ mean?
From the Merriam-Webster online dictionary https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shy
*****************Begin Quote***************
1 : easily frightened : TIMID
2 : disposed to avoid a person or thing
publicity shy
3 : hesitant in committing oneself : CIRCUMSPECT
4 : sensitively diffident or retiring : RESERVED
also : expressive of such a state or nature
a shy smile
5 : SECLUDED, HIDDEN
*****************End Quote***************
With the notable exception of the Cowardly Lion in the Wizard of OZ, lions are the polar opposite of ‘shy’.
What I believe that is being said in the bridge is really quite simple.
We are being encouraged to ‘Lift up your song… Get up and praise the Lord’ with
• the courage of a lion (Acts 16:25-34)
• the strength of a lion. (Ezra 3:10-13) The strength of the lion is symbolized by its roar
o https://www.clevelandzoosociety.org/z/2020/02/23/truth-or-tail-a-lions-roar-can-be-heard-5-miles-away
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“Just like humans, one of the ways animals communicate with each other is through a variety of sounds. On a visit to the Zoo you may hear many animals huffing, grunting, panting, and, for some big cats, roaring. Lions are very social for large carnivores, living in prides in the wild. Male lions will use their roar to scare off intruders and warn the pride of potential danger. It’s also a show of power among other males.
Lion roars can be heard for up to 5 miles away. That means when the Zoo’s male lion, Doc, roars, everyone notices!”
*****************End Quote***************
In summary, our praise should have lion-like characteristics including loudness, boldness, fearlessness, etc. We serve a powerful God, there is no reason to be timid about our worship of Him!
John J Amann
What he is saying is that no matter what we say or do, we will never measure up to a Holy, Perfect, and timeless God and nothing we can do to pay Him back for what He has done for us. All I know is I cry every time I hear this song, and I don’t cry easy. This song is Spirit led and when he let’s out that cry at the end for me it’s almost as if I hear all of Heaven praising and shouting to God with him…….I feel music deeply and this song is a masterpiece worthy of much higher than a 7.5 The thing I like about Brandon Lake is he doesn’t use a lot of flashy lights and show….. It’s usually just him and his guitar, getting back to the basics. I hope he will continue to channel the gifts God has given him and stay producing awesome music for years to come.
Scott E Moore
What if obedience to God and living a Christian life of worship is included in what Lake is presenting as a song. So in that regard the songs he writes are metaphors (and/or microcosms) of his life as a Christian. In the end, my righteousness is as filthy rags in comparison to God’s Holiness. Faced with this awesome truth, all I can do is praise.
Pat
1 Samuel 15:22 NASB 1995 Samuel said, “Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.
“I know it’s not much, but I’ve nothing else fit for a King except for a heart singing hallelujah.” -Lake
Taken out of context it would sound like singing praise is all we could offer King Jesus. Perhaps the challenge is with the word “fit.” We all have more than a hallelujah and that is to obey. The verse above was a condemnation of when king Saul performed a sacrifice instead of waiting for Samuel to do that. It was also after he took plunder after being told not to and also when he let king Agag of the Amalekites live, directly disobeying God’s command. He was disobedient and tried to worship anyway. It would be foolish to think we can worship without obedience or that we should prioritize worship over obedience. God thinks differently.
I’ve been pondering this verse in 1 Samuel in the context of this song for a while now and I want to be clear, I love this song. Just want to make sure that I don’t set my expectations so low as to think that I can do whatever I want in life as long as I simply throw up my hands and worship. While pursuing Jesus, keeping close accounts of sin with Him and obeying his commandments as the expectation, then I can truly sing hallelujah! “for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.” Matthew 12:34
Blessings!
Pat
Steve Barhydt
Pat,
The phrase in your comment “Taken out of context it would sound like singing praise is all we could offer King Jesus” highlights one of my main issues against the naysayers of Contemporary Christian Music.
If you read my comment above (Steve Barhydt on Jun 26.2022 at 03:35 pm) you’ll see that I believe that within the context of the song Lake has explained himself adequately and that many Psalms talk about praising God without direct or indirect references to obedience.
It is my contention that the central meaning to this song is that, after all the words have been spoken and the deeds have been done, there is but one thing left to do, “throw up my hands and praise You again and again.”
To negate this central meaning because someone could possibly ‘take it out of context’ and, thereby, read into it another meaning is a poor interpretation of this song.
The truth of the matter is that the Bible itself has been ‘taken out of context’ for centuries. Every false teaching and heresy starts with poor hermeneutics (intentional or unintentional).
Do we hold the authors of the Bible accountable for the ways in which their words have been incorrectly interpreted? Of course not! To do so we would ultimately have to hold Holy Spirit responsible.
With the Bible, we have the entire rest of the Word of God to help us find and maintain the ‘context’ of any given scripture.
With this song we have 279 words! Therefore, it is extremely unfair to criticize and penalize the songwriter for how something ‘might’ by taken by unbelievers, especially when this is clearly a song specifically for believers.
As to your example from 1 Samuel 15, it is important to realize that Saul’s reign had already been declared ‘Over’ because of his disobedience at Gilgal (1 Samuel 13:13-14). Saul had proven time and again that he was not a ‘a man after God’s own heart’ but, instead, insisted on doing things his own way.
In 1 Samuel 14:24-46, we see more of Saul’s arrogance and self-willed behavior to the point that he was going to kill Jonathan because of a very foolish vow that he had made.
1 Samuel ends with verse 52 (ESV), “Now the war against the Philistines was severe all the days of Saul; and when Saul saw any mighty man or any valiant man, he attached him to his staff.”
I believe that one of the reasons that the war with the Philistines was so severe is that King Saul continued to deviate from the plans that God set forth for him.
Then in 1 Samuel 15, Saul has yet another command from God, namely…
3 Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ ””
Does he follow God’s command this time? Nope.
9 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves and the lambs, and all that was good, and WOULD NOT UTTERLY DESTROY THEN. All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction.”
Then, to make matters even worse, Saul tries to blame the people…
15 Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, FOR THE PEOPLE SPARED the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction.”
20 And Saul said to Samuel, “I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. I have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction.
21 But THE PEOPLE TOOK of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”
Now we finally come to the famous “to obey is better than sacrifice” scripture…
22 “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
as in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
and to listen than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is as the sin of divination,
and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
he has also rejected you from being king.”
It was not so much the lack of obedience, that removed Saul from the throne but the rebellion and stubbornness of his heart that caused his lack of obedience.
Nearly every major character in the Bible was disobedient to God at one point in their lives. However, with Saul it was a core attribute of his personality.
There is nothing in the song ‘Gratitude’ to suggest that the ‘Hallelujah’ being offered up is the ‘sacrifice’ of a rebellious ‘worshipper’ Quite the opposite in fact.
To demand that the songwriter include a litany of responsibilities and duties to fully ‘qualify’ his right and desire to worship is outside the scope of the song and, again in my opinion, highly unfair.
Let me be clear about what I am saying, obedience to our Lord is of the utmost importance and priority. Without that level of devotion, our sacrifices of praise are truly meaningless. I would never take away from the crucial nature of our obedience.
However, this is a simple song that springs from a heart full of praise. It cuts through all the surface religiosity and ritual. It dispenses with the pomp and circumstance. There is no formality or formula. It is just me, God, and the praise that He so richly deserves.
Pat
Hi Steve,
AMEN! Thank you for your comments and I’m glad we agree! Your last paragraph was beautiful and I will be thinking about that all day. My comments were not critical of the author of the song at all. I was reflecting on understanding why or how someone might take it out of context and that perhaps it would be because of the word “fit.” I was also thinking about how God wants more from me than just a hallelujah. My critique is of a believer (like me) who might live their own way all week long and then throw up their hands on Sunday and say “well I tried to be obedient. I guess all I have is a hallelujah.” If someone did that based on this song, it would be a wrong interpretation of the song and a failure in their personal responsibility before a holy God. As you have said and I agree, we need to do more than that. Phony (or as you said, meaningless) worship is the downfall of the worshiper, not the song writer. 🙂
Again, I’m in agreement that isn’t the message of this song. Lake is not suggesting anything less than his heart is full. It’s really a beautiful song! Also agree that Lake, or any writer, does not have the responsibility to include extensive detail of a proper walk with Jesus in the lyrics in order for the song to be complete or acceptable. We have the Word for that. Songs are helpful but not inspired like the Word.
This is my meditation when I listen to this song. We all have bad days,weeks, etc. in our walk with Jesus. We have moments of weakness. We sin! When we confess our sins and can rightly sing hallelujah then we can experience the joy so rightly expressed by this song. The closer we walk with Him, the sweeter the experience is!
Blessings brother!
Dave
We have all been through good and bad seasons. Our lives vary in many ways. The Lord does not. I have been through that cycle. I was reduced to a situation where the only thing I could do was worship. In those moments, I was as close to our Creator as is possible on this Earth. Despite the desperate fear, pain, and confusion, I would give anything to be back in those moments, that close to God. In those moments, I was full of unbounded joy, and knew the presence of the Great I Am. He said to me, “you will be ok”. And I was. When there is nothing else, there is worship. The essence of this song is a very personal moment of reflection on what is really important. This is all we have and all we need. I will worship You. It is very human to judge based on an academic approach. This is an opportunity to refine the worship experience to one of humble, unbounded, full passion, joy. This song speaks to Psalm 23. You will be ok. Blessings to all…
Cheryl
Funny. I’m here because I heard this song sung in the Asbury revival. And the closing comment is: “I cannot recommend this song for corporate worship.”
Chris
I appreciate all that has been shared. What’s clear to me is what another shared above: This song requires a bit of pastoral shepherding in the congregational setting. Frame this song with the understanding that it is written as a personal response to a specific moment of surrender. It is also written as a corporate response within the specific context of a gathering (service). It is not meant to be a prescription for the entirety of our worship, but it is a commentary on the surrendered heart posture of a worshipper. It tells part of the story, and hopefully the other songs we choose in a set come alongside it to add more meat to what we are saying each Sunday. However, the fact that the song requires that much setup gives me pause.
Daniel
Yes, agree with this. Certainly not an “every Sunday” type of song, but I think given the proper context and shepherding it can be a good tool.
Lg
I struggle with this song. I don’t disagree with what has been shared here. My struggle is that there’s to much of self in the verses. What I’m doing..
Vince Wright
Lg,
Thank you for your comment!
In response, I’ll repost an earlier comment made by Steve Barhydt:
“For those who complain that Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) is too self centered I offer the following quantitative analysis:
There are 2423 words in the English KJV in Psalm 119…
The most used word is “thy” (referring to God) at 209 occurrences.
The second most used word is “I” at 142 occurrences.
Let’s take this a step further…
Nouns and pronouns for God (Thy, Thine, Thou, Thee, Lord) are used 285 times. (or 11.76% of the total word usage.)
Nouns and pronouns for the Psalmist (I, me, my ,mine, myself) are used 312 times (or 12.88% of the total word usage.)
What does this mean and why is it important?
First, to claim that a song is too self centered and, therefore, should not be sung in church because it has too many personal pronouns (I, me, my) is unsupportable in light of the fact that the Holy Spirit had no issues with inspiring the psalmists to refer to themselves multiple times in their songs.
Second, a lot of Christian music is about the relationship the believer has with the Almighty God (or that the unbeliever could have with Him.) Relationships are NOT one-sided. Songs about relationships are not going to have just one side represented in the lyrics.
As long as what the “I/me” in the song is claiming or proclaiming does not contradict what the Scripture says about “I/me”, the song should be considered Biblical.”
-Vince Wright
Joe
Indeed! Great summary. I like to add this list to the discussion when I get the periodic complaint about songs being “all about me myself and I” (Hey isn’t ‘Amazing Grace’ one of those?!?) 🙂 Reading this has often resulted in something along the lines of “Wow! I’ve never considered this…Nevermind!!”
Psalm 2:7 – I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.
Psalm 7:17 – I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.
Psalm 9:2 – I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.
Psalm 13:6 – I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.
Psalm 18:49 – For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations, and sing to your name.
Psalm 22:22 – I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
Psalm 22:25 – From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will perform before those who fear him.
Psalm 27:6 – And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the Lord.
Psalm 30:12 – that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!
Psalm 34:1 – I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
Psalm 35:18 – I will thank you in the great congregation; in the mighty throng I will praise you.
Psalm 40:5 – You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told.
Psalm 43:4 – Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.
Psalm 45:17 – I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations; therefore nations will praise you forever and ever.
Psalm 57:7 – My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast! I will sing and make melody!
Psalm 57:9 – I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations.
Psalm 59:16 – But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress.
Psalm 59:17 – O my Strength, I will sing praises to you, for you, O God, are my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love.
Psalm 61:8 – So will I ever sing praises to your name, as I perform my vows day after day.
Psalm 63:3 – Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.
Psalm 63:4 – So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands.
Psalm 63:7 – for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
Psalm 66:16 – Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for my soul.
Psalm 69:30 – I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
Psalm 71:14 – But I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more.
Psalm 71:22 – I will also praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, O my God; I will sing praises to you with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel.
Psalm 71:23 – My lips will shout for joy, when I sing praises to you; my soul also, which you have redeemed.
Psalm 75:9 – But I will declare it forever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
Psalm 89:1 – I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations
Psalm 101:1 – I will sing of steadfast love and justice; to you, O Lord, I will make music.
Psalm 104:33 – I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
Psalm 108:1 – My heart is steadfast, O God! I will sing and make melody with all my being!
Psalm 109:30 – With my mouth I will give great thanks to the Lord; I will praise him in the midst of the throng.
Psalm 111:1 – Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
Psalm 119:48 – I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes.
Psalm 138:1 – I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise;
Psalm 138:2 – I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.
Psalm 145:1 – I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever.
Psalm 145:6 – They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness.
Psalm 146:2 – I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
Tujuana
I have come because I was seeking an answer to what “youve got a lion inside of those lungs” is actually supposed to mean..? I thought you would critique that part seeing as..I’m not sure what scripture could explain what this means. He has another song called lion that disturbs me, so that put a bad taste in my mouth when I hear him say this lyric here. I agree with you that our sole response to God’s goodness is/should not just be worship in song. Yes, worship in song is great. God is pleased with that. But worship altogether is living a holy life, and in that we will worship the way he sings about.
“What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.”
1 Corinthians 14:15 KJV
Vince Wright
Tujuana,
Great question! My view is that the roaring is loudness. I provided Scripture that shows Psalmists who encourage others to sing and shout loudly.
-Vince Wright
Jinger
This verse about the lion really confused me also. I asked God help me understand the meaning because I was a song we were singing in worship and I wanted the children grades 3-5 to understand this song. This was before I found the song review page. The Lion is a sign of power. Jesus is our power. I was amazed to learn a lion’s roar can be heard up to 5 miles. The message the Holy Spirit revealed to me was, we have power in our Lungs. What would happen if we the church followers of Christ use that power to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. What an impact that would be for the kingdom of God. In the review he talks about the song speaking of obedience. The message i received is sharing the Gospel with power in our lungs is praising the Lord. The last instruction Jesus gave us is the great commission. We should tell others about Jesus.
Kevin
Thanks for your on-going ministry of doing this!
I would argue that this song is appropriate for corporate worship as long as the worship leader simply makes mention that our whole lives are to be offered as worship.
As to your critique on Verse 3 – I see the physical expression of ‘arms stretched wide’ as a sign of surrender which leads to obedience -> one simple sentence from a worship leader can frame this and then this song becomes a powerful testament to propel us toward that obedience you are longing for in this song.
Thanks again!
Kevin
Christopher Macleod
Hi,
Firstly, these reviews are always helpful and I appreciate the work that goes into them. This is the first I’ve commented so wanted to first give gratitude. Pun fully intended and no apologies made.
Couple of points on this one –
‘All I have is a hallelujah’ – I acknowledge and understand your comments about obedience and don’t disagree. But, there are occasions, I would argue, for example when found in besetting sin or our own failure in obedience, and still finding God’s grace towards us, I have felt in moments like that that all I could offer was a hallelujah for God’s unrelenting goodness despite my disobedience. At the moment of ‘Neither do I condemn you.’ Of course, from that moment, we would hope to ‘Go and sin no more.’
I also agree to an extent of the ‘I’ in worship songs detailed in a comment, albeit the use of ‘I’ in Psalms is often ‘I will proclaim God’ so therefore God is still the object of the sentence so I’m not sure I prescribe to the numbers argument put forward.
The only issue I have with this song is the ‘Lion inside’. To me it prescribes too much internal strength within worship – particularly in the context of the song which is essentially humbling ourselves before the Holiness of God. It gave me the same feeling as the ‘You didn’t want heaven without us’ in What a Beautiful Name it is.
Jeff Schoch
I came across this song while in the hospital facing quadruple bypass surgery. There are many layers to why it ministered immediately to me – particularly about the lion roaring – which to me has nothing to do with singing loudly and everything to do with sharing aggressively, passionately and consistently about the goodness of God, which I knew would be my enhanced assignment after my surgery. That’s all about obedience. Leading up to the surgery and afterward, I was challenged repeatedly to throw up my hands in worship – in my room, in the hallways, anywhere I was – in worship and explain to many people why. Again, obedience. During that window before and after surgery, all I had to offer was my worship and my testimony. And I gave it, over and over and over again. A year later, I still am. And so is our whole church, where I am the senior pastor. This act of worship has put us on mission like never before. Not patting myself on the back for any of this. All this is for Jesus and only Jesus. Offering worship to our Savior as the only thing we have to offer is the epitome of obedience. My prayer is that you can see that truth expressed so intimately in this song. Let the lion roar!
Nathan
Two quick comments:
1.) I was interpreting the line “all that I have is a hallelujah” to mean “everything that I have”, not “the only thing that I have”. When I sang it that way, it completely changes your critique of the song… As I sit down and really think about the lyrics of the chorus, especially when I consider the last line “except for a heart singing hallelujah”… That might support your interpretation. I think maybe the authors intent was your version, not mine. But one could still argue a heart can singing hallelujah through all of life. (Maybe change the word “heart”, to “life” in the final line of the chorus?) There may be some artistic license. The long and short of it for me is, when I sing this song, I sing thinking “everything that I have”, not “the only thing I have”.
2.) I think you miss the bridge completely. You say “Lines 1-3: Lake encourages others to express worship through loud singing or shouting (Psalm 47:1, Psalm 65:13, Psalm 66:1, Psalm 98:4, Psalm 100:1, and Isaiah 44:23).” Where do you get that he is “encouraging others”? He is encouraging his own soul like the psalmists (Ps 42:11 or 57:8). He’s reminding himself to engage, not give up, remember and proclaim the goodness of God.
Steve Barhydt
Vince,
I think that you are missing the point of the song.
The first two sentences of the first verse are…
“All my words fall short
I got nothing new”
This strongly implies that the songwriter has extoled the glories of God elsewhere in his songs and in his life. The sum total of everything that he has done to tell God how grateful he is has been found to be insufficient to “express All my gratitude?”
To return to a long litany of God’s goodness would go against this primary premise of the song.
In the second verse, Brandon states…
“But every song must end
And You never do”
This, again, alludes to the fact that regardless of the number of words in a song or the number of references to God’s greatness, the song will end. But God, and everything He is, does not.
This reminds me of John 21:25 (KJV)
And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.
The songs then flows into the chorus with simple praise and adoration in a heartfelt response to what words alone cannot express.
As to your second complaint against this song, I see your point.
However, there are many Psalms (63, 67, 96, 98, 100, 103, 108, 113, 117, 118, 134, 135, 136, 138, 145, 146, 148, 149, and 150) , that speak of praising God and yet, within the context of the song, do not mention the requirements of our obedience.
Others, such as Psalm 111 and 112 do mention obedience as a part of praising the Lord.
What’s the difference between one of these Psalms and another? Among other things, the focus of what the Psalmist is attempting to portray.
I agree that, within the context of his song, Lake does does not mention other important duties that all Christians have toward God, but that is not the focus of his message.
In the case of the song, Gratitude, Lake is stating that, after everything else has been considered, the only response left is to worship. This does not exclude the importance of other things
Remember that the third verse follows the theme that is set up in the first and second verses. So, when Lake states that…
“I’ve got one response
I’ve got just one move”
he is already taking into account everything else that he has said and done in the past to glorify God.
Furthermore, in his humility, Lake indicates in the Chorus that not even his worship is really enough…
And I know it’s not much
But I’ve nothing else fit for a King
Except for a heart singing
Hallelujah, hallelujah
As to how an unbeliever might interpret the song…
First, this is obviously not a song directed to the unbeliever. It is, in fact, sung to God himself.
Second, if an unbeliever listens to and comprehends the first two verses in the manner that I have outlined, I believe that it just as likely to spur an interest in the God that Brandon is singing about as it is to make them think “Christians worshipping their God with arms high, shouting, and without a reason”
Vince Wright
Steve,
Thank you for your comments!
Upon second thought, though His eternality and Kingship aren’t presented as reasons to worship God, they are reasons nonetheless, even as reasons that unbelievers will recognize. I’ve removed my critique on that point.
As for my second point of contention, you’re right that there are Psalms that don’t mention obedience as our response. However, my point is that worship isn’t our sole response. I was making the case that obedience is a second method for showing gratitude that isn’t words or songs that Lake expressed in Verses 1 and 2. While I understand that you interpret Verse 1 as the totality of methods to show gratitude, I see Verse 1 as words and Verse 2 as songs. Besides, Lake asked us in Verse 1, “How could I express all my gratitude?” I gave him my answer!
Finally, I cleaned up some redundancies and areas where I said that obedience is our sole reply. That’s not true either.
-Vince Wright
Keziah
Our church sang this song for the first time today, and for me it was like I was singing, “Nothing I own or could arrange for You is fit for a King, except for my response to Your kingship being ‘You are worthy to be King and I allow You to be that in my life’”.
So for me the “hallelujah” wasn’t just me saying “You deserve my praise”, but rather, “You deserve to be King”, by which I can’t escape saying, “Here is my life placed under Your authority” — in other words, obedience. Obedience comes when you understand who God is (praiseworthy King).
“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!“ Psalm 111:10
Anyhow, it was just interesting to read this recommendation not to sing it in corporate worship because it doesn’t exhort to obedience, when that was my very experience of the response it caused in me (without any clarification/interpretation by anyone in my church). And I hope it stirs up the same response in others!
Michael Timothy Ramsey
Obedience is an act of worship lol.
Naomi Kenney
I agree. I do not see that Lake is saying that the ONLY way to worship is XYZ, rather I believe he is indicating that worship, (implied that we have solid theology from reading our own copies of the word of God,) and every form of worship could be implied or understood- is our ONLY response. Worship IS our only response to all God is doing in us personally and in the big wide earth.
Allen
ummmmm…… 1 Timothy 2:8, Lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing seems like it’s obedience to God.
Vince Wright
Allen,
Thank you for your comment!
My issue isn’t that we cannot lift up holy hands without anger or dispute. My issue is that Lake claims that outstretched arms are his sole form of worship.
-Vince Wright
Parker
I love your insight I think while he’s singing about worship through song for the purpose of the song I think the overall message he’s making is that God has done so much for us and there’s nothing we could ever do to be worthy enough on our own so In return we worship God with every part of lives. Not just singing. That’s how I interpret it anyways
Michael
Except Brandon lake isn’t claiming that is his one response, he is saying worship is. his hands being lifted is the symbol used to express that.
Tiffany Hughes
Agree! And I don’t think this song is saying that lifting hands and singing loudly is the ONLY way to worship/praise God; it’s this persons way, and he encourages others to worship but he never says this is the ONLY way. In the south, there are many many churches who make a person feel in comfortable if they were to lift hands in worship or weep with praise. The stereotypical southern church is what I’m referring to. This song encourages surrender and praise to Gods and leads by the example of how BrandonLake praises; and for that I applaud him and this song. It is reaching souls who have been in so much bondage, to simply praise God, and give him your all.
Shannon Smith
That’s how I see it, he isn’t saying it’s the ONLY way