Lauren Daigle – Love Like This

Mainstream music sensation Lauren Daigle had a great end to her 2019 run.  Last December, she earned the American Music Award (AMA) for “Favorite Artist – Contemporary Inspirational”, marking her fourth consecutive win for this accolade.

She will be touring America this year, which may or may not include her song Love Like This.

This will be my tenth Lauren Daigle review, which joins O’Lord, Trust in You, You Say, Look Up Child, Rescue, Come Alive (Dry Bones), First, Light of the World, and Rebel Heart.

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?

Daigle contemplates undeserved love from “You”, describing it as satiation in a dry desert, warmth in a blizzard, sunshine after a dark, restless slumber, and a gentle voice in lonely isolation. This “You” believes that Daigle is valuable, searching until they find her. She has not earned the affection of “You”, yet, “You” freely offers it to her. She offers praises to God for this loving individual.

Though one could insert “God” as “You”, as Daigle intended and assumed in section 2, Daigle has not made this clear. Aside from the capitalized pronoun, there are no attributes or acts unique to God that would distinguish the Almighty from a boyfriend/girlfriend expressed throughout Daigle’s song, muddying the water to an otherwise good message about love.

Score: 4/10

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

We’ll assume Daigle refers to God and apply a two-point penalty.  With that in mind, all the lyrics agree with the Bible.

Lyrics posted with permission.*

[Verse 1]

When I am a wasteland
You are the water

God is like having water in a barren land, describing rest that God offers to those who come after Him (Matthew 11:28-30).

When I am the winter
You are the fire
That burns

God is like a flame amid a nasty snowstorm. It is similar in message to lines 1 and 2.

[Verse 2]

When I am a long night
You are the sunrise

God is like a light the drives out the darkness in her (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).

When I am a desert
You are the river that turns
To find me

Similar in message to Verse 1, lines 2 and 2 with an emphasis that God seeks to find Daigle (Ezekiel 34:11-16, Luke 19:10, and John 4:23).

[Chorus 1]

What have I done to deserve love like this?

A rhetorical question with an obvious answer: we have done nothing to deserve God’s love. He died for us while we were sinners (Romans 5:6-8). We deserve death for breaking His laws and commandments; eternal separation from God for missing the mark (Romans 6:23, Revelation 2:11, Revelation 20:6, Revelation 20:14-15, and Revelation 21:8).

What have I done to deserve love like this?

Repeats line 1.

[Verse 3]

Your voice like a whisper
Breaking the silence
You say there’s a treasure
You look ’til You find it
You search to find me

Essentially the same message as Verse 2.

[Chorus 2]

What have I done to deserve love like this?
What have I done to deserve love like this?

Repeats Chorus 1, line 1.

I cannot earn what You so freely give

Explicitly answers the question in Chorus 1, line 1.  We cannot earn God’s love.  He freely offers it to us (John 3:16, John 10:17-18, and Romans 5:6-8).

What have I done to deserve love like this?

Repeats Chorus 1, line 1.

[Bridge]

Hallelujah

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.

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah

Repeats line 1.

Score: 8/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

Those outside the camp of Christ will walk away with a good message without much clarity that Daigle sings about God.  Though some may interpret it as such, there is plenty of room for a boyfriend/girlfriend view.

Score: 3/10

4. What does this song glorify?

Though Daigle glorifies God in her message when we assume “You” as “God”, His identity is not clearly shown throughout her song.

Score: 5/10

Closing Comments

Lauren Daigle’s Love Like This is ambiguous.  If we assume it refers to God, her lyrics agree with the Bible and contains a decent message about God’s undeserving love for us, bringing Him glory.  However, we can easily interpret this as boyfriend/girlfriend language, snatching some of His glory away.  Daigle is not clear about the subject of “You”.

For these reasons, I cannot recommend this song for corporate worship.

Final Score: 5.5/10

Artist Info

Track: Love Like This (listen to the song)

Artist: Lauren Daigle

Album: Look Up Child

Genre: Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)

Release Year: 2018

Duration: 4:15

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

*Copyright © 2018 CentricSongs (SESAC) See You At The Pub (SESAC) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com), Flychild Publishing (SESAC) Fellow Ships Music (SESAC) So Essential Tunes (SESAC) (admin at EssentialMusicPublishing.com). All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Updates:

03/25/2021 – Updated per repetition announcement.