Cimorelli – My God is Here

Cimorelli is an a cappella singing group, occasionally accompanied by musical instruments.  They compose of six sisters, all with the last name “Cimorelli” and covering popular songs.  They gained popularity on Youtube (4.3 million subscribers as of this writing) and signed with Universal to create three full-length albums, including Up At Night, Alive, and Sad Girls Club.  Only the second is a worship album, containing mostly Christian songs, including this review: My God is Here.

They won the Teen Choice Award in 2013 for “Choice Web Star” for their work on Youtube.

Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Cimorelli-my-god-is-here-annotated.

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

1. What message does the song communicate?

It is primarily a list of attributes of God, including beautiful, peace, holy, eternal, gracious, pure, good, faithful, correct, truth, light, and joy.  It also describes some of God’s actions, such as His rescue, comfort, and is a refuge during times of trouble and hardship.  Cimorelli is clear, precise, and to the point.

My only issue is that “hope” is stated as one of God’s properties, as opposed to something God offers.

Score: 9/10

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

Yes it does; However, I have some minor concerns with the stanza “Christina & Amy”.

The lyrics have a different format, delineated by name rather than the traditional Verse/Chorus/Bridge/Outro/Etc. style.  Therefore, I will reference each stanza in accordance to its singer(s).

[Dani]

Line 1: Kicking off this mountainous list of God’s attributes is His beauty, as described in 1 Chronicles 16:29, Psalm 27:4, Psalm 29:2, and Isaiah 28:5-6.

Line 2: Purity is about freedom from contamination.  In this sense, God is without fault or sin (see Deuteronomy 32:4, Psalm 12:6, Psalm 18:30-32, Psalm 19:7-10, 2 Samuel 22:31, and Revelation 15:3).  Also, for the sinless nature of Jesus, see Isaiah 53:9, Matthew 27:24, John 19:4, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Hebrews 4:15, 1 Peter 1:18-19, 1 Peter 2:21-23, and 1 John 3:5).

Line 3: That is, set apart (or other than) from the rest of us. (see Leviticus 11:44-45, Leviticus 19:2, Leviticus 20:7, and 1 Peter 1:15-16).

Line 4: That is, God is eternal (see 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).  Also, for the eternal nature of Jesus, see John 8:58, Colossians 1:13-17, and Hebrews 13:8.

Line 5: Though the promised Holy Spirit was initially for the early followers of Jesus (John 14:15-31 and Acts 1:8; fulfilled in Acts 2:1-5), we too are given the same power as those who are born again (see John 3:1-8).

Lines 6 and 7: Describes God as our Comforter, with His loving embrace experienced spiritually (see Nehemiah 9:17, Psalm 17:7, Psalm 36:5-7, Psalm 63:3, Psalm 69:16, Psalm 117:2, Isaiah 54:8, John 3:16, John 13:34, John 15:13, Romans 5:6-8, Romans 8:37-39, 2 Corinthians 1:3-5, Galatians 2:20, Ephesians 2:4-5, Ephesians 5:25, Titus 3:4, 1 John 4:8, and 1 John 4:16-19).

Line 8: We see the face of God through Jesus (see John 14:9).  This line describes a state without distraction, our eyes fixed only on God and nothing else (see Hebrews 12:2).

[Lauren]

Line 1: Often paired with compassionate, God’s graciousness is found in Exodus 33:19, Exodus 34:6, Numbers 14:18, Nehemiah 9:16-17, Nehemiah 9:30-31, Psalm 86:15, Psalm 103:8, Psalm 116:5, Psalm 145:8-9, Joel 2:13, Jonah 4:2, Romans 9:15, and James 5:11.

Line 2: Probably a reference to Psalm 19:7 to describe the Law of the LORD, though it could also mean that God is a sure thing, consistent, unchanging (see Numbers 23:19, Malachi 3:6, Hebrews 13:8, and James 1:17).

Lines 3 and 4: Repeats Dani, lines 3 and 4.

Lines 5-11: The Biblical theme described here is rescue, a major theme throughout the Psalms in terms of prayer.  We should not be afraid of our enemies, seeking God for help (see Genesis 15:1, Joshua 1:9, Deuteronomy 31:6, 1 Chronicles 28:20, Psalm 23:4, Psalm 27:1, Psalm 34:4, Psalm 56:3-4, Psalm 94:19, Psalm 115:11, Psalm 118:6, Isaiah 35:4, Isaiah 41:10-13, Isaiah 43:1, Isaiah 54:4, John 14:25-27, Romans 8:15, Romans 8:38-39, 2 Timothy 1:7, Hebrews 13:5-6, 1 Peter 3:13-14, 1 Peter 5:6-7, and 1 John 4:18).

[Lisa]

Line 1: An often overused attribute of God, the rescue described in Lauren, lines 5-11 depends entirely upon the goodness of God (see 1 Chronicles 16:34, Psalm 23:6, Psalm 27:13, Psalm 31:19-20, Psalm 34:8, Psalm 86:5, Psalm 100:5, Psalm 106:1, Psalm 119:68, Psalm 135:3, Psalm 136:1, Psalm 145:9, Lamentations 3:25, Nahum 1:7, Matthew 19:17, Mark 10:18, and Luke 18:19).

Line 2: Repeats Dani, line 2.

Lines 3 and 4: Though slightly extended, it repeats the theme expressed in Dani, line 4.

Lines 5 and 6: This is true because God is good (see commentary on Lisa, line 1).

Lines 7 and 8: Repeats Lisa, line 3.

[Amy]

All lines repeat Dani.

[Katherine]

All lines repeat Lauren.

[Christina & Amy]

Line 1: That is, God is faithful (see  https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/dictionary-of-bible-themes/2021-Jesus-Christ-faithfulness for a full list).

Line 2: This is true because God and His ways are perfect (see Leviticus 11:44-45, Leviticus 19:2, Deuteronomy 32:4, 2 Samuel 22:31, Psalm 12:6, Psalm 18:30, Psalm 19:7-11, Psalm 25:8, Psalm 92:15, Isaiah 26:7, Matthew 5:48, Mark 10:18, Luke 18:19, Romans 12:1-2, and 1 Peter 1:16).

Line 3: Because God is right and perfect (line 2), His Word pours forth as truth (see 2 Samuel 7:25-28, Psalm 119:142, Psalm 119:151, Psalm 119:160, and John 17:17-19).  Also, see John 14:6, describing Jesus as the Truth.

Line 4: Indeed, and in Him, there is no darkness (see Psalm 27:1, Psalm 119:105, Psalm 119:130, Matthew 4:16, John 1:1-8, John 8:12, Ephesians 5:14, James 1:17, 1 Peter 2:9, 1 John 1:5-7, and Revelation 21:23).

Line 5: The only Scriptural passage I could find that describes joy as an attribute of God is Nehemiah 8:10.

Line 6: It seems odd to describe hope as an attribute of God.  Sure, our hope is found in God (Jeremiah 29:11, Psalm 33:20, Psalm 39:7, Psalm 62:5, Isaiah 40:31, Isaiah 41:10, Matthew 11:28-30, Romans 5:1-8, Romans 8:24-39, Romans 15:13, 1 Corinthians 15:54-58, and 1 Peter 1:3-6); however, Hope is something God gives, not possesses as an attribute.

Line 7: Similar to line 6, this describes what God does.  The article “a” or pronoun “our” would have made this more clear.  Some might argue that this is excessive nitpicking, yet, clarity is important to me.

Lines 8-11: Repeats Lisa, line 3.

[Amy]

Repeats Dani, lines 1-4.

Score: 9/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

An unbeliever will know immediately that Cimorelli sings about their God.  After all, the phrase “My God is” repeats 31 times!  I just hope that they are not put off about this like I am, yet, I cannot help but think that it will probably not attract much curiosity from the non-Christian crowd.  I can praise Cimorelli for their precision with those who do not follow Jesus, but a precise message that does not attract will not help us further the Kingdom of God.

Score: 4/10

4. What does this song glorify?

This song glorifies God by describing who He is.

Score: 10/10

Closing Comments

While Cimorelli’s My God Is Here does little for me personally, it has an overall positive and highly Scriptural message, describing many of God’s attributes and actions towards those who choose to follow Him, bringing Him glory.  It’s just not something I would recommend to unbelievers seeking Jesus or would use in a worship set.

Final Score: 8/10

Artist Info

Track: My God is Here (listen to the song) (buy the song)

Artist: Cimorelli

Album: Alive (buy the album)

Genre: Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)

Release Year: 2017

Duration: 3:41

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

Updates:

03/23/2021 – Updated per repetition announcement.  I raised section 1’s score, removed my personal feelings, and updated commentary in section 4.  I also moved the first “update” to the bottom.  This did not affect its overall score.

04/12/2019 – I penalized the message too harshly due to my own personal taste.  Therefore, I added a point, increasing the overall score from 7.5/10 to 8/10.