Influence Music (Feat. Michael Ketterer) – Spirit Lead Me

Influence Music is yet another church-based band, much like Hillsong, Bethel, and Citipointe.  They hail from Influence Church in Anaheim Hills, California, consisting of dedicated artists, producers, and songwriters who left lucrative careers and positions to work on their church projects.  They released their first album, Touching Heaven in 2018 and followed-up with REBELS in 2019.

Spirit Lead Me is from their debut album Touching Heaven.

Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Influence-music-spirit-lead-me-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?

Though Influence Music has suffered, cannot see the end of it, experiencing hopelessness, they will trust in God, being lead by the Holy Spirit, holding nothing back.  God calls the shots.  Whatever He says goes.  They are done with self, desiring to follow the ways of the Lord.  It is worth the cost of prioritizing Him over everything else.  He satisfies their spiritual thirsts with Himself, His living water.  They hold nothing back to worship Him.

There is a healthy balance of speaking about one’s own self and God’s words and actions; However, there also exists excessive usage of the Tag and borderline excessive Post-Bridge. This is filler that waters down an otherwise excellent message.

Score: 8/10

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

The lyrics agree with God’s inspired Word.

[Verse 1]

Lines 1-4: What does Influence Music offer as their worship? They give everything they’ve got, with nothing partitioned.

Line 5: This is part of the sanctification process. This is the work of the Holy Spirit, who convicts us of sin (John 16:8 and 2 Corinthians 2:13).

Line 6: Indeed, and Jesus calls such individuals blessed (John 20:29).

Lines 7 and 8: Turmoil ought not to prevent us from trusting God. After all, they are meant to shape our character (Romans 5:3-5, Hebrews 12:4-11, and James 1:2-4). We are to rejoice when we suffer for Christ (Acts 5:41, 2 Corinthians 12:10, Colossians 1:11, Colossians 1:24, Hebrews 10:34, and 1 Peter 4:13).

[Chorus]

Lines 1-6: Examples of obedience to God’s Word.  If we love Jesus, we are compelled to do what He says (John 14:15-31).  In contrast, if we claim to love God and hate other people, we’re liars (1 John 4:20).

Lines 7 and 8: Personal feelings often lead to sin as they arise from our wicked hearts (Jeremiah 17:9).  Left our own devices, and apart from the Spirit’s leading, we pursue worthless things, doing what is right in our own eyes (Judges 17:6 and Judges 21:25).

Line 9: See commentary on Verse 1, line 5.

[Verse 2]

Lines 1 and 2: That is, grasping the statements in Verse 1 and Chorus.  Though Jesus’ burden is light compared to the weightiness of guilt (Matthew 11:28-30), if may feel burdensome when one first follows Jesus given its cost, namely, to prioritize God over all other things (Luke 14:25-34).

Lines 3 and 4: God immeasurably does more for us than our limited minds can request (1 Corinthians 2:9, Ephesians 1:19, and Ephesians 3:20).

Lines 5 and 6: Influence Music found the cost of following Jesus to be worth what they gained: to know God personally, deeply, relationally, for all eternity (Mark 10:29-30, John 3:15-16, John 3:36, John 4:14, John 5:24, John 5:39-40, John 6:27, John 6:40, John 10:28, John 17:3, John 20:31, Romans 5:21, Romans 6:22-23, Romans 8:18, 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, Galatians 6:8, 1 Timothy 1:16, 1 Timothy 6:12, 2 Timothy 2:11 , Hebrews 5:9, 1 Peter 5:10, 1 John 2:23-27, 1 John 5:10-13, 1 John 5:20, Jude 1:20-21, Revelation 3:5, Revelation 7:16-17, and Revelation 21:3-4).

Line 7: In much the same way as God dwelt inside a human-built temple, so we too are a temple for the Holy Spirit’s residence (1 Corinthians 3:16 and 1 Corinthians 6:19).  Also, see Acts 6:5, Romans 8:9-11, Galatians 4:6, Ephesians 5:18, and 2 Timothy 1:14.

Line 8: Influence Music wishes to experience the Holy Spirit, referencing Acts 2:3 as Holy Spirit’s fire falling.

[Chorus 2]

Lines 1-6: Repeats Chorus, lines 1-6.

Line 7: A request for the Holy Spirit to lead.  See commentary in Verse 1, line 5.

Lines 8-9: Repeats Chorus, lines 8-9.

[Tag]

Lines 1-3: Repeats Chorus, line 9.

[Bridge (paragraph 1)]

Lines 1-3: Influence Music will trust God, regardless of their own personal scenario (Psalm 23:4).

Lines 4 and 5: This combines the accounts to which God used Moses to bring water to the thirsty Israelite people (Exodus 17:1-7 and Numbers 20:8-13) and the living water that God brings to His people (Jeremiah 17:13, Zechariah 14:8-9, John 4:7-26, John 7:37-39, Acts 2:1-13, Revelation 7:13-17 (compare with Revelation 6:9-11), Revelation 21:6-7, and Revelation 22:1-5).

Lines 6-8: Christ died for us when we were sinners, not when we were good people, reminding us of our value and worth demonstrated as the price He was willing to pay to redeem us (Romans 5:6-8).

[Bridge (paragraph 2)]

Line 1: That is because the heart of man is deceitfulness above everything else (Jeremiah 17:9).

Lines 2-4: That is, Influence Music is trading their sorrows for God.

Line 5: Prostration is how they demonstrate surrender in the form of worship.

Line 6: That is, God is their portion (Numbers 18:20, Deuteronomy 10:9, Deuteronomy 18:2, Joshua 13:33, Psalm 16:5, Psalm 73:26, Psalm 119:57, Psalm 142:5, Lamentations 3:24, and Ezekiel 44:28).

Line 7: A lead-in to the post-bridge, indicating that…

[Post-Bridge]

Line 1:…they will allow God’s spirit to lead regardless of struggles.  See commentary on Verse 1, line 5 and Bridge, lines 1-3.

Lines 2-4: Repeats line 1.

[Chorus 3]

Lines 1-6: Repeats Chorus, lines 1-6.

Line 7: References the first part of John 14:6 and clarifies the personal pronoun “You” as Jesus.  It is His Spirit (the Holy Spirit) that guides.

Lines 8-9: Repeats Chorus, lines 8-9.

Score: 10/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

It will be obvious to anyone who does not yet follow Jesus that there is some spirit to which leads Influence Music. Outside of context in terms of usage (e.g.; church function, Christian radio, etc.), the only hint that shows its Christian source is the 7th line in Chorus 3. This is easy to miss unless they pay attention to it, which leads to a probable “spiritual but not Christian” interpretation from unbelievers.

Score: 6/10

4. What does this song glorify?

It glorifies God throughout these lyrics, demonstrating trust in Him no matter the cost.

Score: 10/10

Closing Comments

Influence Music’s Spirit Lead Me is a decent song for believers. Scripturally accurate, its message drives home the point of trust in God. Though it contains extravagant duplication and its message perhaps misunderstood by non-believers, this song put our Lord at the top of the artist’s hierarchy, bringing Him glory.

Worship leaders should consider this one if:

1. They are not seeker-sensitive
2. They remove the excessive repetition in Tag

Final Score: 9/10

Artist Info

Track: Spirit Lead Me (Live) (listen to the song)

Artist: Influence Music (Feat. Michael Ketterer)

Album: Touching Heaven (Live)

Genre: Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)

Release Year: 2018

Duration: 7:08

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

Updates:

04/28/2021 – I used the wrong Verses to support Verse 2, line 8.  It should have been the Holy Spirit during Pentecost, not God’s all-consuming fire.

03/27/2020 – Upon further reflection and prayer, I decided that repetition does not impact an unbeliever’s interpretation or the lyrics’ inherent glorification of God. Therefore, I changed my score in section 4, raising this review from 8.5/10 to 9/10.