for KING & COUNTRY – Joy

For King & Country (stylized as for KING & COUNTRY) consists mainly of two blood brothers: Joel and Luke Smallbone.  They were formerly known as Austoville and Joel & Luke before settling on their current name.

They released six albums and three EP’s under for KING & COUNTRY:

• For King & Country: The EP (2011)
• Crave (2012)
• Hope Is What We Crave: Live (2013)
• Into the Silent Night: The EP (2013)
• Run Wild. Live Free. Love Strong. (2014)
• The Live Room Sessions at RCA Studio A (2015) (EP)
• Christmas: Live from Phoenix (2017)
• Burn the Ships (2018)
• A Drummer Boy Christmas (2020)

for KING & COUNTRY received four Grammy’s, seven Dove’s, and one Billboard Award, including New Artist of the Year (2013), Best Contemporary Christian Music Album (2015 and 2020), and Contemporary Christian Artist of the Year (2015 and 2016).

Also, check out my reviews of God Only Knows and Burn The Ships.

Throughout this review of Joy, I will refer to this artist as “4K&C”.

Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/For-king-and-country-joy-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.

1. What message does the song communicate?

4K&C is feeling depressed.  They are affixed on worldly events and modern living, coasting away from “the sky”.  Desiring to renew their former love, they choose to remain joyful, praying that “the sky” will grant them the power to retain this jubilation deep within their soul.

What is the “joy” that they had?  4K&C doesn’t explain this clearly.  Yes, we could assume that it was a personal relationship with Jesus that drifted (as I do in section 2); However, 4K&C could be clearer.  Perhaps their former love was tennis, and they were praying to “the sky” to renew their burning desire to play?

Who is “the sky”?  The only hints are from two overt Biblical references, namely, the heart of stone and valley of the shadow of death, and its nod to George Willis Cooke’s Down In My Heart.  For those who don’t know, Cooke’s song speaks of the joy of Christ in one’s heart.  While the hints are enough to avoid girlfriend territory, 4K&C could be clearer that they pray to God through attributes, acts, and explicit names.

Score: 6/10

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

I took two points away to assume “the sky” is God and another point to assume that their burning desire is for God.  Under these assumptions, the entire song aligns with God’s inspired Word.

[Verse 1]

Lines 1-4: 4K&C focuses on the world and its ills through feelings instead of Jesus (Hebrews 12:2), who formerly renewed their minds (Romans 12:2).

[Pre-Chorus]

Lines 1 and 2: 4K&C recognizes that they are drifting away from God.  They are worried that they lost their first love (Revelation 2:4), reverting to their former heart of stone (Ezekiel 11:19, Ezekiel 36:26, Jeremiah 31:33, Hebrews 8:10).

Lines 3-5: What is the “it” that 4K&C shouts?  It could either be reacquiring the fire or a lean-in to Chorus (1).  The latter makes more sense.

[Chorus (1)]

Lines 1-3: 4K&C offers a prayer to God, requesting strength (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).

Lines 4 and 5: Rather than continuing in their self-pity, 4K&C chooses to remain joyful, one of the nine fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23.  It connects with lines 1-3 in that the joy of the Lord is their strength (Nehemiah 8:10).

Line 6: 4K&C hopes that their joy will be moving to others.

Lines 7 and 8: Essentially repeats lines 5 and 6.

[Verse 2]

Lines 1-4: See commentary on Verse 1, lines 1-4, and Pre-Chorus, lines 1 and 2.

[Chorus (2)]

Lines 1-8: Repeats Chorus (1), lines 1-8.

Lines 9 and 10: Combines Psalm 23:4 with God’s light that pushes away darkness (Psalm 107:10-16, Luke 1:79, John 1:1-13, John 12:46, Ephesians 5:8, Colossians 1:13, and 1 Peter 2:9).

Lines 11 and 12: Essentially repeats Chorus (1), lines 5 and 6.

[Bridge]

Lines 1 and 2: Slightly rewords part of George Willis Cooke’s famous song Down In My Heart, expressed as a need rather than possession.

Lines 3 and 4: Repeats lines 1 and 2.

[Chorus (3)]

Lines 1-9: Repeats various portions of Chorus (2) in a different order.

[Outro]

Lines 1-4: Repeats Bridge, lines 1-4.

Score: 7/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

Unbelievers will probably believe 4K&C is fed up with their life, seeking joy instead of unhappiness.  They wish to return to their former life, where they experienced much delight.  It is Hedonism intermixed with religion.  Though the language is common intermixed with a few select Bible verses, there are no concrete lyrics that would cause unbelievers to think it’s Christian.  Religious perhaps, given that 4K&C prays to “the sky”, but not a personal relationship with Jesus.

Score: 4/10

4. What does this song glorify?

It’s difficult to proclaim that this song inherently glorifies God when I must make assumptions to interpret these lyrics.  However, there’s a few hints of Christianity sprinkled in the song that shows it’s Biblical, assuming that “the sky” is God and “fire” is a personal relationship with God.

Score: 6/10

Closing Comments

for KING & COUNTRY’s Joy is ambiguous.  Though it contains a few explicit Bible verses that believers will recognize, its message about the joy they seek is unclear, as well as who “the sky is”.  If we assume it’s talking about God through a personal relationship, then it agrees with Scripture.  However, unbelievers will probably think that pleasure is for KING & COUNTRY’s top priority, leading to Hedonism.

I cannot recommend this song for corporate worship.

Final Score: 6/10

Artist Info

Track: Joy (listen to the song)

Artist: for KING & COUNTRY

Album: Burn the Ships

Genre: Pop

Release Year: 2018

Duration: 3:54

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