Kanye West – Closed on Sunday

Celebrity rapper Kanye West began his career in 1996 in secular music.  He recently became a Christian convert, releasing his Gospel album JESUS IS KING last year.  This, along with his Sunday Service, were heavily discussed before COVID-19 took center stage.

It’s also of great interest to my fellow Bereans, given that this is my fifth Kanye West review of the same album!

As always, I won’t discuss his past albums given that they promote a sinful lifestyle.

Also, see my reviews of Follow God, God Is, Use This Gospel, and Selah.

Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Kanye-west-closed-on-sunday-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?

Kanye West makes several points throughout this song:

• We should take a sabbath away from work and our devices.  On this day, we should spend time with family and God.
• Parents must teach their children about God, protecting them from physical and spiritual enemies.
• God is West’s top priority, where He is master and Lord over West’s life.
• West prays for spiritual protection against the Jezebels of this world.  We ought to follow his example.

This song contains only three sections: Chorus, Verse, and Outro.  Aside from few Chick-fil-A refrains and that Jezebel has no chance against God, there is no other repetition to speak of.

Score: 10/10

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

Aside from a minor issue with Kanye stating that we’re not slaves to anything (we are slaves to righteousness), the entire song agrees with Scripture.

[Chorus]

Lines 1-4: Chicken sandwich company Chick-fil-A has a policy, established by its founder Truett Cathy, that stems from Exodus 20:8-11.  Cathy believes that everyone should spend one day a week away from work and spend it with their families.  West takes it a step further, suggesting that we put our phones away during our sabbath rest.

Lines 5 and 6: 1 Timothy 5:8 tells us that we’re worse than unbelievers and denied the faith if we don’t provide for our families.  That includes protection.  As parents, we ought to defend our loved ones from the evils of this world, including false teaching (Jeremiah 23:16, Ezekiel 13:9, Matthew 7:15-20, Matthew 16:5-12, Matthew 23:1-29, Matthew 24:23-24, Acts 20:28-30, 2 Timothy 4:3-4, Titus 1:10-16, 2 Peter 2:1-22, 2 Peter 3:14-17, and 1 John 4:1-6).

Line 7: Repeats line 1.

Line 8: Another Chick-fil-A wordplay, meaning that God is the most important thing in West’s life (Psalm 73:25-26, Matthew 10:37, Luke 14:26, John 12:25, Philippians 3:8, and 1 John 4:20).

Lines 9 and 10: Another parental duty is to train up our children in righteousness so that when they are old, they won’t depart from it (Proverbs 22:6).

Line 11: This is the life of a Christ-follower: We follow Jesus, listening to what He says obeying His commandments (John 15:1-10, 1 Corinthians 11:1-2, 1 Peter 2:21, and 1 John 2:3-6).

Line 12: That is, West is no longer a slave to his sin (John 8:34, Romans 6:6, Romans 6:20-22, and 1 Corinthians 6:12).  However, I have a slight disagreement with West.  He is a slave to righteousness (Romans 6:18).

[Verse]

Line 1: See commentary on Chorus, lines 5 and 6.

Lines 2-4: West surrenders to God (Isaiah 64:8, Matthew 10:38, Matthew 11:28-30, Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:34-38, Mark 10:28, Luke 9:23, Luke 14:27, John 15:1-11, Romans 6:13, Romans 12:1-2, Galatians 2:20, Philippians 2:5-8, Hebrews 11:6, James 4:7-10, and 1 Peter 5:6), even if he is alone.

Lines 5 and 6: West prays for God’s protection, that his enemies will reconsider invading his home.  It alludes to Exodus 17:8-16, where Moses’ hand was held up during Israel’s battle against Amalek.  When Moses’ staff was up, Israel was winning.  When down, Amalek was.

Line 7: An idiom describing a barrier that others shall not cross.

Lines 8-10: West warns others to stay away, lest the Lord destroy them.  His weapons are spiritual, chiefly, the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17).

Lines 11 and 2: Jezebel was the wife of Israel’s wicked king Ahab (1 Kings 21:25).  She wanted to murder the prophet Elijah after his recommendation to slaughter the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:19–19:3).  In Revelation, God held against the church of Thyatira, that they tolerated those who have the same treacherous spirit as Jezebel (Revelation 2:18-20).  West states that those like her won’t stand against God’s Word!

[Outro]

Line 1: Essentially repeats the same idea as Chorus, line 1.

Score: 9/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

Unbelievers will likely think West follows Jesus, surrendered to His ways.  If they don’t get the Chick-fil-A reference, West explains shortly after, that they should spend more time with God and their families and protect them from lies.

As for Jezebel, I have little to no expectation that outsiders will comprehend this reference.  It’s not important to West’s overall points about spiritual protection.

Score: 9/10

4. What does this song glorify?

It glorifies God in that West calls for rest from technology, more time with family, surrender to God, and spiritual defense.

Score: 10/10

Closing Comments

Kanye West’s Closed on Sunday is excellent.  West reminds us to spend more time with God and our loved ones as part of our sabbath.  We should provide spiritual protection, serve God, and surrender to His ways, bringing Him glory.  Most unbelievers will understand this message.

Though inspirational, I cannot recommend this song for corporate worship.

Final Score: 9.5/10

Artist Info

Track: Closed on Sunday (listen to the song)

Artist: Kanye West

Album: JESUS IS KING

Genre: Pop

Release Year: 2019

Duration: 2:31

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