CityAlight – Blessed Assurance

CityAlight, in the same structure as Hillsong, Elevation Worship, and Bethel, is a band run by a church organization. They hail from St Paul’s Castle Hill in Castle Hill, Australia.  They aim to reach a larger audience with theologically accurate lyrics based on Scripture, realized in my glowing CityAlight reviews!

CityAlight released three albums and one EP, including:

• Yours Alone (2014)
• Only a Holy God (2016)
• Yet Not I (EP; 2018)
• There is One Gospel (Live) (2022)
• Simple Songs for Young and Old (2023)

Check out my other CityAlight reviews.

Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Cityalight-blessed-assurance-lyrics.

Note to new users: This is a different kind of review site!  Read About the Berean Test and Evaluation Criteria prior to reading this review.  I strongly encourage you to consider the potential blessings and dangers of this artist‘s theology by visiting Resources.

1. What message does the song communicate?

Amid CityAlight’s dissatisfaction with their current state, leaving them empty inside, God rescued them.

God is:

• Consistent
• Incomparable
• Loving
• Anchor
• Powerful
• Enough
• Hope
• True
• Leader

In response, CityAlight worships Him and will not be moved away from their faith.

Score: 10/10

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

It lines up.

[Verse 1]

Lines 1 and 2: Summarizes Philippians 3:8-10.

Line 3: Singing is CityAlight’s soul’s response to lines 1 and 2.

[Chorus]

Lines 1 and 2: God always keeps His promises (Numbers 23:19, Joshua 21:45, Joshua 23:14, 1 Kings 8:56, Romans 4:21, 2 Corinthians 1:20, 1 Thessalonians 5:24, Hebrews 10:23, and 2 Peter 3:9).

Line 3: Borrows from the last part of Psalm 62:1.

Lines 4 and 5: Borrows from Psalm 17:7.

Line 6: Repeats line 3.

Line 7: Essentially repeats line 1.

[Verse 2]

Lines 1 and 2: God is unique (Exodus 8:10, Exodus 9:14, Deuteronomy 3:24, Deuteronomy 33:26, Jeremiah 10:6, 1 Samuel 2:2, 2 Samuel 7:22, 1 Kings 8:23, 1 Chronicles 17:20, Psalm 86:8, Psalm 89:6, Psalm 113:5-6, Jeremiah 10:7, Isaiah 40:18, and Isaiah 46:9).

Line 3: Repeats Verse 1, line 3.

[Bridge]

Lines 1-4: God is:

• Anchor (Hebrews 6:19)
• CityAlight’s source of power (Nehemiah 8:10, Psalm 22:19, Psalm 28:7-8, Psalm 46:1, Psalm 118:14, Isaiah 12:2, Isaiah 33:2, Isaiah 40:29-31, Habakkuk 3:19, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Ephesians 3:16, Ephesians 6:10, and Philippians 4:13)
• Satisfier (Numbers 18:20, Deuteronomy 10:9, Deuteronomy 18:2, Joshua 13:33, Psalm 16:5, Psalm 23:5, Psalm 73:26, Psalm 142:5, Psalm 119:57, Psalm 142:5, Lamentations 3:24, and Ezekiel 44:28)
• Physician (Matthew 9:12, Mark 2:17, and Luke 5:31)
• Hope (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)
• Truth (John 14:6)
• Guides (Psalm 32:8, Psalm 37:23-24, Psalm 73:23-24, Psalm 119:105, Isaiah 30:21, Isaiah 48:17, Isaiah 58:11, Proverbs 3:5-6, Proverbs 16:9, Proverbs 20:24, Psalm 25:4-9, Psalm 25:9-10, Luke 1:78-79, John 14:26, John 16:13, and Romans 8:14)

Score: 10/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

This song explicitly contains “God”.  While there are no specific acts of God mentioned, this song relies heavily on Christianese phrases that are understood and familiar to unbelievers, including “blessed assurance” and “I will not be shaken/moved”.  The rest is comprehensible with relatively little difficulty.

Score: 10/10

4. What does this song glorify?

It glorifies God by proclaiming to Him His value and worth via His attributes listed in section 1, and CityAlight’s response to worship Him.

Score: 10/10

Closing Comments

CityAlight’s Blessed Assurance is good. It tells us that God brought us out of despair into His domain, where we depend on Him to liberate us, ensure that we have enough, give us power, and grant us hope. In response, we praise Him. These glorify God. Unbelievers should not struggle much with interpreting similarly.

This song is appropriate for corporate worship.

Final Score: 10/10

Artist Info

Track: Blessed Assurance (listen to the song)

Artist: CityAlight

Album: Only a Holy God

Genre: Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)

Release Year: 2016

Duration: 5:46

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