Photo by James Coleman
Elevation Worship’s The Blessing was recently requested several times in the same week, in part because it addresses the current COVID-19 crisis. It’s gaining a lot of attention and it’s clear that many of you want my opinion on it. So, I caved.
It was co-written by Steven Furtick and Chris Brown (Elevation Worship). Christian artists and married couple Cody Carnes and Kari Jobe also helped pen this recent release.
Also, check out my other Elevation Worship reviews. There is plenty to choose from!
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?
The song’s title summarizes the entire song. It is a series of blessings offered to those who listen, containing several elements:
- That God would grant bless us, keep us, show favor towards us, and grant us grace and peace for a thousand generations.
- That we would become more sensitive to God’s presence that exists everywhere, including the Holy Spirit indwelling within us.
- That we would understand God is for us no matter the time of day, location, or personal scenario.
Side Note: This song relies heavily on repetition:
- Chorus – Three times
- Refrain – Five times, with each containing six “amen”
- Bridge 1 – Six times
- Bridge 2 – Three times
- Bridge 3 – Three times
- Post-Bridge – Three times, with the same phrase repeating six times on the first iteration and eight times on the next two.
Score: 10/10
2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?
All the blessings contained in this song are either directly quoted from Scripture or inspired by it.
Lyrics posted with permission.*
[Chorus]
The Lord bless you
And keep you
Make His face shine upon you
And be gracious to you
The Lord turn His
Face toward you
And give you peace
This is a common blessing given at the end of church services. It was originally a blessing God instructed Moses to tell Aaron to give to the people of Israel in Numbers 6:24-26.
The Lord bless you
And keep you
Make His face shine upon you
And be gracious to you
The Lord turn His
Face toward you
And give you peace
Repeats lines 1-7.
[Refrain]
Amen, amen, amen
Amen, amen, amen
“So be it” stated six times.
[Bridge 1]
May His favor be upon you
And a thousand generations
And your family and your children
And their children, and their children
Elevation Worship’s blessing inspired by Exodus 20:6, Deuteronomy 7:9, and Psalm 103:17-18.
May His favor be upon you
And a thousand generations
And your family and your children
And their children, and their children
Repeats lines 1-4.
May His favor be upon you
And a thousand generations
And your family and your children
And their children, and their children
Repeats lines 1-4.
May His favor be upon you
And a thousand generations
And your family and your children
And their children, and their children
Repeats lines 1-4.
[Bridge 2]
May His presence go before you
And behind you, and beside you
All around you, and within you
He is with you, He is with you
Combines the omnipresence of God (1 Kings 8:27, Psalm 139:7-12, Proverbs 15:3, Jeremiah 23:23-24, Colossians 1:17, and Hebrews 4:13) with the Holy Spirit who lives inside believers (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) into a blessing. He is with us wherever we go (Joshua 1:9).
[Bridge 3]
In the morning, in the evening
In your coming, and your going
In your weeping, and rejoicing
He is for you, He is for you
Regardless of the time of day, location, or emotional state, God is for us (Psalm 56:9, Psalm 118:6-7, Psalm 121:8, Ezekiel 36:9, and Romans 8:31).
[Post-Bridge]
He is for you, He is for you
He is for you, He is for you
He is for you, He is for you
Repeats Bridge 3, line 4.
Score: 10/10
3. How would an outsider interpret the song?
Unbelievers won’t miss the message the first time, much less the second or third. It is a blessing offered to believers. However, they could also be lead astray, thinking that God is with, within, and for them without repentance or faith. Rather, Scripture says the opposite:
- They will experience eternal separation from God (Matthew 18:8, Matthew 25:41, Matthew 25:46, Mark 9:43, Jude 1:7, Revelation 14:11, and Revelation 20:10).
- Their hearts are far from God (Isaiah 29:13, Ezekiel 33:31, and Matthew 15:7–9).
- God is against them.
Little in this song applies to unbelievers until they turn from their wickedness and trust in Jesus.
Score: 7/10
4. What does this song glorify?
It brings glory to God by invoking a Biblically accurate blessing to those who hear it.
Score: 10/10
Closing Comments
Elevation Worship’s The Blessing is an excellent song. It offers a blessing inspired by Scripture that unbelievers can easily comprehend and brings glory to God. However, unbelievers will probably get the wrong idea, thinking God approves of their sinful lifestyle.
Those undeterred by repetition may consider ending their church service with this song; However, I cannot recommend this song for seeker-sensitive churches without an explanation. Either way, it’s not appropriate for corporate worship.
Final Score: 9.5/10
Artist Info
Track: The Blessing (Live) (listen to the song)
Artist: Elevation Worship (Feat. Cody Carnes & Kari Jobe)
Album: Graves Into Gardens (Live)
Genre: Rock
Release Year: Will be released May 2020
Duration: N/A
Agree? Disagree? Don’t be shy or have a cow! Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.
*Copyright © 2020 Worship Together Music (BMI) Writers Roof Publishing (BMI) Capitol CMG Paragon (BMI) Kari Jobe Carnes Music (BMI) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com), Elevation Worship Publishing (BMI) (admin at EssentialMusicPublishing.com). All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Updates:
02/15/2022 – After prayerfully considering Steve Barhydt’s comments, I decided that my rating for section 3 was too harsh. I updated it, raising the song’s overall score from 8.5/10 to 9.5/10. I also updated conclusion to explicitly state that it’s not appropriate for corporate worship, and that seeker-sensitive churches should offer an explanation.
09/14/2021 – Per Artist Theology announcement, I expanded the red text to encourage others to study Elevation Worship’s theology.
04/20/2021 – After prayerfully considering Don’s comments, I decided to update section 3 based on his direction. This reduced the song’s overall score, from 10/10 to 8.5/10.
03/15/2021 – Updated per repetition announcement. I tailored my commentary as a side note, to those sensitive to repetition. This raised this song’s score from 9.5/10 to 10/10.
05/11/2020 – Added Psalm 103:17-18 as a reference for Bridge 1, thanks to Linda Carroll!
Comments
Candy Porostosky
Just read Matthew 5:2-12 and realize that the Blessings of Life are more from being poor in spirit, being in sorrow, humble, a deep hunger and thirst for righteousness, being merciful, being a peacemaker, being persecuted and insulted because of Jesus. These don’t seem like blessings when they happen, but we have the blessings of Jesus on our lives when are lives are not perfect and we trust in God anyway. Often, when deciding and questioning whether to lead a song in worship, my measuring stick for any song is, “is it biblically accurate, AND, can I lead this song in a third world country?” For me, I like the song and it does have it’s place. For example, I recently sang the song at the wedding of a couple who separated from living together and abstained from sex until married and pronounced a pure faith in God. I felt God’s anointing because it was a testimony of their faith in God and His blessing on their marriage. But in most cases, If I were to lead the congregation with this song on a Sunday morning, I am concerned that people may think they have God’s blessings just because they come to church, but in reality are not pursuing a relationship with Jesus as their first love. My personal preference, I wish it had less repetition and a third verse/bridge which clarified the blessings of God.
SDA Hymnal Songs Lyrics (@AadityaSardar)
Thank you for sharing this profound article! God bless your ministry work for His cause!
SDA Hymnal
Tom
Robert —
While I cannot relate to your loss, may you be encouraged to consider that the Spirit of God working within you will bring, and likely has brought, God’s blessing and truth into the lives of those you have come in contact.
Not all of us are called, or privileged, to have children, but consider that your powerful witness and testimony may carry out God’s favor and blessing upon generations and generations. For the person who sees Christ in you and comes to know the Lord today, that may be the very blessing of God that breaks the cycle of sin and destruction in their life, passing the blessing forward into their children, and children’s children, and beyond.
We may never know or see, on this side of Heaven, the specific impact of our life on Kingdom, but if you do ever get a glimpse, it will catalyze your faith like nothing else; I had that happen once back in my college day, in which my interaction with someone, which at the time for for purely personal reasons, was used by God to further His Kingdom — I came to find out that this person saw the love and grace of Christ in me, despite me, and gave their life to Him. Today, they are raising a family with Christ at its center, not something that would ever have been likely given their own upbringing.
So, be encouraged, brother. God’s favor and blessings go beyond us, far exceeding our wildest imaginations!
Beam Me Up
I was struggling in sin and when I heard this song it called me back to obedience to God, because it reminded me that even though my sin is abominable, He has called me (and everyone else) to repentance through grace, forgiveness and love in His own life by leading the way in action. I’m not a fan of Elevation’s theology- in fact I think some of it is not biblical. And yes, there are many songs that just repeat the same human-centered ideas over and over, especially from certain seeker friendly churches. But surprise, this song actually uses biblical language and concepts which are common to the old testament covenant and the new testament gospel to remind us that God has been at work building relationships with people from the very beginning of His creation… even when we choose to ignore or reject Him. He has been, is, and will always be more powerful than our sin. We are never beyond his rescue. The Blessing song is a reminder to those whom God has called that His blessing is far more amazing than the things of this world. And that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ! To the extent that this song glorifies God, it is for Christ, not against Him, even if the church where it comes from is misleading people with man-centered teaching.
Michael Ramsey
I responded to a previous comment but a lot of people missed it so I will say it again. At my church we divide Christian songs into 4 categories. 1. Praise ( songs about or to God most of the time the word “you” is withheld in these songs) 2. Worship ( talking to God the word “you” is commonly used) 3. Transitional (these songs transition from praise to worship or from worship to praise and usually have some elements of a typical praise/and or worship song) and 4. Ministry ( these songs are focused on building us up songs that use the pronoun “I” usually fall here and songs that don’t fall into the other three categories). I would say The blessing falls under the 4th category. * Songs that are almost like God talking to us or how he feels about us are either in the 3rd or 4th category those ones are tricky.
JM
Michael – that’s an interesting breakdown. Can you talk to the thought process behind those categories, how they came about, relevant biblical examples, etc…?
Helen
I enjoy this song but as a worship leader I have a responsibility to use songs in church services that give praise and worship to God. I don’t believe this song does either. While it’s Biblically accurate it is neither a song of praise nor worship because it’s focus is on us and not on God. I do believe it is an appropriate song to sing with believers in order to provide a blessing e.g. over a marriage, in sending missionaries etc. it does require some explanation in a church service so that congregations don’t think that singing “God loves me and wants to bless me” is enough.
Greg Parden
Hi, I am new to your sight, and I first would like to say thank you for doing this work. As a musician and worship elder in my church I am tasked with testing the biblical integrity of the music we use in worship. What you are doing here is very important in today’s world where there is so much noise and confusion in and around Christian music.
After reading this review and your evaluation criteria, I would like to suggest that your score for “how an outsider would interpret this song” might be too heavily weighted in comparison to the other more important criteria. Your stated principle references 1 Thessalonians 5:22. Since the lyrics of this song are direct quotes from scripture, and scripture is infallible, I don’t believe this principle can apply, even if an unbeliever is confused.
Non-believers are more often than not, confused about a lot of things in God’s word. I don’t believe Christians should be afraid to quote scripture in order to avoid confusion by outsiders. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” It is our job to proclaim God’s word and it is the Holy Spirit’s job to give understanding, faith, and discernment to those who God calls.
Secondly, the Bereans were noted for testing the Gospel against the scriptures (which at the time consisted only the Old Testament). Luke praised them for their doctrinal integrity, not for being sensitive to the feelings of unbelievers. I’m not saying we shouldn’t be sensitive to unbelievers in the context of 1 Thessalonians 5:22, I’m just suggesting that 1 Thessalonians 5:22 doesn’t apply in this case because all scripture is the holy word of God and cannot be withheld or moderated to avoid misunderstanding in outsiders. If the message is God’s law and gospel, we must proclaim it and let the Holy Spirit sort out the rest.
In the modern era, the idea has crept into the church that everything we do has to be seeker oriented. This was clearly not the case in biblical times. God’s message of the blessing through Moses was given to His people, not to outsiders. It has been used continuously in Jewish and Christian worship for over 3300 years as a blessing for God’s people. It never was intended for unbelievers. To use a really bad metaphor, It’s kind of like Costco or Sam’s club – everybody understands that you have to join the club (so to speak) to get the benefits.
Other than that one point, I thought your review was spot on. Personally, my biggest issue with this song is that they turned a 2 minute song into a 12 minute song, and I feel like I’m getting tired of getting blessed by the time it’s over…..(kind of like this comment, lol)
Vince Wright
Greg,
Thank you for your comments and welcome to The Berean Test!
You’ve given me a lot to chew on in terms of section 3. I’ve noticed that many songs don’t receive 10/10 scores because of how I believe an unbeliever might interpret this song. But, you’ve made a case for why that shouldn’t exist when we evaluate songs. Admittedly, I’ve had a lot of complaints about this section, especially that it seems to discourage unbelievers from understanding the artist’s intent (which may lead to studying Scripture). It’s not my intent to keep unbelievers from learning more. But, a lot of people (including myself) have concerns about how songs might lead unbelievers in the wrong direction.
-Vince Wright
Trougot
A universal comment I can place anywhere, but suiting the GIMME,GIMME,GIMME attitude of this song.
“HAMSTERS ON A WHEEL TREADMILL” … That is what we as image bearers of God, are being formed into by the world, with our own consent whilst not realizing it or hardly seeing the dangerous problem!
I’m reminded of two Bible verses … Proverbs 25:16 “Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it.” … & … Luke 10:27 “And He answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.”
In explanation, over eating makes you sick & too much of anything diminish it’s value, instead of increasing it’s value & “with all thy mind” include we as Christians meditating on Spiritual things the right way. How a Christian applies his mind is of crucial importance! A favourite sport of satan is keeping Christians so busy and occupied with abundancies, over indulgences, nicky nacky noos stuff, that the the truth or real value items becomes muddied and lost between the ” it’s still ok, but Christians WILL do better without” things of life. This takes you further away & not nearer to God! And yes, I’m especially referring to these places churning out thousands of contemporary, shallow, often nonsensical “Christian” songs, mainly for or partly for other reasons than truly caring for where those consuming it, ends up! …. CHOMP-CHOMP-CHOMP …. NO,EAT HEALTHY!
What do we use listening & “informal” participation within “Christian” songs/performances for?, as PART of worship right. But THAT WAY [even done in Church] is not the biggest part & definitely not the most important part of worship. This falls behind Bible study, Prayer, Meditation & selected “personal” worship singing songs / hymns. Christians should saturate their minds with such first and foremost, BEFORE they concern themselves with another Christian band or song, another Christian band or song, another Christian band or song, another Christian band or song … you get the picture I hope. Doing this, Bible verses & those selected truly meaningful worship song lyrics learned by heart, will come more & more effectively to mind in times of trial, temptation or affliction.
DO NOT GO ROUND N ROUND CHASING EVERY RABBIT & MAYBE END UP CATCHING THE WORTHLESS ONE’s. DISCERN IN-DEPTH, SELECTING THE ESSENTIAL WORTHWHILE ONES & DISCARDING THE ABUNDANT EXCESS. LEARN THESE SONGS & PERSONALLY SING THEM TO GOD IN TIMES OF NEED & ONE TO ONE TRUE WORSHIP…. ALWAYS APPLY QUALITY OVER QUANTITY.
trougot
Bryan, Don, Randall …. Last few comments is great & Vince thanks for updating your review, but I’m not gonna say I’m happy with such a high grade of 8.5 / 10 for as Randall rightly called it, a “fluff” piece from an heretical establishment. Which rather should produce no music & who’s music should not be spread around; or at least Christians should be extremely careful in what way it is supported & approved!
There is deeper things than a direct song review bothering me & I think it should similarly bother all Christians! One may wonder if per say this review is contributing to assist leading young immature Christians away from truth & on the flip side, is it doing everything it can, to lead the lost or seeking listeners to Christ? …. We may wanna ponder long on that !
Don
I’m surprised the moderator has given no mention/ interaction offered humbly by the UK ministry leader Dave Brennan. If you Google “the blessing critique”his is one of the first pages that come up. Quite a lot of discussion here to wade through on the repetition – you may want to have a separate forum on that. I would put forward that it makes a difference what is being repeated. I did appreciate the quote from Spurgeon on discernment. A commentator I recently read noted that discernment comes from a word meaning the space between. On that note, I think Dave Brennan makes a valid point on the added repeated phrase and I might suggest unqualified words “He is with you.” I will paste a portion of the article below and wait for your comments. Thanks, Don
“Here’s the essence of my concern about the message, copied from my plea to the producers:
…in its present form the message – quite unintentionally I am sure – dangerously misleads the lost as to their spiritual standing before a holy God by insisting and repeating, without qualification, “He is for you.”
Of course God…loves all people (Psalm 145:9), Jesus came to save sinners, not condemn, we all agree on that, but is his message to lost sinners one of affirmation only?…
“He is for you” unaccompanied by anything else suggests that God is pleased with unrepentant sinners as they are, who neither know, love, nor follow him – there is no hint in this song that people need to turn to this God and change their ways, in order to experience his full blessing.
The Bible repeatedly states, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (e.g. Psalm 138:6; Proverbs 3:34; Proverbs 29:23; Matthew 23:12; Luke 1:52; James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5.)
The truly humble are not those who care for the vulnerable, or NHS workers (by means of paid work or voluntary service), but those who acknowledge their sin and turn to God. Have we forgotten that all our righteousness is but filthy rags before a holy God? Those who do not accept this truth, regardless of whether they are doing kind and compassionate things at this time, remain enemies of the living God, cut off from him, and condemned to death for eternity if they don’t repent.
We actually read in many places that he is “against” even his own people when they are sinning. (e.g. Ezekiel 5:8; Nahum 3:5; Rev. 3:3.)
Jesus’s opening words were not “bless you” but “repent and believe the good news” – and his followers carried on in the same vein in the evangelistic sermons we read in the Book of Acts.”
Vince Wright
Don,
Thank you for your comments! After much prayer and consideration, I updated my review borrowing from Brennan’s wisdom.
-Vince Wright
Steve Barhydt
Vince,
I must say that I disagree with Don’s assessment (and, consequently, your revision of section 3) of this song.
As I so often do when questioning the “legitimacy” of a song, I go to the Psalms.
In this case, Psalm 23. (KJV)
1 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
The exact complaint that Don has presented against ‘The Blessing’ (and you accepted) can be made against this Psalm.
When this Psalm is read in it’s context (and exclusively in it’s context) one could legitimately say…
1) “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life” unaccompanied by anything else suggests that God is pleased with unrepentant sinners as they are, who neither know, love, nor follow him (I substituted the Words from verse 6 in the place of “He is for you” in the original quote)
2) there is “no hint in this PSALM that people need to turn to this God and change their ways” (I substituted the word PSALM for SONG in the original quote.
Within the context of the whole Word of God we know what it means to “follow” God and to “dwell” in His house but if we stick to Psalm 23 only and alone, these concepts are not explained.
As I have asked before on other topics, if the Holy Spirit, when writing Psalm 23 through David, did not see fit to explain the blessings, love, and care that God has, is it fair to hold the songwriter to a higher standard?
As to your observation “Unbelievers won’t miss the message the first time, much less the second or third. It is a blessing offered to believers. However, they will also be lead astray, thinking that God is with, within, and for them without repentance or faith.” I think that it is overstating the case by saying that “they WILL… BE lead astray.’
This song is replete with it’s declaration of the goodness of God
Romans 2:4 (KJV) tells us that God’s goodness leads us to repentance.
Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
Matthew 5:43-46 (KJV) specifically says that God blesses the unbeliever and that we should do the same.
43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for lhe maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust
From https://www.gotquestions.org/rain-just-unjust.html
*******Begin Quote*******
So, how does God love His enemies? There are a number of ways, but in Matthew 5:45 Jesus gives two practical examples. “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” In that agrarian society, good weather was all-important. There are righteous farmers (who would be considered God’s friends) and unrighteous farmers (those who would be considered God’s enemies). Regardless of the farmer’s disposition toward God, God gives sunshine and rain to all the farmers in equal portion. When God gives good sunshine and good rain to an evil farmer, it’s an example of God loving His enemies. God makes no distinction between the evil and the righteous in this instance—He gives good gifts to both of them.
There will be a time of judgment in the future, but, until then, God graciously gives good things, even to those who hate Him. He gives the blessing of rain to the just and the unjust alike. Wicked people, people who mock Him and even deny His existence still get to enjoy good weather, good food, the love of family, and a great many other things. God does not withhold all blessings until a person comes to Him in repentance and faith in Christ. Since God is so generous with His enemies, then we should be as well.
**********End Quote***********
In summary, I believe that a score of 2 out of 10 in section 3 is overly harsh.
1) It assumes that the unbeliever WILL automatically misunderstand that the song meant for believers and, therefore, WILL NOT repent of their sins.
2) I also disagree with the statement that “God is against THEM” (emphasis mine.) He is absolutely against our sins based on all the scriptures that you referenced. However, on a personal basis, God did everything He did for us BEFORE we had accepted His gracious offer.
Romans 5:6-10 (KJV)
6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
I believe that it is appropriate to have some penalty based on how the song MIGHT be interpreted but the current deduction imposed is too high.
Steve
Vince Wright
Steve,
Thank you for your comments!
First, Psalm 23 starts with “The LORD is my shepherd”. Is the LORD the unbeliever’s shepherd in their unrepentant, sinful state? No, He isn’t. Does He restore their soul? Again no, He doesn’t. What about God’s rod and staff? Do they comfort them? Nope. However, the bigger issue is, will an unbeliever interpret Psalm 23 as applicable to them? Your answer is essentially “no, they won’t interpret it that way”. Same for the blessing, when read in the Bible. However, if they just heard this song without any context to it, will some think it’s about them and be led astray? It’s hard to deny the possibility.
Second, in my review, I worded “However, they will also be lead astray, thinking that God is with, within, and for them without repentance or faith.” poorly. I should have stated it as a possibility, not a guaranteed reality. Even in Dave Brennan’s commentary, he uses the word “can” in terms of misleading. My score heavily relied on this point, so for that reason, I can significantly adjust it.
Third, it says in several places in Scripture that God is against unbelievers:
-Those who are not with Christ are against Him (Matthew 12:30 and Luke 11:23).
-God opposed the proud (James 4:6 and 1 Peter 5:5)
-Friends of the world are God’s enemy (James 4:4)
-God reserves wrath for His enemies (Nahum 1:2)
Of course, He also made a way for His enemies to be forgiven. According to Romans 5:6-8, He died for us while we were sinners, rebellious, His enemy. This gives us an enormous responsibility, that we can choose to remain His advasary or choose Him. However, I do agree with your first point. My score was way too harsh.
I’ve updated this review.
-Vince Wright
Bryan Abbott
Just explaining my context. I work at a rehab in South Africa. We had a patient who had a cross addiction of TRANCE MUSIC which relies on repetition. Furthermore, amongst the San Bushmen ( a local hunter gatherer people), the evening before a hunt (with bow and arrow), they dance around a fire, with a set step and rhythm, singing a repetitive song till they fall over in a trance-like state, where they see things in the spiritual realm. We have a staff member, who will break into tongues and sobs uncontrollably when they play that song. Unfortunately, there is a staff member who likes to play it for his devotions with the patients. Although the song is scriptural, it relies heavily on repetition that in my context elicits a cultural animistic mystical response. It is of note that most people don’t sing with and many are uncomfortable with it.
trougot
LOOK, FOR ARGUMENTS SAKE, LET US TOTALLY ACCEPT THERE IS NOTHING REALY WRONG WITH THE WORDS OR EVEN REPITITION OF THIS SONG …… BUT ………..
BEFORE READING & SORRY FOR MY THESIS …. ASK YOURSELF – IF SATAN PHYSICALLY IS STANDING IN FRONT OF YOU, PITCHING SELLING ETERNAL DEATH, WITH 99.9% OF TEMPORILY FUN CANDY – ARE YOU ONE OF THEM WHO WILL ACCEPT IT ?
So …. Me-Me-Me, It’s all about Me – NO, it’s not about you … It’s about God … ALL OF IT !!!
As so often is the case & case in point with this song amongst so many, is who do we think we are to exalt ourselves so often towards standards or achievements hardly in it’s infancy development. This side of Heaven looking up proclaiming speciality whilst shrouded in sin, Apostleship & even Angelic equivalency as some posted here in example, notwithstanding & ignorantly discarding the impossibilities there-off. But Hey, some indeed are already Heavenly tourist and what not, so why not.[ sarcasm].
Discernment is something each and everyone should diligently work at everyday through more and more exposure to ” READING GOD’s WORD”, and hearing trusted men preaching from pulpits [ And yes, I said MEN ] having proven themselves rightfully dividing the Word of God. But here’s the punchline, although you will gain a vast amount of needed knowledge & insight, God opens up His Word to each & everyone as only He sees fit & neither one will ever fully receive or develop it to an infallible state like being & surely not to a Heavenly comparable state. But how readily we all stand first in line with thinking we are the special one God favours in doling out Blessed measures of such a great Spirit Of Discernment. See, just recently I started on this journey of Faith & wow, I can already hear God speaking so clearly to me & feel Him working through me as His vessel.[sarcasm – sound familiar] Ridiculously puffed up we all are, too often not for our own good. [ Speaking as a general rule ]
Now let us discern this, the problem with songs labelled Christian; is not just lyrics, music, performance style or in fact often have nothing to do with the song or the artist performing it being possibly found sound by measure, but the where-from. All those critique do count & the closer they can be to STRICT Christian applicable principles, Doctrinal correctness & Holiness, the better I’d say; don’t you think? Measure each with such surety / purity & chuck the unnecessary thousands of other songs on your phone or hard drive. Say why not just have a Top 100 or less you could learn by heart & sing yourself in worship to God where-ever you may find yourself. You are called to be the broadcaster of God’s Word, not merely a consumer/listener there-off & true worship is you proclaiming singing it, instead of just listening to it by sometimes it moving you with fussy feelings or emotions. Most often not due to reverentially to God, but rather by way of applying the words to your own life’s circumstances, which cause your fake spiritual euphoric moment. Most of us are anyway listening too much without truly understanding & should rather read more of God’s Word, whereby we will gain more understanding & find ourselves in regular prayer. This is the original no fail way to worship God !
I mentioned the where-from & here my dear Christian already chewing on a bit of meat, is where you should not mislead the ones yet drinking milk into perdition. Having already gained some discernment, you can more easily divide right from false teaching[ And yet sometimes still get it wrong].
FACT, many if not most of these songs are “PRODUCED – NOT INSPIRED” [ another huge matter in itself ] and are done so as to SELL them and use them to draw in unsuspecting gullible and primarily youth to establishments fronting as a Christian ministry, but spreading a different or more earthly palatable gospel version of it. Designed to influence, entrap & cause emotional addiction. There-in lies the biggest danger, which explains why it take countless of years for those able to eventually see some truth, to rid themselves of such a place, leaving far more behind oblivious to their lost nature !
Now you Christian roaring down the road, full blast blaring the song “the Blessing” because hey, everybody should hear “the gospel” & here you are doing God a favour, stopping next to little miss drew & charley; Hey mister that’s a cool song, who is it & with chest swelling with job well done pride, you puffed up declare Kari Jobe from Elevation worship – check them out ! …… SO THEY DO & 15 years down the line they have learned how to jump up and down in false idolatry worship & writhe uncontrollable on the floor under the kundalini spirit, with a watered down version of God’s Word devoid of any saving power, heading straight to hell … ON YOUR SAY SO !
Austin
Could I submit that though I really like this song and can take it personally as a believer, after reading through the lyrics, I didn’t see that the artists mentioned anywhere who the recipients of these blessings are? I think only believers receive the type of blessings they are proclaiming and would sing “amen.” So I assume they’re addressing believers, but it could be unclear.
Mark Shane
The song is quoting scripture. God blessed numerous people who were not believers. Naaman, leader of the Syrian army and pagan, for example, was healed of leprosy by God. The song is for anyone who has ears to hear. To consider that such blessings are reserved only for believers can rub close to the idea that belief produces blessing. God’s favor doesn’t come from anything humans do. Blessings are given as God sees fit, through grace so no person can boast.
Randall Ainsworth
Just the fact that it’s from Elevation tells me that I don’t want anything to do with it. As a musician, it’s just another fluff song – way too much repetition and overall simplistic. And I don’t see it as a congregation song – something that a group of people can sing to.
Karen S Brown
This blessing always seems to come straight from the mouth of God, when I hear it. I urge you, during the repeats, to change it to first person. Ask God for these blessings for yourself. For example…Lord bless me, and keep me, make your face shine upon me…… Lord bless my family and my children and their children and their children. You get the idea , I hope. This brings it home even more powerfully and personally for me. I hope you will find the same result. Of course, this might be best done when in private worship, but it could be done corporately as well. The Lord bless you!
Mark Shane
It appears God has a thing for repetition.
8 Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night THEY NEVER stop saying:
“‘Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God Almighty,’[a]
who was, and is, and is to come.”
Revelation 4:8
Regina
To be honest I had never heard this song until today. I don’t care for the repetition but it seems to be a good song. I think my only real issue is that it comes from a church with questionable doctrinal issues that I don’t want to get into because I wish to stay on topic.
gwendajensen
Thank you. I like your helpful analysis, particularly your explanation of how The Blessing links to scripture. Like others I actually like the repetition and find the song very moving rather than boring. I have watched several versions and my favorite is the one from New Zealand/Aotearoa, which really fills me with God spirit and with a great homesickness for New Zealand, which is one of three countries that I call “home.” I fill the love (aroha) and the caring (manaakitanga) of all those singing the Blessing.
Mark Joseph
It is hard for me to write here because motive is always being assumed as bad by critics. So at the outset I will say no motives (good or bad) are assumed here. But I think it fair to say you all need to call this what it is – ministering to self. In the evaluation above it is said that it brings blessing to the people. This is simply not worship! It is the elevation of self or self blessing. Worship’s direction is upward toward God and God alone. It is elevating Him not blessing us – worship is not for my or any believers blessing! Read Ezekiel Ch44. There were those that ministered to the house of God (the people) and there were the wonderful son’s of Zadok, who were permitted to minister to God – to Him, not to them or us. This is worship – ministering to God. Hebrews says it well in Ch13, offering UP to God spiritual sacrifices. A sacrifice is a sacrifice – it is the opposite of self blessing – so I’m opposed. If scripture teaches anything good in the NT, it is that others (in worship’s case God) are the focus and not self. When I listen to testimony of elevation “worship” all I ever hear, is how wonderful it makes ME feel. That says it all.
Trougot Lundall
Apology, I neglegted to add the following within my previous comment.
Pertaining towards your referring to “This is a common blessing given at the end of church services. It was originally a blessing God instructed Moses to tell Aaron to give to the people of Israel in Numbers 6:24-26.” [ section 2 Chorus ] which you are 100% correct about & under criteria 2 Bridge section 2, you add as proof text Jeremiah 23:23-24… Interesting though, the point I wish to make is exactly within the verses prior to vers 23 … which expands on the commen Church Blessing & one could ask if it is in fact Biblical in all circumstances, or should one not be more careful in how we phrase it in general?
“Jeremiah 23:16 – 22
[16] Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.
[17] They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you.
[18] For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it?
[19] Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.
[20] The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly.
[21] I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.
[22] But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.”
The Cambridge Bible states vers 16 – 18 very clear … “Jer_23:16-18. It is from the prophets’ own imaginations and not from Jehovah that their pleasing promises of immunity from evil come. Who is there who has visited His heavenly abode, there to learn His purposes? ” … “prophets” here ijn Jeremiah chapter 23 as in meaning those Pastors falsely teaching the Word of God.
Vers 19 – 20 indicate God’s wrath to those false pastors misleading His people.
Vers 21 – is exactly whats happening today i.e word of faith movement, prophesying over themselves & those claiming to receive extra Biblical revelations or dreams, such as stated in verse 25 not included here … ” I have dreamed, I have dreamed ”
Vers 22 – Where are all the Godly men of God, Preaching truth, sin, Heaven & Hell ? Surely then they wil more willingly turn from their evil way!
Maybe instead of finishing Church with gentle little pats on the back, such as indicated in 2 Timothy 4:3 “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;” …. Pastors should pay more attention to instilling the fear of God again, within a world that only seeks to want the nice, gentle & good side of God … such as this song !
What does the Bible indicate about fear & real peace …
Matthew 10:28 “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
Trougot Lundall
Michael Negru & Matt Hickok I feel more closely associated with your overall thoughts hereto, not that others have not raised some good points as well.Michael 100% correct about these songs playing to the emotional side of people in wanting to work themselves up into a frenzy with the repeating lyrics and musical crescendo, tones, drums & lightshow galore.This is for the most part false worship & false spiritual feelings. I quote from a video of one missionary Spencer Smith, titled “What Happens When We Worship Worship” actually specifically talking about this song & having experienced similar things in Africa … “This Religious emotional euphoria that they are being given, is nothing more than a spiritual hit of crack. They get a little high & they feel good about it. But you & I both know that people from that audience, a large majority though; is not living right & this forms part of the emergent stuff ” … He has done tremendous work in exposing false worship & this video as well as many more on his youtube channel, is well worth some of everybody’s time – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ji5mwWVHMk … People will also do well to look up the kundalini spirit & repetitive style there-off.
And Vince I totally understand your evaluation criteria being solely directed towards the lyrics in as far as what is Biblically sound. Thus said, thank you & your site is indeed a Blessing, though I do think one should not totally remove other areas of concern such as the music style & directed Doctrine.
Now as far as whole Doctrine is concerned, Matt is also hitting it on the nail saying this song is not a Worship song, but could in fact be idolatry. I equally feel it’s mostly about man & very little about God, other than being God is good assurance & a Deity succumbing to our desires & needs.Obviously we all will agree God is good, but God is vengeful & jealous as well. Hence I feel you might have been far too generous with your score under the “What message does the song communicate ” criteria. I believe this song is totally word of faith movement preaching inspired & 3/10 is adequate.
Under ” How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture” Agreed all of them in vague sense & I feel it does not deserve a mark at most higher than 5/10 for lyrics solely focussed on what man can gain from A Lord, with excluding the measure within the Christian text’s you supplied indicating man’s responsibility of i.e those that love Me & keep My commandments / fear Him / keep His covenant / remember His precepts etc to receive such Blessing. His Blessings are not a blanket promise, but a promise of Blessings towards His children.In essence some of these places / singers became so good in deceiving, that they can be Theologically very sound. And yet have absolutely no saving grace accompanying it, but rather a well veiled self adolatery one sided mine,mine,mine entitlement approach.This equally plays towards the next criteria method.
“How would an outsider interpret the song” And here I feel you got it wrong. Based solely on the song, an outsider will gain no idea of how to become saved & worse, who is needed to become saved. He will simply think whoever this Lord is being sung about, seems good. With such vague universal lyrics, have a Hindu or Muslim sing it & it equally can be about their false god’s which also can be referred to as lord’s or god’s & even satan can be the lord of someone & indeed directly or indirectly actually is with many of these false movement’s.0/10
Lastly ” What does this song glorify? ” This criteria is mainly based on the aforementioned criterias in rounding things off. Therefore it could not be anything else but a song about man’s speciality or entitlement to Blessings i.e self adolatery & false euphoric emotional abuse,coupled with easily equally applicable to any false god worship.
In closing; The song is not all just bad, just mostly & a true discerning Christian within Christian context, can find assurance & some solace there-in, as any other false religion would be able to. Overall my humble opinion is that it is far too vague taken as solely a Christian song & doctrinally not as sound as one would prefer. But that has become the norm from a heretical Steven Furtick and Elevation Worship, with sweet pretty face Kari Jobe selling the poison with a smile.