CityAlight – Good and Gracious King

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)

Check out my other CityAlight reviews.

Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Cityalight-good-and-gracious-king-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?

CityAlight has nothing to offer their good, gracious, and praiseworthy God except for His undeserved favor that He has offered them.  In exchange for their weariness, God gives them His:

• power
• Holy Spirit
• friendship
• protection

How do we know CityAlight sings about the Christian God?  The only detail that differentiates Him from other deities is that He offers His Holy Spirit.

Score: 10/10

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

This song completely aligns with Scripture.

[Verse 1]

Lines 1-4: This is not a contradiction to Deuteronomy 16:16.  Rather, it’s an acknowledgment that Cityalight brings nothing to the table in their own steam that they could offer to God’s throne.  They wouldn’t dare present their best offering, which is filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6).  They are completely and wholly dependent on grace (Luke 18:9-14, Acts 13:39, Romans 3:20-30, Romans 4:1-7, Romans 8:3, Romans 9:16, Romans 9:31-32, Romans 11:6, Galatians 2:16, Galatians 2:21, Galatians 3:10-12, Galatians 3:21, Galatians 5:2-4, Ephesians 2:8-9, Philippians 3:3-9, 2 Timothy 1:9, Hebrews 6:1-2, and James 2:10-11).  Also, God is good (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) and 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).

[Verse 2]

Lines 1 and 2: Describes the great exchange, where God trades CityAlights error for His righteousness (Romans 6:1-11, Romans 7:4-6, Galatians 2:19-20, 2 Timothy 2:11, and 1 Peter 2:24).  Also, see Matthew 11:28-30 (for giving Christ burdens) and 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 (for God’s strength in His people).

Line 3: Realized in Acts 6:5, Romans 8:9-11, 1 Corinthians 3:16, 1 Corinthians 6:16-19, Galatians 4:6, Ephesians 5:18, and 2 Timothy 1:14.

Line 4: CityAlight responds by singing God’s praises (Psalm 66:4, Psalm 96:1-2, and Isaiah 42:10-12).

[Chorus]

Line 1: CityAlight obeys God’s command to do all for His glory (1 Corinthians 10:31, Colossians 3:17-23, and 1 Peter 4:11).

Line 2: God does not depend on His creation (Genesis 1:1, Exodus 3:14, Psalm 50:7-15, Psalm 90:1-2, Job 38:4-7, John 1:1-4, John 17:5, and Revelation 4:11).  For the second part, see all of Verse 1 and Verse 2, line 4.

Line 3: Essentially repeats line 1.

Line 4: See commentary on Verse 1, lines 1-4, specifically, pertaining to grace.

[Verse 3]

Lines 1 and 2: CityAlight is an adopted child of God (John 1:12-13, John 14:18, Romans 8:14-17, Romans 8:23, Romans 9:1-8, Galatians 3:26, Galatians 4:5-7, Ephesians 1:3-14, Ephesians 2:11-22, Hebrews 9:15, and 1 John 3:1-3) and a friend of God (John 15:15).

Line 3: describes God as CityAlight’s refuge (Ruth 2:12, 2 Samuel 22:3-4, Psalm 3:3, Psalm 5:11, Psalm 18:30, Psalm 27:1, Psalm 32:7, Psalm 34:22, Psalm 41:2, Psalm 46:1, Psalm 57:1, Psalm 59:1, Psalm 61:3, Psalm 91:1-16, Psalm 118:8, Psalm 121:7-8, Psalm 138:7, Proverbs 18:10, Proverbs 30:5, Nahum 1:7, 2 Thessalonians 3:3, and 1 John 5:18).

Line 4: Essentially repeats Verse 2, line 4.

[Bridge]

Line 1: Borrowed from Revelation 4:8.

Line 2: Repeats part of Verse 1, line 4.

Line 3: Repeats line 1.

Line 4: Essentially repeats Verse 1, line 4.

Lines 5-8: Repeats lines 1-4.

[Outro]

Lines 1 and 2: Repeats the last portion of Chorus, line 4.

Score: 10/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

As stated in section 1, “God gives His Holy Spirit” is commonly understood as uniquely Christian.  Unbelievers will likely have come across this in their lifetime.  This song also explicitly uses the name “God”, eliminating a probable human lover interpretation.  The language is everyday and easy to digest, alongside its message of God’s acceptance of people without merit.  However, my only concern is that there’s nothing mentioned about repentance or God’s demands on their lives should they become a follower of Jesus.

Score: 7/10

4. What does this song glorify?

It glorifies God as the One who offers grace to those who are His.  His people worship and glorify Him.

Score: 10/10

Closing Comments

CityAlight’s Good and Gracious King is a great worship song.  It calls us to praise God because He granted us favor based on His lovingkindness, not anything we’ve done.  He is good, gracious, and ruler.  His followers sing His praises and receive His Holy Spirit, strength, and defense.  These glorify God.  Unbelievers should have little to no issues interpreting similarly.  Bear in mind that the lyrics do not contain any language that describes an unbeliever’s need to repent and trust in Jesus to receive the blessings contained therein.

If your focus is purely to worship God, then this song is appropriate for corporate worship.  If you’re looking for something more suitable for your seeker-sensitive church, then consider contextualizing this song with the Gospel before worshipping with it.

Final Score: 9.5/10

Artist Info

Track: Good and Gracious King (listen to the song)

Artist: CityAlight

Album: Only a Holy God

Genre: Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)

Release Year: 2016

Duration: 5:58

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