Photo by James Coleman
Elevation Worship is a church-led band that was created in 2007. They join Bethel Music and Hillsong as the “big three” that has the biggest reach in modern Christian music. They released many albums and EP’s.
They also won nine awards, including two Billboard for Top Christian Artist (2021) and Top Christian Song (Graves into Gardens, 2021), and two GMA Dove awards for Spanish Language Album of the Year (Aleluya (En La Tierra), 2020) and Worship Recorded Song of the Year (The Blessing (Live), 2020).
Also, check out my other Elevation Worship reviews.
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?
It starts off by proclaiming that all creation should praise God. Elevation Worship explains that this praise extends beyond times of joy. When they face trials, tribulation, and persecution, they will continue to praise. It reaches beyond the church walls, spilled onto the streets, which is heard even by their enemies. They worship because He rules over everything, rose from the grave, is trustworthy, and the source of truth. They invite others who are listening to express themselves physically as their form of worship. Examples include shouting and jumping.
Score: 10/10
2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?
This song agrees with God’s inspired Word.
Lyrics posted with permission.*
[Intro]
Let’s go, 1, 2, hey
An appeal to the crowd to get started.
Let everything that has breath
Praise the Lord (You got it), praise the Lord
Quotes from the first part of Psalm 150:6.
Let everything, let everything that has breath
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord
(Let everything) Let everything (Hey) that has breath (Hey)
Essentially repeats lines 2 and 3.
[Verse 1]
I’ll praise in the valley, praise on the mountain (Yeah)
I’ll praise when I’m sure, praise when I’m doubting
I’ll praise when outnumbered, praise when surrounded
Elevation Worship praises God regardless of their circumstances (Acts 5:41 and 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).
‘Cause praise is the waters my enemies drown in
Elevation Worship is so outspoken in their worship that their enemies have no choice but to listen.
[Chorus (1)]
As long as I’m breathing
I’ve got a reason to
Praise the Lord, oh my soul (C’mon)
Elevation praises God because in Him they live, move, and have their being (Acts 17:28).
Praise the Lord, oh my soul
Spontaneous notwithstanding, repeats line 3.
[Verse 2]
I’ll praise when I feel it, and I’ll praise when I don’t (Yeah)
See commentary on Verse 1, lines 1-3.
I’ll praise ’cause I know You’re still in control
God is sovereign (Genesis 1:1, Deuteronomy 4:39, Deuteronomy 10:14, Joshua 2:11, Nehemiah 9:6, Psalm 29:10, Psalm 45:6, Psalm 50:7-15, Psalm 93:1-2, Psalm 115:3, Psalm 135:6, Isaiah 43:13, Isaiah 45:9-10, Isaiah 46:10, Lamentations 5:19, Daniel 4:35, Romans 9:19-21, Ephesians 1:11, Hebrews 1:8, James 4:15, Revelation 4:11, and Revelation 20:11).
‘Cause my praise is a weapon, it’s more than a sound (More than a sound)
As demonstrated in 2 Chronicles 20:1-30, Psalm 8:2, and Psalm 149:5-9.
Oh, my praise is the shout that brings Jericho down (Yeah)
References Joshua 6:20.
[Chorus (2)]
As long as I’m breathing
I’ve got a reason to
Praise the Lord (C’mon), oh my soul
Praise the Lord, oh my soul
Spontaneous notwithstanding, repeats Chorus (1), lines 1-4.
I won’t be quiet, my God is alive
So how could I keep it inside? (I gotta)
An indirect reference to Jesus’ resurrection (Matthew 28:1-20, Mark 16:1-20, Luke 24:1-12, John 20:1-29, Acts 1:3, Acts 3:15, Acts 4:33, and 1 Corinthians 15:3-8). Elevation Worship tells others about Him (Matthew 28:18-20).
Praise the Lord, oh my soul
(Yeah, praise the Lord)
Essentially repeats Chorus (1), lines 3 and 4.
[Interlude]
C’mon let me see that dance, put a dance on it tonight (Yeah)
If you’re grateful, c’mon
Hey, hey, yeah
Elevation Worship asks their audience to join in their celebration.
[Bridge]
I’ll praise ’cause You’re sovereign, praise ’cause You reign
See Verse 2, line 2.
Praise ’cause You rose and defeated the grave
Directly references Christ’s resurrection. See Scripture in my commentary on Chorus (2), lines 5 and 6.
I’ll praise ’cause You’re faithful, praise ’cause You’re true
He is faithful (Numbers 23:19, Deuteronomy 7:9, Psalm 33:4, Psalm 91:4, Psalms 119:90, Lamentations 3:22-23, 1 Corinthians 1:9, 1 Corinthians 10:13, 2 Thessalonians 3:3, 2 Timothy 2:13, Hebrews 10:23, 2 Peter 3:9, and 1 John 1:9) and true (John 14:6).
Praise ’cause there’s nobody greater than You
God is greater. Period (Deuteronomy 10:17, Psalm 8:3-4, Psalm 147:5, Job 26:14, Isaiah 40:28, and Isaiah 55:8-9).
I’ll praise ’cause You’re sovereign, praise ’cause You reign (You reign)
Praise ’cause You rose and defeated the grave
I’ll praise ’cause You’re faithful, praise ’cause You’re true
Praise ’cause there’s nobody greater than You
Spontaneous notwithstanding, repeats lines 1-4.
[Chorus (3)]
Praise the Lord, oh my soul
(C’mon, c’mon, c’mon, c’mon)
Praise the Lord, oh my soul (Praise the Lord, oh my soul)
Praise the Lord, oh my soul
Praise the Lord, oh my soul
I won’t be quiet, my God is alive
How could I keep it inside? (How could I)
I won’t be quiet, my God is alive
How could I keep it inside? (I won’t keep quiet)
I won’t be quiet, my God is alive
How could I keep it inside? (I gotta)
Praise the Lord, oh my soul
Essentially repeats Chorus (2), lines 1-8, albeit with more spontaneous and repeats.
[Outro]
Jump, jump, jump, jump
Elevation Worship asks their audience to join in their celebration.
Let everything that has breath (Hey, hey)
Praise the Lord (Hey, hey), praise the Lord
Let everything, let everything that has breath
(C’mon, c’mon, c’mon)
Praise the Lord (C’mon, c’mon)
Praise the Lord (C’mon, c’mon)
(Let everything), Let everything that has breath
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, praise the Lord
(Let everything), Let everything that has breath
(Praise the Lord)
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, praise the Lord
Essentially repeats Intro, lines 2 and 3.
Score: 10/10
3. How would an outsider interpret the song?
Bridge’s second line, “Praise ’cause You rose and defeated the grave”, makes it abundantly clear that this song is Christian. They also use words like “Lord” and “God” to reference Him. Elevation’s language is everyday, easing interpretation. Unbelievers should easily conclude that Elevation Worship praises God because He is alive, reigns, faithful, and true. They will sing it within the church and outside the church. They will ask said unbelievers to join.
Score: 10/10
4. What does this song glorify?
It glorifies Jesus as the One whom Elevation Worship praises.
Score: 10/10
Closing Comments
Elevation Worship’s Praise is praiseworthy. They praise Him for His loyalty, revival, Lordship, and truth no matter what. They could be on cloud nine or experiencing their worst nightmare. They could be at church or at the bar. It doesn’t matter. They will praise Him. Their enemies will hear it. All of us will be invited to join. These all bring glory to God. Those who are not yet Christians should easily arrive at similar conclusions.
I highly recommend this song for corporate worship.
Final Score: 10/10
Artist Info
Track: Praise (Live) (listen to the song)
Artist: Elevation Worship (Feat. Brandon Lake, Chris Brown, & Chandler Moore)
Album: Can You Imagine? (Live)
Genre: Rock
Release Year: 2023
Duration: 5:05
Agree? Disagree? Don’t be shy or have a cow! Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.
*Copyright © 2023 Writers Roof Publishing (BMI) Capitol CMG Paragon (BMI) Capitol CMG Genesis (ASCAP) Housefires Sounds (ASCAP) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com), Music by Elevation Worship Publishing (BMI) / For Humans Publishing (BMI) / Maverick City Publishing (BMI) / Brandon Lake Music (ASCAP) (admin at EssentialMusicPublishing.com). All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Comments
Ben O
Wow I was just looking for what people thought of the 2 questionable lines in this song. Did I ever find it! These lines strike me as putting the emphasis in the wrong place. Israels praise did not drown its enemies, the Lord parted the waters, and the Lord let the waters fall back over the Egyptians. While they did praise Him for miraculously delivering them, their praise did not accomplish the drowning. Same with the line “My praise is the shout, that brings Jericho down…” It was not the volume of the shout that brought the walls down. The power of God brought the walls down. There is a lot of “me” theology in worship today that is dangerous. While they do give the reason for praising in the Bridge, leading up to that point, it’s all about “me” and not the One who is worthy of praise.
Just my 2 cents. There are many songs like this that are 95% solid but 5% questionable. Just know that compromise in this season of life and the church can be a dangerous thing. We have to sing the truth and in some cases guard it. 95% truth is still 5% lie. Don’t just sing everything you hear. There are many options to sing other than songs that have problematic lines in them. Do the hardwork and in some cases be the not so popular one for not singing songs like “Praise.”
Aubs
👏👏👏
Richard M
I agree. I find most of the Christian songs today are more about “me” doing something for God. I appreciate the songs more if it focuses on describing who God is — how I think singing of praise truly happens. Not a fan of saying/singing “I am praising you” and the lyrics doesn’t describe the attributes or who God is.
Just my opinion too.
Angela S
I agree with Ben O. And hope that the original post is rethought.
Mark in TN
Not gonna lie, this song bothers me. Reading all the comments, seems to bother others as well. I come to BereanTest mostly for the section about how an outsider will interpret the song. We played it once in church and never again. Mostly because our youth on the worship team took literally that praise will drown your enemy with water. I understand your interpretation, but it’s not how it was interpreted at our church. I put out a poll to the congregation and asked them what it meant. Over 95% said that praising God will literally make your enemies disappear(drown) by the hand of God. The poll had 86 respondents. This is actually what people think, and I believe your justification of a 10/10 is not thought out enough. I get what this song is saying, but more importantly, I get how people, especially youth, will interpret it. So for me, this review is a no, along with playing it within our corporate worship.
Teri
Thank you for your insight. I appreciated the comments about “walls of Jericho” because that was the line that was cause for pause when asking worship pastors about doing this song with children. I see both sides. My thought is explaining lyrics first so kids don’t have a wrong interpretation. Point out God is Sovereign and in control of everything!!! God chooses to use people to accomplish His will. He uses the foolish to confound the wise (ie shouting and walls fall down). This has made for good thought and discussion. Thank you.
Teri
Jolee
Vince,
The very first line in this song says “Lets clap.” Not “Let’s go.” Just a lyric issue possibly.
-Jolee
Vince Wright
Jolee,
Curiosly, I both hear it as “let’s go” and “let’s clap”. Not that it really matters. The commentary is the same either way.
-Vince Wright
Benjamin Spears
There’s a lot to love in this song, but there are a few things that bother me. I get what Elevation is saying with the “drown” reference…that it’s kind of talking about how the things that oppose us or try to drag us down will melt away as we praise…but I think for new Christians especially, referencing enemies drowning is a little uncomfortable. If anyone’s up for doing a rewrite of this one line to make it more singable in congregations, I would be down for that as it seems like it’s another case of “sloppy wet kiss”, where it jars people out of the moment of worship simply because of the language being used. The Jericho line is a little troublesome because we know what happened when the walls fell down…and while God did the impossible in that situation, Israel then went in and killed everybody. A few odd choices that I think mar, what’s otherwise a pretty amazing worship song.
Dan Murphy
Did you find a replacement line for ‘paise is the waters my enemies drown in? We’re in a similar position and would rather sing something else as we’re not 100% sold on the theology of that line.
Benjamin Spears
Hey Dan. I’m no songwriter, but off the top of my head maybe something like “Cause praise is the peace that leaves me astounded”, or “Cause praise is the strength that’s keeping me grounded”….both of those lines fit the notion of feeling outnumbered and surrounded. Feel free to workshop it.
Valerie
Incidentally there’s a CT Article in line with this and a very small change that they talked about I think makes a world of difference in this song:
Cause praise is the waters
*Your* (instead of My) enemies drown in
I think this delivers the message much better with minimal change to either message or song.
Laurie Jackson
I got this idea from an Israeli group: “Praise is the water, my fear’s gonna drown in.”
Thomas Halley
I agree that this is a powerful worship song spoilt by a couple of lines that are open to misinterpretation.
Both passages in question, the parting of the Red Sea (Exodus 13:17-15:21) and the fall of the walls of Jericho (Joshua 5:13-6:27) are quoted in Hebrews 11:29-30.
“By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.
By faith the walls of Jericho fell, after the army had marched round them for seven days.”
Notice that the writer to the Hebrews does not say that the drowning of the Egyptians or the fall of the walls of Jericho were caused by praise. He says both events happened by faith!
There are occasions in scripture when God intervenes miraculously immediately after people have praised him. One such example is the earthquake when Paul and Silas were in prison (Acts 16:16-40). We could say that the faith of Paul and Silas caused them to praise God even in a seemingly hopeless situation.
This model of faith and praise in every circumstance is a good model for us to follow. However, I think we should avoid giving the impression to new Christians that every time we praise God, he will work a miracle and remove all obstacles in our way.
Charlene
Hi Benjamin, Not sure from you comment if you are aware that Israel was being obedient to God’s instruction… “Now the city shall be doomed by the Lord to destruction, it and all who are in it. Only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all who are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent.” Joshua 6v17 NKJV
Forbes Talley
Good evening! Hope you all are well! So we’re considering singing this song this coming Sunday for the first time, but the Jericho line is giving me a minor pause, as it could be interpreted as “it’s our praise that accomplishes things”, when Jericho was an act of God He chose to enact through His people’s obedience to follow His commands to shout. What are your thoughts on this? Thank you very much for your time, and the work you put into this site! It helps me in my work to make sure that the musical diet of our congregation is Gospel-centric, and Biblically sound.
Vince Wright
Forbes,
Thank you for your inquiry!
A few lines back, it says “I’ll praise ’cause I know You’re still in control”. In Bridge, it also says “I’ll praise ’cause You’re sovereign, praise ’cause You reign”. If God is in control, and He is ruling the universe, then it stands to reason that our praise causing Jericho (or the allegorical version of it) to fall would be based on God’s control and sovereignty over the matter.
-Vince Wright
Forbes Talley
Vince,
I agree in part! The line before could help shore it up a bit, but will your average congregation member draw that connection between a lyrically line break displayed on a screen? It seems a little unattached, and may leave the line in-question open to its own interpretation, independent of the lines in the preceding verse.
Again, thank you for your time!
Forbes
Wendy Morgan-Lampier
Thank you, Vince! I LOVE this site and the work you’re doing through it.
I just want to offer folks some encouragement who are afraid of lines like “My praise….” because they believe it takes away from God’s power.
It would be good to go back through the Bible and find just how many verses give God’s people authority on His behalf
Yes, it’s His power through us and yes, we DO have a God given authority to DO mighty acts. So when a song offers an action word that we “Do”, it’s not taking away the attention from God, in my opinion. Rather it’s driving home the fact that we must ACT often in our faith to see miracles happen. We are an extension of God and His power and miracles after faith in Christ and the indwelling of His Holy Spirit!
Blessings!
DW
I think you miss an important scriptural link to the potentially troublesome line: ‘Cause praise is the waters my enemies drown in’ – Read Exodus 14 & 15. The Israelites immediately praise the Lord following the Egyptians drowning in the Re(e)d Sea. He literally became their salvation.
Vince Wright
DW,
Thank you for your comment! Who was this meant for?
-Vince Wright
DW
Hi Vince – like the comment by TM above, I would personally add a cross reference in your analysis to the Egyptians drowning and worship being sung to give some more context to that particular line. It sounds like it’s caused some unrest and confusion from some who have come across the song. Just my two cents though…!
Vince Wright
DW,
See my response to TM.
-Vince Wright
TM
Why is everyone crying over the line “My praise is the waters, my enemies drown in” why is everyone saying thats not biblical and saying this song has no right to be sung because of that line? Do Christians these days really so lovey and forget how ruthless our God is? Even when David sings his Psalms there’s scriptures where he talks about his enemies been drown in waters, referencing the Egyptians. He mentions it on multiple scriptures. I don’t understand how Christians can pick at all these powerful amazing songs and find one thing they think is wrong with them and go on sharing it to all these other people. Meant to be bringing people to the Lord, not tearing down other christians like how is that more important than saving souls 🤷🏽♀️
Vince Wright
TM,
Thank you for your comment!
I don’t think “praise is the water my enemies drown in” is an example of God being ruthless to the point where He literally kills people. Rather, I think it describes the height and depth of our praise that overflows and, in a sense, immerses those who hear it. Some will respond favorably and others will not (2 Corinthians 2:15-16).
-Vince Wright
Jaden Johnson
Could you speak a little more on the line “praise is the water my enemies drown in?”
Vince Wright
Jaden,
Sure!
One word: immersion. When we praise God, our enemies are immersed in it, forced to listen from a distance.
Proverbs 4:16 tells us that some people can’t sleep unless they cause someone else to stumble. Praise draws that out in some people. They are so jealous of your joy that they want to rob you of it. They are in effect drowning in it.
-Vince Wright
Rick
How should we compare it to Matt 5:43-44? “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…” Is it loving our enemies to gloat in their drowning? I feel like that could send mixed messages to some folks. And what context in the song would steer people to defining “enemy” to something other than the guy at work the can’t stand? People (and Elevation) tend to be more “me” centered by default. It’d at least be better if it were “the” enemy instead of “my” enemies.
Also struggle with the Jericho line, as mentioned above.
Vince Wright
Rick,
Great question!
I don’t think this is about a literal, watery drowning, but for them to be immersed by, or “drowned in”, our praise.
-Vince Wright
Rick
Well that may be what you think, but that’s obviously not what comes to mind for everybody, which is my point. It’s not clear. Songs sung in congregational worship should be explicitly clear in the truths we’re singing to, who were singing to, and why. Worship leaders are shepherds and pastors, too, so there’s a responsibility there to lead people clearly and well, leaving no room for potentially leading people somewhere scripture doesn’t.
DW
Read Exodus 14 & 15 – the Israelites immediately sing to the Lord after the pursuing Egyptians drown in the Re(e)d Sea – He was literally their salvation:
“I’ll sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted.
The horse and its rider he has thrown into the sea.
The Lord is my strength and song, and he has become my salvation.” (Ex. 15:1-2)
Chris P
Our enemies are the principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness, and spiritual hosts of wickedness, not other humans. Ephesians 6:12. Praise is a powerful spiritual weapon that drowns out the lies of THE enemy.
T.J.
Hey Vincent!
This is a great site and I appreciate your desire to test these songs for Biblical content to give reference to how content is glorifying God or not. I do think there is a big difference between differentiating between whether something is “in the Bible” vs. whether it is biblical to sing. This song is absolutely a solid biblical song that exalts the Lord except for one line:
“My praise is a shout that brings Jericho down”
Yes, you can find the reference to this in the Bible but it is not a biblical statement. Our praise has nothing to do with bringing down the walls of Jericho…in the same way Moses’ staff has nothing to do with parting the Red Sea. Only by the power of the Lord.
I hate to throw the baby out with the bathwater and that why I would love to see your thoughts on how worship pastors and/or leaders can tweak lyrics like this to make them biblical and fit within the song theme and scheme.
Thanks!
Vince Wright
T.J.,
Thank you for your comments and inquiry!
This is an example of taking a literal event and making it figurative to make a point. There are strong opinions on both sides of the aisle about whether or not to use the Bible in this fashion. A common one is to sing about the “giants in your life”, referencing David and Goliath. Yes, there’s a literal event that took place, and I understand the rejoiner of some, that it’s “taking the Bible out of context”. Here’s my take on it.
In order to take something like “giants in your life” in reference to David and Goliath, we need to have an understanding of what took place. In other words, we need to go back to the original source and understand it literally! Once we know that Goliath is a literal giant whom David fought and killed with God at his side, we can understand the figurative usage of “giants in your life”. Much like David, God is with us to face intimidating challenges and “slay” them. In the same way, we can only understand the figurative usage of “My praise is a shout that brings Jericho down” by first understanding what took place in Joshua 6. Much like the shout that brought the walls Jericho down, so does my praise bring down whatever enemy that plagues me.
Finally, believe it or not, my legal name is Vince! I’m technically Vince Wright the 2nd, but my dad goes by a different name, so Vince Wright just stuck with me.
I hope that helps.
-Vince Wright
Rick
“I do think there is a big difference between differentiating between whether something is “in the Bible” vs. whether it is biblical to sing.”
I think this is a very relevant point made in the comment above. I would also push back on your interpretation of David and Goliath. That has a “self help” feel more than a Christ-centered one. Following Christ is a call to suffer, not “slay” everything in front of us. I lean towards David representing Christ and Goliath sin, death and the grave. It’s a foreshadowing to the victory Christ has won for us, not through us.
We can agree to disagree on things, but as other comments below suggest, there’s some things to wrestle with here. 10/10 is a stretch, in my humble opinion. I know quite a few leaders that reject this song, myself included. 90% of the lyrics may be great, but the 10% matter.
Ben
“My praise is the shout that brings Jericho down”
Joshua 6:2-5, partially quoted says this: Then the Lord said to Joshua, ….. “have the whole army give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse…”
God literally said that the city will collapse after their shout. He commanded the Israelites to march around Jericho, offering praise. Their praise is an act of faith for which God honored/fulfilled his promise to deliver the Israelites through that moment.
SDG
Vince, I appreciate the explanation (and your website)! If I may add a nuance to the conversation, I think it’s important in context to understand what is behind David and Goliath, even if you are to use them figuratively.
“we can understand the figurative usage of “giants in your life”. Much like David, God is with us to face intimidating challenges and “slay” them.”
I would add to the conversation by pointing out that the “giant” David slew was in reference to his challenge to the Armies of Israel. It wasn’t just any intimidating challenge. The Philistines dishonored God and fought against His people (Goliath cursed David by his own gods).
As such, does the song make clear that it is not just any “giant” or an enemy, but on the basis of your connection to the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that your “praise” is to take them out (the walls of Jericho)? I don’t think it does. By the way, David didn’t use “praise”, he used a stone (and then Goliath’s own sword to cut off the giant’s head).
It’s for that reason of the biblical context being off or ambiguous or unclear that I can’t use songs like this in corporate worship. There are HUNDREDS that are “approved” that do this. Just my 2 cents.
Soli Dei Gloria (SDG)