Photo by frank mckenna
Josh Pantana is an American artist and worship leader. He has no album releases, only singles.
Lyrics can be found at https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/tab/josh-pantana/glory-chords-2522079. I apologize for the extra guitar tabs. I could not find a better place that contains written lyrics.
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1. What message does the song communicate?
Pantana speaks in the first person about someone who doesn’t believe all this “Jesus stuff”. Yet, he believes enough to talk to Him face to face, expressing desire to place his faith in Christ. He desires trust, forgiveness, and might to survive the day intact.
Score: 10/10
2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?
It does. It just does.
[Verse 1]
Line 1: The word ‘Hallelujah” is a compound Hebrew phrase, with “hallelu” meaning “a joyous praise in song” and “jah” or “yah”, which refers to the Tetragrammaton YHWH. Put together, we are singing “we joyfully praise God in song” when we use this word.
Line 2: The phrase “least of these” comes from Matthew 25:40 and references the most marginalized individuals.
Line 3: The phrase “king of sinners” is a slight variation of 1 Timothy 1:15. Paul gave himself the title “chief of sinners” because he persecuted the church. Pantana’s actions are self-described as “shocking”, thus, it’s not unreasonable why others would think him as “king of sinners”.
Line 4: Pantana admits that he is speaking out of desparation.
[Verse 2]
Line 1: Pantana establishes that Jesus is his audience. The phrase that Pantana claims to have “heard about” shows up in Acts 5:30, Acts 10:39, and Acts 13:29 and simply means that He was crucified. However, the word “how” tells us that it’s not just His mere death that he’s heard about. It’s also the why, namely, to pay for his lawbreaking (Isaiah 53:1-12, Matthew 20:28, Mark 10:45, John 1:29, John 3:16, John 19:30, Acts 4:12, Acts 20:28, Romans 5:6-10, Romans 6:23, 1 Corinthians 1:30, 1 Corinthians 6:20, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Galatians 1:3-4, Galatians 3:13, Ephesians 1:7, Colossians 2:14, 1 Timothy 2:6, Titus 2:14, Hebrews 9:12, Hebrews 9:15-26, 1 Peter 1:17-21, 1 Peter 2:24, 1 John 1:7, 1 John 2:1-2, and Revelation 5:9).
Lines 2-4: Pantana is honest in his doubting. He is unsure about believing in Jesus; However, he will give Jesus a chance by trusting in Him. It’s clear from line 4 that Pantana possesses and broken and contrite heart which, according to Psalm 51:17, God will not despise.
[Chorus]
Lines 1 and 2: Remember that Pantana is talking to Jesus. He is saying that Jesus is no stranger to sorrow, which is true. I mean, he died on the cross for sinners for crying out loud!
Line 3: Pantana prays for His 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), to get through the day.
Line 4: Another prayer that is based off Luke 2:30. Much like Paul dramatically experienced in Acts 9:18, so too Pantana wishes for his blinders to come off so that he can see Him. The phrasing is also inspired by Julia Ward Howe’s The Battle Hymn of the Republic.
[Verse 3]
Lines 1-4: Pantana contrasts Christ’s idea of forgiveness with his fleshy idea of revenge. His conclusion: those who are forgiven do not need vengeance. We know, of course, that Scripture tells us to leave room for God’s wrath (Romans 12:19).
[Bridge]
Lines 1-3 Borrowed from the Chorus of The Battle Hymn of the Republic, though sung slightly differently.
Line 4: Repeats Chorus, line 4.
Score: 10/10
3. How would an outsider interpret the song?
Unbelievers to Christianity are most likely Pantana’s target audience with this song. They will conclude that Pantana is playing a character who knows an awful lot about the Bible that he claims to not believe in. His character takes a leap of faith.
Pantana’s lyrics are an intermixing between everyday and Christianese language. The tree reference, alongside the word “God”, are both pointers to Christianity.
Score: 10/10
4. What does this song glorify?
Jesus, as the One who can help Pantana traverse from a state of unbelief to active trust.
Score: 10/10
Closing Comments
Josh Pantana’s Glory is an honest assessment about uncertainty amid initial baby steps to faith in Jesus. Unbelievers will not escape Pantana’s intent, that he is hoping that they would follow his lead and place their trust in Jesus, which brings Him glory.
While I cannot recommend this song for corporate worship, it’s a great evangelistic tool for the lost.
Final Score: 10/10
Artist Info
Track: Glory (listen to the song)
Artist: Josh Pantana
Album: N/A
Genre: Country
Release Year: 2018
Duration: 4:22
Agree? Disagree? Don’t be shy or have a cow! Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.
Comments
racefangurl
There’s some poll winning songs, like “Hard Fought Hallelujah” that haven’t been reviewed, so what’s their status?
Vince Wright
racefangirl,
Thank you for your comment!
I saw what happened. I accidently reviewed February’s #2 and #3 winners by mistake instead of breaking that tie. I’ll replace an “extra song” in April with Hard Fought Hallelujah.
-Vince Wright