Darlene Zschech – Shout To The Lord

Contemporary Christian artist Darlene Zschech had early exposure on the silver screen, participating in the  Australian children’s show, Happy Go Round.  She began her career in 1989 by singing short jingles for major corporations such as KFC,  McDonald’s, and Coca-Cola and attended Hills Christian Life Centre (now called Hillsong Church), eventually becoming one of its staff in 1996.  She left Hillsong in 2011, with her last project with Hillsong in their 2012 album We Have a Saviour.

Zschech is most famous for her hit song Shout to the Lord.  It received numerous Dove nominations and was performed on American Idol in 2008 and for Pope Francis in 2015.

She also released several solo albums, including:

• Make the Choice (1987)
• Pearls & Gold (1993)
• Kiss of Heaven (2003)
• Change Your World (2005)
• Simply Darlene (2011)
• You Are Love (2011)
• Revealing Jesus (2013, live)
• Here I Am Send Me (2017, live)

Zschech also collaborated with Michael W. Smith, Graham Kendrick, and Elevation Worship.

Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Darlene-zschech-shout-to-the-lord-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?

Zschech is saved only through the name of Jesus, praising Him because He demonstrates His love for her, implicitly referring to the cross.  Christ is her consolance, hiding place, and recipient of her everlasting worship.  She invites all creation to join her, praising the all-powerful ruler of creation, whose utterances cause summits to crumble and disturb the waters, invoked by the name of Jesus.  There is no suitable alternative to knowing God intimately.

Score: 10/10

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

All of it agrees with God’s inspired Word.

[Verse 1]

Line 1: There is no other name in heaven by which Zschech can be saved (John 14:6 and Acts 4:12).

Line 2: There is no one else who is 100% God (Isaiah 9:6-7, Isaiah 43:10-11, Matthew 1:23, Matthew 9:1-8, Mark 2:1-12, Luke 5:17-26, John 1:1-3, John 1:14, John 5:17-18, John 8:23-25, John 8:28, John 10:30-33, John 14:9, John 20:28-29, Philippians 2:5-6, Colossians 1:16-19, Colossians 2:8-9, Titus 2:13, 1 Timothy 6:14-16, Hebrews 1:10-12, Revelation 1:8, and Revelation 22:13) and 100% man (Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 9:6, Matthew 1:23, Luke 1:35, John 1:1, John 1:14, and Philippians 2:5-8).

Lines 3 and 4: Describes Zschech’s desire to eternally praise God (Nehemiah 9:5, Psalm 30:12, Psalm 52:9, Psalm 86:12, Psalm 89:1, Psalm 115:18, Psalm 145:1-2, Psalm 145:21, and Revelation 5:9-13) because of His wonderful love for her, shown on the cross (John 3:16 and Romans 5:6-8).

[Verse 2]

Lines 1 and 2: Describes God as Zschech’s Comforter (Psalm 23:4, Psalm 71:21, Psalm 119:50-52, Psalm 119:76, Psalm 119:82, Isaiah 51:3, Isaiah 57:18, Isaiah 61:2, Isaiah 66:13, Zechariah 1:17, Matthew 5:4, Matthew 11:28-30, and 2 Corinthians 1:3-7) and Protector (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).

Lines 3 and 4: See commentary on Verse 1, line 3 and 4.

[Chorus]

Lines 1 and 2: All of creation will praise God (Psalm 19:1-4, Psalm 66:4, Psalm 103:22, Psalm 148:7-11, Psalm 150:1-6, Isaiah 55:12, Luke 19:40, and Revelation 5:13).

Line 3: References God’s omnipotence (Genesis 1:1-31, Job 11:7-11, Psalm 33:6, Jeremiah 32:17, Romans 4:17, Hebrews 1:3, and Jude 1:24-25) and authority as ruler and King (Exodus 15:18, Psalm 10:16, Psalm 29:10, Psalm 92:8, Psalm 145:13, Psalm 146:10, Isaiah 9:6, Isaiah 11:10, Lamentations 5:19, Daniel 4:3, Daniel 4:34, Daniel 6:26, Micah 4:7, Micah 5:2, Matthew 2:1-6, John 12:15, John 18:37, 1 Timothy 1:17, 1 Timothy 6:13-16, 1 Peter 5:1, Revelation 11:15, Revelation 17:14, and Revelation 19:11-16).

Lines 4 and 5: Invoking the name of Jesus causes mountains to fall, which naturally causes seas to tear (Matthew 17:20, Matthew 21:21, and Mark 11:23).

Lines 6 and 7: See commentary on Verse 1, lines 3 and 4.

Line 8: To what can we compare to eternal life with God?  The Apostle Paul sums it up nicely when he calls everything else “rubbish” in comparison to knowing God (Philippians 3:8-10).

[Verse 3]

Lines 1-4: Repeats Verse 1 with some added background vocals.

[Verse 4]

Lines 1-4: Repeats Verse 2 with some added background vocals.

[Outro]

Lines 1 and 2: Repeats Chorus, line 8.

Score: 10/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

Zschech’s message is clear to unbelievers using accessible language.  She identifies the subject of worship by name (Jesus), speaks of His attributes (unique, aid, shelter, ruler, etc.), proclaims the wonders that He does (saves people and destroys mountains), and states that life with God has no comparison.

Score: 10/10

4. What does this song glorify?

It glorifies Jesus in that it proclaims His acts, properties, and that all existence will praise Him.

Score: 10/10

Closing Comments

Darlene Zschech’s Shout To The Lord is an excellent song deserving of all its accolades.  It exemplifies Jesus as the incomparable ruling Savior who comforts, shelters, and performs wonders.  He is worthy of the praise given to Him by all creation, bringing Him glory.  Zschech’s message is easy for unbelievers to comprehend.

I highly recommend resurrecting this classic for corporate worship.

Final Score: 10/10

Artist Info

Track: Shout To The Lord (listen to the song)

Artist: Darlene Zschech

Album: Shout to the Lord [as “Hillsong Worship”]

Genre: Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)

Release Year: 1995

Duration: 4:39

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

Updates:

09/14/2021 – Per Artist Theology announcement, I expanded the red text to encourage others to study Darlene Zschech’s theology via Hillsong.

03/23/2021 – Updated per repetition announcement.

02/28/2021 – The original review incorrectly stated that Darlene left Hillsong in 2006.  Thanks to katrina637 for pointing it out!