Photo by Dean Cui
Christian artist and songwriter Meredith Andrews began her career in 2005. She recently became associated with Vertical Church Band in 2016.
Andrews released six studio albums, including:
- Mesmerized (2005)
- The Invitation (2008)
- As Long as It Takes (2010)
- Worth It All (2013)
- Deeper (2016)
- Receive Our King (2017)
She won two dove awards in 2011, including “Worship Song of the Year” for How Great Is the Love and “Praise and Worship Album of the Year” for As Long As It Takes.
This review is for her song Open Up the Heavens.
Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Meredith-andrews-open-up-the-heavens-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?
There is a double meaning throughout these lyrics:
- We patiently wait for Christ’s second coming, requesting His physical Presence to appear before us. He is the focal point of our worship and the reason for our song.
- We experience the presence of Christ when we, as Christ-followers, gather in worship.
Side Note: To those who are sensitive to massive repetition, almost half of the entire song is Chorus, which appears five times.
Score: 10/10
2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?
I found all the lyrics to line up with Scripture.
[Verse 1]
Lines 1 and 2: What day is that? The Chorus answers this question: it is the day that Jesus returns, setting the context for “You”. The phrase “this day” suggests that the singers are future individuals, who waited patiently for Jesus’ second coming (Revelation 6:9-11).
Another interpretation is that “this day” refers to the day by which believers gather in worship until the Day that Christ returns (Hebrews 10:24-25).
Line 3a: As described in Exodus 24:17.
Line 3b and 4: That is, God gives those who trust in Him Godly desires (Psalm 37:4), which naturally includes following Jesus, who is the truth (John 14:6). After Jesus returns, God’s light fills the Great City filled with the nations whose names are written in the book of life (Revelation 21:23-27).
[Pre-Chorus]
Lines 1 and 2: We gather and worship because God is worthy (1 Chronicles 16:25, 2 Samuel 22:4, Psalm 96:4-5, Psalm 145:3, and Revelation 4:11).
[Chorus]
Line 1: That is, open up the clouds to see Christ’s second coming, which of course will be on a cloud (Matthew 24:43, Acts 1:9-11, 1 Corinthians 11:26, 1 Thessalonians 5:2-4, 2 Peter 3:10, and Revelation 16:15).
In terms of the present, this is a request for God to increase our sensitivity to His presence.
Lines 2 and 3: See commentary on Verse 1, lines 3b and 4.
[Verse 2]
Line 1: See commentary in Verse 1, line 3 and Chorus, lines 1 and 2.
Lines 2-4: See commentary in Verse 1, lines 1 and 2.
[Bridge]
Lines 1 and 2: Essentially repeats the same ideas as given in Chorus.
Line 3: Repeats line 1 with the added word “Lord” for emphasis as the subject of “You”.
Score: 10/10
3. How would an outsider interpret the song?
This depends on how much knowledge unbelievers have on Christ’s second coming. On the one hand, those who have no understanding of it will likely understand that these individuals worship God. On the other hand, I can’t think of any other worldview aside from Christianity that fits these lyrics. So, there doesn’t seem to be any real criticism in terms of non-Christian interpretation.
Score: 10/10
4. What does this song glorify?
This song glorifies God through the worship of those who await Christ’s second coming. It is not impeded due to the lack of knowledge of unbelievers.
Score: 10/10
Closing Comments
Meredith Andrews’ Open Up the Heavens is a decent song. Though slightly repetitive and possibly confusing to unbelievers living under a rock, it glorifies God through its description of anticipation of Christ’s second coming and our collective worship through it.
While worship leaders may consider it, it’s not my cup of tea.
Final Score: 10/10
Artist Info
Track: Open Up the Heavens (listen to the song)
Artist: Meredith Andrews
Album: Worth It All
Genre: Rock
Release Year: 2013
Duration: 3:53
Agree? Disagree? Don’t be shy or have a cow! Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.
Updates:
03/25/2021 – Updated per repetition announcement. I moved my commentary to a side note, increased section 1’s score, and updated my recommendation in Conclusion. This increased the overall rating, from 9.5/10 to 10/10.
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. Also, I didn’t find any actual criticism to section 3, updating the conclusion. Therefore, I changed my score in sections 3 and 4, raising this review from 8.5/10 to 9.5/10.
11/27/2019 – Commenter Steve Barhydt is correct: There is a double-meaning throughout these lyrics that include authentic worship here and now. I incorporated his thoughts throughout this review.
11/24/2019 – Upon Sue’s challenge, I found that Vertical Church Band’s version contains a Verse/Chorus/Bridge format. I incorporated it into this review.
Comments
Mike
A perfect score? Any time a song tells God to do something, it’s problematic. Also, it doesn’t make sense: “Open up the floodgates / A mighty river / Flowing from your heart / Filling every part of our praise”?
Neal Cruco
Mike,
“Any time a song tells God to do something, it’s problematic.”
Well, that is an interesting argument. I decided to test it against Psalms, which is the only songbook to be inspired by God, and the results are below. All quotations are from the New Living Translation.
”Arise, O Lord! Rescue me, my God! Slap all my enemies in the face! Shatter the teeth of the wicked! Victory comes from you, O Lord. May you bless your people.“
Psalm 3:7-8
”Answer me when I call to you, O God who declares me innocent. Free me from my troubles. Have mercy on me and hear my prayer.“
Psalm 4:1
”O Lord, hear me as I pray; pay attention to my groaning. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for I pray to no one but you. Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly. … Lead me in the right path, O Lord, or my enemies will conquer me. Make your way plain for me to follow. … O God, declare them guilty. Let them be caught in their own traps. Drive them away because of their many sins, for they have rebelled against you.“
Psalms 5:1-3, 8, 10 (NLT)
”O Lord, don’t rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your rage. Have compassion on me, Lord, for I am weak. Heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony. … Return, O Lord, and rescue me. Save me because of your unfailing love.“
Psalms 6:1-2, 4
”I come to you for protection, O Lord my God. Save me from my persecutors—rescue me! … Arise, O Lord, in anger! Stand up against the fury of my enemies! Wake up, my God, and bring justice! Gather the nations before you. Rule over them from on high. The Lord judges the nations. Declare me righteous, O Lord, for I am innocent, O Most High! End the evil of those who are wicked, and defend the righteous. For you look deep within the mind and heart, O righteous God.“
Psalms 7:1, 6-9
I continued through Psalm 15 – just 10% of the total – and found even more examples than these. But I think the point has been made well enough. When we worship God through song, we are speaking to Him as surely as we do through prayer. And we are allowed – nay, commanded – to ask God for things in His Name. (See John 14-16, for instance.) If we are in Him and He is in us, then we will ask only for things that are in His will, and it will delight Him to grant them to us. (If, on the other hand, your argument hinges on the difference between a request and a demand, then that is a valid distinction, but I don’t see any sign of demands in this song, any more than I see them in other songs.)
As for the interpretation of the song’s chorus, that was part of Vince’s review. I suggest you reread it and ask more specific questions afterward if you wish.
Charles J Busada
This answer is not logical. It is called a “hasty generalization” and it fails on that point. Sure, we are to pray to God and ask him for things, but at the very end of our prayers, we stress, “not my will but thine” or “if it be in your will.” But one thing we know from the scriptures is that it is totally uncool to ask or command God to “SHOW US YOUR GLORY” or really not anything that is against His revealed will. These words are contrary to both scripture and reason. We know now that we will not see the Glory of God until the epiphany of Jesus’ return. The “face of Jesus Christ” is where we find the visible Glory of God in its fullness. If God were to give us His Glory in answer to that unbiblical prayer we would be toast. That’s why we were allowed to see the diminished Glory of God (as Moses did in the cleft of the rock) because when Jesus was walking the earth he was still the Glory of God, but he had not as yet been Glorified himself. He was the Glory of God in a diminished form (except on the hill of transfiguration which is a notable exception). So, now we see in a mirror darkly, but when we see Him, we will be Glorified ourselves, so we can handle it.
The song is laughable. It has no moorings. It is another example of religious clichés that fail the Berean test, as in searching the Scriptures we find no one but Moses who asked to see the Glory of the Angel of the Lord (who when he appeared in the Old Testament) was Christ, but in a diminished form.
So, perhaps we should just sing this feel-good-song as long as we don’t take the lyrics seriously.
Steve Barhydt
Charles,
I notice that you offer zero scriptures to back up your claim, whereas Neal offered several and could have offered many more.
A “hasty generalization” is described as “This fallacy occurs when an argument is based on a body of evidence that is simply too small.”
https://owl.excelsior.edu/argument-and-critical-thinking/logical-fallacies/logical-fallacies-hasty-generalization/
Since your argument is based on no presented evidence at all, it is you who are guilty of the “hasty generalization”.
Neal’s premise, as is Vince’s and mine, that if the Holy Spirit had no problem inspiring the authors of the Bible to say a certain thing in a certain way, we should have no problems with writers today doing the same.
Neal’s response is to Mike’s statement “Any time a song tells God to do something, it’s problematic” and does a perfect job of showing how such “commands” to God are handled in the Psalms.
If you disagree with his assessment, fine. Show proof from scripture where any of the Psalms that Neal uses mentions “’not my will but thine’ or ‘if it be in your will.’”
For that matter, show me where we are commanded in Scripture to always say ‘if it be in your will.’
Jesus didn’t end all of His prayers that way. The Old Testament ‘heroes of the Faith’ didn’t either. Nor did the Apostles.
Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely believe in praying ‘if it be in your will.’. It IS a Scriptural way to pray but it is not commanded and not the only way to pray.
In the ‘Lord’s Prayer’ given in Matthew 6:9-13 (KJV) during the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus does say ‘Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.’
However, when teaching His disciples to pray in Luke:11, several reliable translations (RSV, ESV, NASB, NIV) omit the phrase “Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven”
The older manuscripts (namely the Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament) on which ‘newer’ translations are based simply don’t have the phrase.
This doesn’t mean that Matthew was wrong and Luke was right, or vice versa, it means that, in all likelihood, Jesus taught the same lesson in different ways.
What we can take away is the fact that the two passages are different and, in neither one, are we commanded to pray ‘if it be in your will.’
You make the false claim the ‘But one thing we know from the scriptures is that it is totally uncool to ask or command God to “SHOW US YOUR GLORY” ‘
This is incorrect and unscriptural. Exodes 33:18-23 (KJV)
18 And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.
19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.
20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.
21 And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:
22 And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:
23 And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.
Note that Moses was not rebuked for asking, his wish WAS granted in such a way that he was protected at the same time.
It is irrelevant that no one else in the Bible asked this specific request because others in the Bible DID see the glory of God (albeit veiled) and lived to tell about it …
1) Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel saw God (Exo. 24:9-10 KJV)
9 Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel:
10 And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness.
2) Micaiah saw the Lord sitting upon his throne (2 Chron. 18:18 KJV)
18 Again he said, Therefore hear the word of the LORD; I saw the LORD sitting upon his throne, and all the host of heaven standing on his right hand and on his left.
3) Isaiah saw the Lord sitting upon a throne (Isaiah 6:1-7 KJV)
1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar
7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.
4) Ezekiel saw God’s glory in the temple (Ezekiel 10:1-5 KJV)
1 Then I looked, and, behold, in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubims there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne.
2 And he spake unto the man clothed with linen, and said, Go in between the wheels, even under the cherub, and fill thine hand with coals of fire from between the cherubims, and scatter them over the city. And he went in in my sight.
3 Now the cherubims stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court.
4 Then the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the LORD’S glory.
5 And the sound of the cherubims’ wings was heard even to the outer court, as the voice of the Almighty God when he speaketh.
5) Peter, James, and John saw God transfigured on the mountain (Matthew 17:1-7 KJV)
1 And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,
2 And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.
3 And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.
4 Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.
5 While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.
6 And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.
7 And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid.
6) John saw God on his throne in heaven (Rev. 4:1-4 KJV)
1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.
2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.
3 And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.
4 And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.
So, Charles, tell me again, why this ‘song is laughable. It has no moorings’?
I have just given you seven different passages in the Bible that show that requesting for God to ‘Show us, show us Your glory’ is not something that we have to wait until eternity for and several people in the Bible saw His glory and survived.
Can you support your claim Biblically (all Scriptures in context please)? If not, it is you who ‘fail the Berean test’, not this song.
I believe that God is not a respecter of persons (Acts 10:343).
I believe Jesus when He said that ‘If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it’ (John 14:13-14)
I understand that there are things that will limit the effectiveness of my prayers (i.e. not God’s will, praying selfishly, being at odds with my wife, lack of faith, etc.) but the cry to see the glory of God is none of these hinderances. It is a desire to know Him more completely.
There is, therefore, nothing Biblically (or logically) wrong with the lyrics of this song.
The 10/10 rating is deserved.
Charles J Busada
Steve, pardon my late response as I have been traveling. I am always pleased to have spirited discussions with my brothers on things of great importance. I respect your answers to me, but I also differ from your arguments and will try to explain. But, I am so excited to have a discussion on the nature of God’s Glory, and none of that will appear in this first response.
I can’t make this brief as you came both barrels smokin 🙂 and I want to address them, boring as they may be (briefly so as to make the main thing the. . . you know.
Regarding the hasty generalization comment, I still hold to it. You seem to think that if you put up verse references, and I did not, that I’m making that logical error. I beg to differ.
We need to see the validity of your arguments as well as mine.
I maintain that no matter how many verses you provide, if they do not apply to the topic at hand, then they are irrelevant (or hasty). I hope to answer them in a later post to keep this one smaller.
Your point, if I understood you correctly, is that it is normative for God’s children to ask for, and receive a view of God’s Glory. Thus -if the moderator allows- I would like to engage with you on the wonderful subject of God’s undiminished Glory vs His diminished glory, Both are scriptural, and both of them are relevant to our discussion.
You gave me a plethora of verses and mentioned that the way we interpret these verses is critical to our topic at hand. I agree. However this topic is highly debated among Christian scholars. The debate is hermeneutical in nature, as we need to interpret verses in light of genres, redemptive history and purpose. We must distinguish between that which is apocryphal (the use of symbols) rather than say, an epistle that carefully states arguments in a logical order. We also need to discuss the nature of dreams”, “visions,” and that which is sensual, meaning our physical senses of sight, sound, etc. In my view we should avoid the former and stick to the latter in this discussion.
On top of that, you imply that we can and should have the liberty to interpret Scripture as the apostles did in the apostolic period. That is a biggie with no Christian scholarly consensus. May I suggest Richard N. Longenecker ‘s “Biblical Interpretation in the Apostolic Period” vs. Richard B Hays “Echoes of Scripture in the Letters or Paul.” They are both good reads. The first book claims that we do not have that right, and the latter book states that we do.
Well, enough of that.
You took exception to my comment that -when we command God to do anything it is “problematic” and I remain that it is. I did not say that it is absolutely wrong, but that it could bring problems, and big ones at that!. If I recall this very issue was discussed in Elevation Worship’s “Do it Again.
Now, I’m all for commanding God to do something IF HE COMMANDS US to do it. Consider Isaiah 45:11ff where God TELLS US to “Command ye Me.” God was not telling us to command Him to show His Glory, but rather to show us His plan of redemption. There is a big difference.
Nowhere in Scripture does God tell us to command him to show us His glory.
That is what I meant when I said that our commanding God to show us His glory is not revealed to us in Scripture as His will. Also your comments on “thy will be done,” as interesting as they are for New Testament textual criticism, is peripheral to our discussion on “Open up the Heavens.” As you are familiar with the Nestle-Aland Greek translations, I suggest that you look at the apparatus (at the bottom of the page). You’ll see that older vs. newer manuscripts citings under Matthew 6 in the ancient manuscripts are quite complex and not as simple as you proposed it to be. NOW . . . prolegomena aside, let’s get to the issue.
I called the song “Laughable” and this is why.
God clearly stated that no man can look upon his face and live. You differ.
So, imagine a cartoon in the Sunday funnies (do we still have those things?)
Frame 1. A bunch of people are at the beach lifting up their arms to the heavens and sing “God, show us your glory.
Frame 2. Nothing but bright white.
Frame 3. A bunch of charred and smoking stick figures remain with their hands lifted to the heavens. In my demented mind, this is laughable in the irony itself.
Steve Barhydt
Charles,
Thank you for your response.
As you can tell from my past posts, I have no quandary being log-winded :).
It seems that a ‘hasty generalization’ like ‘beauty’ is ‘in the eye of the beholder’. Consequently, I won’t spend anymore time defending Neil’s post.
I would boil the disagreement between Neil, myself and you to two main points of contention.
Namely, ‘commanding’ God to do something and the ability of humans to ‘see’ the Glory of God without becoming ‘burnt toast’ so to speak.
First up – ‘commanding’ God to do something.
You say ‘Now, I’m all for commanding God to do something IF HE COMMANDS US to do it.’ (emphasis yours)
You reference Isaiah 45:11ff as supporting your assertion.
Interestingly enough, the KJV and the ASV do say ‘command ye me.’
However, the ESV, NIV, and RSV put it in the form of a question…
Isaiah 45:11 (ESV)
Thus says the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and the one who formed him: “Ask me of things to come; will you command me concerning my children and the work of my hands?”
And the NASB (which is an update to the ASV) doesn’t have that phrase at all.
I point this out to show that Isaiah 45 is not a very solid verse to base your “only what God commands me to command Him’ thesis upon.
For the sake of argument, however, I will grant you that the verse unequivocally states ‘command ye me.’
If the Biblical method is to only command God ‘IF HE COMMANDS US to do it.’, then you must explain the passages where the authors of the Bible (under the unction and control of the Holy Spirit) command God to do something without a proclamation from God to do so.
Where, in Scripture, are we instructed to command God to answer our prayers?
Yet we read the Psalmist saying…(Some from Neil’s list, others I added to support his point)
‘Answer me when I call, O God… Be gracious to me and hear my prayer’ (Psalm 4:1 ESV)
‘Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my groaning, Give attention to the sound of my cry’ (Psalm 5:1 ESV)
‘Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good;’ (Psalm 69:16)
‘Incline your ear, O LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.’ (Psalm 86:1 ESV)
‘Hear my prayer, O LORD… Answer me quickly, O Lord’ (Psalm 143:1,7 ESV)
Over and over again, the Psalmist ‘commanded’ God to pay attention to him.
Where, in Scripture, are we instructed to command God to heal us?
Yet we read the Psalmist saying…
‘heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled.’ (Psalm 6:2b ESV)
We read Jeremiah saying…
‘Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed;’ (Jeremiah 17:14a ESV)
Where, in Scripture, are we instructed to command God to protect and deliver us?
Yet we read the Psalmist saying…
‘Deliver me, O Lord, from evil men; preserve me from violent men,” and ‘Guard me, O LORD, from the hands of the wicked; preserve me from violent men,’ (Psalm 140:1,4 ESV)
Like Neil’s comment, I could go on and on.
You say ‘Nowhere in Scripture does God tell us to command him to show us His glory.’
I will respond by saying nowhere in Scripture are we ‘commanded to command God’ for answers to prayers, healing, deliverance. Yet, as I have shown above, throughout the Psalms, the authors did ‘command’ God.
You say ‘your comments on “thy will be done,” as interesting as they are for New Testament textual criticism, is peripheral to our discussion on “Open up the Heavens.”’
I fail to see how your claim of the necessity of a mandatory ‘thy will be done’ and my rebuttal of that, is ‘peripheral to our discussion “Open up the Heavens.”’, when you are the one who brought it up in the second sentence of your critique of Neil’s comment.
I challenged you to provide Scriptures proving that this HAD TO BE the ONLY Biblical way to pray. I have yet to see an adequate response from you (in my opinion at least).
As to the Nestle-Aland Greek translations, I did not mean to portray the lack of the phrase ‘Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven’ in Luke 11 as ‘simple’ but as a reality that, according to the most widely accepted Greek New Testament (and the translation that are based off of it), Luke 11 is different than Matthew 6.
Matthew 6, containing the phrase ‘Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven’, is the only thing in the Scripture remotely close to a command to always pray ‘Thy will be done’. Which again, was your qualification of a ‘proper’ prayer not mine.
Moving on to the discussion of seeing the glory of God.
You say ‘God clearly stated that no man can look upon his face and live. You differ.’
I offered several Scriptures about people in the Old and New Testament who saw the glory of God and lived to talk about it.
Based on your comment ‘We also need to discuss the nature of dreams”, “visions,” and that which is sensual, meaning our physical senses of sight, sound, etc. In my view we should avoid the former and stick to the latter in this discussion.’, you seemed to reject those Scriptures as metaphysical (to be avoided) as opposed to physical (to be analyzed and accepted)
That’s a convenient way to ‘frame the debate’ to favor your argument but I’ll grant you that limitation.
Even if you discount all of the prophets who ‘saw the glory of God’ as only in a ‘dream’ or ‘vision’, what about the original Biblical request to ‘see the glory of God.”?
There is nothing in the text that suggest Moses was not wide awake and physically in the presence of God (Exodus 33:9, 18-23 KJV)
9 And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses.
18 And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.
19 And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.
20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.
21 And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:
22 And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:
23 And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.
Again, since you seemingly ignored it the last time, Moses was NOT rebuked. He was accommodated. He saw the glory of God but was not allowed to see His face.
At the transfiguration, Peter, James, and John were not dreaming but were physically there with Jesus (2 Peter 1:16-18 KJV emphasis mine)
16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were EYEWITNESSES of his majesty.
17 For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
18 And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.
As I thought more about this discussion, I realized that it is not about seeing the unveiled ‘face of God’ but seeing His glory. These are two distinctly different things.
I completely agree that no human can look at the unveiled face of God and live. But that is not what Moses requested nor is it what this song is requesting.
In summary, I quote from David Guzik’s excellent commentary
https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/guzik_david/study-guide/exodus/exodus-33.cfm
********************Begin Quote*******************
a. Please, show me Your glory: Moses won a “yes” answer from God when he asked for the special presence of God to remain with Israel on the way to the Promised Land (Exodus 33:12-17). He also won a confirmation of the promise from God and an affirmation of close relationship. Yet he was still not satisfied. He wanted more in his personal relationship with God.
i. Spurgeon thought that perhaps Moses, when he asked for this, was somewhat like Peter on the Mount of Transfiguration when he asked for something, not really understanding what he said. This was such a bold and brave request that it might have been beyond Moses to really experience; yet God was still pleased with Moses and his longing to know the LORD in greater and deeper ways.
ii. This hunger for more of God — for more of an experience with God — is a mark of true revival and restoration of relationship. Whatever Moses had experienced with God, he now wanted more. “The more a man knows of God, the more desirous he is to know him.” (Trapp)
iii. “We may have been Christians for many years, but have we ever really longed for some person, direct knowledge and experience of God? Oh, I know, we pray for causes, we pray for the Church, we pray for missionaries, we pray for our own efforts that we organize, yes, but that is not what I am concerned about. We all ask for personal blessings, but how much do we know of this desire for God himself? That is what Moses asked for: ‘Show me thy glory. Take me yet a step nearer.’” (Lloyd-Jones)
…
We also should have an earnest desire to experience God deeply. Paul made it clear that we cannot fully see the glory of God — we see it as in a piece of polished metal, dimly (1 Corinthians 13:12) — but we can see something of it. Paul didn’t say we see nothing of the glory of God, only that we can’t fully see it or comprehend it.
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There is so much more to this quote that I would love to put here.
I, for one, want more of God. Like Paul in Philippians 3, I want to ‘be found in Him’ and ‘to know Him’.
This is the meaning of ‘Show us Your glory’ in Exodus 33 and the meaning of it in this song.
Within the context of the song, ‘Show us Your glory’ in the bridge is preceded by…
‘Your glory like a fire awakening desire, Will burn our hearts with truth
You’re the reason we’re here, You’re the reason we’re singing’
This desire to know more of God is 100% biblical.
When we are in the presence of God (be it in a church service, reading His Word, or private prayers), it should stir our spirits to know more about Him so that we can be more like Him.
That is the request of this song. I would call it ‘laudable’ not ‘laughable’.
Charles J Busada Ph.D.
Steve, I think that we should just let this rest. We are talking past ourselves and I don’t think this is doing anyone any good. I’m just going to state my position for the last time and in simple language. I apologize for typos and stuff that will probably follow.
When we sing a song in worship for God to “Show us Your Glory Now,” what are we asking Him. We know that if He showed us his unveiled Glory it would destroy us. We have no record of God showing humankind his full glory, for He told us that no man can see his face and live. Even on the mount of transfiguration, Jesus did not show his unmitigated glory.
How do I know this? It’s because all who saw his diminished glory got the point that Jesus was no man as we are, but they lived. Even Peter who saw the bright light, in his epistles never mentioned the light; rather he was fixated on the Sound of the voice of God.
I have read scores of commentaries on John (I did my doctoral dissertation on the chronology of John’s Gospel) and in this period, not one commentator, ancient or modern, on this Gospel dared rite that this was not a veiled glory. I’ll give you my opinion why; it’s because our world is cursed, groaning in the expectation of being glorified with us. Jesus, at the mount was not yet “glorified” Himself at that time. If he displayed the face of God, not only would he had killed the onlookers, but likely his presence would have ended all of creation itself. That is the power of the glory of God. We are playing with dynamite here.
But the main reason why I am sure that Jesus did not show his full Glory is that Paul tells us in Phip 2, that Jesus “emptied himself” of his glory on earth, but he was no less God. And, read any good commentary of the Gospel of John and you’ll read that the Glory of Jesus Christ was revealed when he was “lifted-up” on the Cross. Do a short study on John 3 and you’ll see the Greek word for lift up means, exalt just as much as it has a physical meaning.
So, Moses asked to see God’s glory. He did not get a full “Yes,” but he was accommodated by seeing the diminished glory of God in the cleft of a rock.
This was the apostles message in his gospel. John wrote that we beheld His glory. That was his active obedience to the Father and bore our shame and guilt.
So, you see, I see it as brash, assertive, and misguided.
I also see it insulting. God sent His Son for our salvation at a great cost. Paul told us that the Glory of God that we will see is in the face of Jesus Christ, but we won’t see that face until we are glorified ourselves. We see through a glass darkly, but we will see Him glorified as we will be glorified also.
So, why is it insulting, This is why.
Us “Show us your glory” God: No, if you want to see my glory, look on the cross in Calvary. That bludgeoned crucified man on the cross is the glory that you will see on this earth. So, be grateful what you have and just look in humility upon the cross. Look on the Cross. Nothing compares to it. Nothing.
I have nothing left to say. I wish you God’s blessings in all of His fullness.
Charles
Steve Barhydt
Charles,
I completely agree that our conversation isn’t getting us anywhere but not because ‘we are talking past ourselves’.
From my first response to you until my last one, I have, to the best of my abilities, rebutted your assertions with Scripture and commentary.
You, on the other hand, have not responded with Scripture to the majority of what I have said.
Instead, you have attempted multiple times to “frame the debate” by narrowing the scope of our conversation.
Each time I have, for the sake of argument, conceded your limitations and still used Scripture to attempt to prove my point.
In your “farewell” statement, you still fail to address the main point of contention between us.
No one, not the songwriter, not Vince, not Neil, and certainly not me is talking about seeing undiminished glory of God.
We, like Moses, want to experience more of God. This is “what are we asking Him”.
In my last comment I explained what Moses’ motivation was in asking God to “show me Your glory.”
https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/guzik_david/study-guide/exodus/exodus-33.cfm
*********************Begin Quote******************
” Yet he was still not satisfied. He wanted more in his personal relationship with God.”
And
“This was such a bold and brave request that it might have been beyond Moses to really experience; yet God was still pleased with Moses and his longing to know the LORD in greater and deeper ways.’ (Spurgeon)
*********************End Quote******************
We know that God was pleased because He accommodated Moses.
God will always answer those who seek to find Him and will reveal more of Himself to them (Jeremiah 29:13, Jeremiah 33:3)
You finish by saying “Us “Show us your glory” God: No, if you want to see my glory, look on the cross in Calvary.”
The Cross, no doubt, displayed the Glory of God to the world.
However, the Christian life starts at the Cross it doesn’t end there.
The glory of the Cross is not the only glory God has to share with us.
The Cross is sufficient for our salvation but Jesus knew that, in order to live life as He would have us live, we would need something more. So He sent the Holy Spirit (John 14:26, Luke 24:49, 1 Corinthians 12:7)
2 Cor. 3:18 (KJV) But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
There are many different aspects to the glory of God and I want to experience all of them…
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/essay/the-glory-of-god/
This does not take anything away from the Cross but supplements it.
This desire is not “brash, assertive, and misguided” or “insulting” in any way.
Rather it follows a Biblical pattern of seeking after God set forth in the Old Testament and carried into the New.
“Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice! Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!” (I Chronicles 16:10-11 ESV)
“The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.” (Psalm 145:18 ESV)
“”I love those who love me,and those who seek me find me.” (Proverbs 8:17 ESV)
“And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6 ESV)
“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” (James 4:8a ESV)
The ‘glory to glory’ transformation spoken of in 2 Cor. 3:18 is a lifelong race.
Like the Apostle Paul, I want to “know Him” (Phil 3:10).
Also, like Paul, I’m not there yet (Phil. 3:12-13)
So, like Paul, I press forward (Phil. 3:12-13)
One of the ways that I do so is to ‘see’ as much of the glory of God that I can.
Charles J Busada
Our band was going to play this song on Sunday so I sent our band leader a note and he dumped the song. Below are my reasons why. First, Kevin is spot on that opening up the heavens is a terrifying event to the unbeliever, and even the believer. Why? It is the bridge that tells us what the author was thinking, and Meredith, unknowingly, is asking us to call down destruction upon ourselves in singing this song. So, where do we find the line “Show us your glory” in Scripture?
Moses in Exodus 33:18 asks Yahweh to show him His glory. You all know this story, and the old hymn “He Hideth My Soul” picks up on it. God CAN NOT show us His Glory without smoking us immediately.
That is NOT what we want. What we want to see is “the face of Jesus Christ.” You see, in Exodus, Moses asked god to “Show me your Glory.” The Lord responded by telling Moses that he, a sinful man, could not see His Glory and live. So, we get a great hymn out of that called “He Hideth My soul.” God put Moses in “the Cleft of the Rock” so that Moses would only get to see Yahweh’s “backside.”
Whatever this “backside” is, apparently it is a somewhat diminished glory that Moses could see and live. Even that diminished glory would make his face shine brightly and slowly fade away.
But, by the time we get to the New Testament we know what this “backside” of Yahweh is. It is the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ the incarnate Son of God.
So, you see that Exodus 33 is giving us an insight into a Trinitarian God, something that is common in the Old Testament. Moses will find the Glory of God only in this diminished backside.
Isaiah picks up the argument here when he tells us in his “Servant passages” that there is nothing of this Servant of God that would make us take note of Him. There is no pizzazz, just the mundane. It is not until the Mount of Transformation that this Servant, Jesus Christ, showed us that He is Yahweh Himself when he would glow bright white.
The Gospel of John tells us that the real glorification of Jesus is when He was “lifted up” on the Cross; this is the Glorification of Christ, and Hebrews concurs. So, the glory of Christ is the bloody cross that many could see if they dared to look. The Glory of God is the bloody cross and this song directs us away from this reality.
So, you may think that this is splitting hairs, but I think that sloppy lyrics that sound cool can flat out contradict Scripture. Authors, in trying to write uplifting songs, will often pull Scriptures out of context with out giving due diligence to learn what they are actually saying to us. And we get things confused and terribly wrong.
This song is making a dreadful mistake that is so bad that it is almost comical. It is asking us to make the same mistake that Moses made, but Moses gets a pass as there was much that was not revealed to him. We need God to ‘hide our souls in the cleft of the rock” to protect us.
So, to summarize, we need to teach our brethren that Christ is found in the mundane, in the ordinary things of life that God is redeeming through Christ in us. We cannot look on God just as Moses could not look on God. We need a mediator in Jesus Christ. So we look on Him whom we have pierced and see the glory of salvation through suffering.
The song, instead is telling us to get high on God and we completely disregard the Trinitarian basis of God, His revelation, and His Glory. I would only sing this song if I could tell the congregation in advance as what to look for in seeing God’s glory, and that is in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the Cross.
Vince Wright
Charles,
Thank you for your comment!
The very first line of this song contextualizes Andrews’ meaning of “show us Your glory”. In my commentary, I claimed that “We’ve waited for this day, we’re gathered in Your Name” is about Christ’s triumphant return. By the time Andrews asks “show us Your glory”, we would be in our spiritual, sinless bodies (1 Corinthians 15:53). Yes, had Andrews asked for God’s glory in her mortal, sinful body, she would be smoked. However, I don’t see why this same argument would apply to her resurrected, spiritual, sinless body received after the second coming of Christ.
-Vince Wright
Charles J Busada
Vince, I tried to reply to your comments in depth, but I found myself writing a tome. So, here is the quick and dirty version and even this is too long. It seems that you give Andrews a pass here. If God is to show us His glory “now” then it is nothing but fire and smoke. In your comments you basically put a eschatological presupposition behind the song. So now, in response, I must question Andrew’s theology, or at least her eschatological position (supposing that she has one).
Perhaps if Andrews is a pre trib, pre mill, sort, then I guess that the song is demanding an immediate rapture and glorification of our bodies? If she is an a-mill type, then she already believes that the millennium (a figurative period of time), is over and we can just skip the Great Tribulation. If she is the post-mill type then the song is nothing but a contradiction as she is just informing God that there is no need to continue life as we know it. And is the average believer in the congregation going to make those connections? A rhetorical question for sure. So, is this song about the “Blessed Hope” at all? It never makes that claim. It never makes any eschatological claim at all.
I do not know, nor care about Andrew’s theological background, but I do know and care about my congregation’s theology and theological background. I could not feed them such a cryptic message. But at face value, I must conclude that the song God to send His Son back “NOW” as we are singing it on Sunday morning. Yes, we are to “hasten the day of His coming” but this is through preaching the Gospel to all men of all generations. If God, in His mercy, has believers in future generations whom He
desires to save, then how would we interpret this song? Is she saying, God, not thy will, but my will be done? So, do we have the right to invoke God, with the imperative(!) command to “Show us Your glory now.”?
“Show us your glory ‘now'” means that we are not glorified “now” as we are singing but Andrews is asking for and expecting a “flash, and the twinkle of an eye” to glorify our carnal bodies on the spot. It poses such confusion to the people singing this song. Frankly, it seems to me that she is really saying “God, give us a super dose of your Glory now!” And, yes, this is smoke. The song is loose, confusing, and apparently it would be up to every individual singer to — on the fly — interpret the eschatological nuances. This does not happen in real life. The song is fun to sing, but really, do you think that people will come to any conclusion but to ask this question the way that Moses did. He wanted to see God’s Glory ‘now.’
God’s could respond to this song in two ways. He could either show us His Glory now and we would be annihilated by a blinding light shining in our darkness, or he can say to us what he told Moses. “I cannot show you my Glory unless I place you in the cleft of the rock and you can view my diminished glory. What could that be but to set our eyes upon the Son of God bearing the dreadful curse for our souls. So, when Isaac Watts wrote “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” he was in effect setting his eyes on His Glory NOW, and the result is his lamentation on his own pride. This is a far cry from Andrew’s clear, unmassaged message to simply “Show it to us NOW God.”
Scott P
Meredith Andrews has a video on Youtube about the “story behind the song”. Just search Youtube for “Meredith Andrews story behind the song”.
From her description, it seems clear that it has nothing to do with the Second Coming of Jesus. She is simply referring to gathering for worship on Sunday mornings. While we can try to interpret the lyrics as being about the Second Coming, we are then being dishonest as to the author’s true intent of their meaning.
In this case, I agree with Charles and Kevin’s concerns above. I am not going to be demanding from God “We wanna see You”, in the here-and-now.
Vince, I wonder if now knowing the meaning of the song, per the author’s own words, changes your feelings about it.
Vince Wright
Scott,
Thank you for your comments!
First, I think you meant for me to add the song title as part of the search!
Second, I’m a bit surprised that the author intended this song to mean corporate worship now, especially since much of the language has “second coming” written all over it. If that is what she meant, then Charles is correct. However, I do reviews based on what the lyrics say, not necessarily what the author intended. It’s not intellectual dishonesty to disagree with the artist on the meaning of their lyrics. Sometimes authorial intent doesn’t match the lyrics as they are presented. While that often results in penalties, in this case, she accidently tells the truth. My mind remains unchanged.
-Vince Wright
Kevin Sorensen
There is something about this song I want to like, and yet there is biblical theology here that is troublesome to me as well. It’s a catchy little tune, easily singable, repetitive (which makes it one you might find yourself humming later during the day), with no octave jumps for a congregation to be troubled by. It’s some of the lyrics that trouble me: if this song is about Christ’s Second Coming only, then the sentimental notion of God opening up His heaven to us is welcoming, but nevertheless ought to be frightening enough to unbelievers that they want mountains and rocks to crush them, not stand there in delight beholding the beauty of a Savior they don’t love. If it’s about simply gathering for worship on the Lord’s Day, again, it’s an existential experience the song is longing for, a sentimental “pop evangelical” passion we try to drum up. Yet, most frequently, in Scripture, when the heavens are opened, when God’s glory shines upon men, they fall down on their faces and weep and wail…even those who are redeemed (think: Abraham, Moses, the disciples, John). Isaiah, when confronted with the refulgent glory and splendor of God’s holiness in the temple cried out: “I am undone!” He didn’t stand there with arms raised crying out, “Open up the heavens, we want to see You.” So, I want to kind of like this song, but am having a hard time with the power of glory versus the power of the cross theme we, as pre-heavenly saints, should look for.
JM
Kevin – agreed, well put. My church used to do this song a lot, and people really got into singing it. Looking back, I’m not sure we were thinking through the implications of the “heavens opening”, and seeing God right now…
Wayne Powell
You have it right brother. And I would add that the first stated meaning, about the return of Christ, is nowhere found in these lyrics. Jesus is not even mentioned. The second stated meaning is only loosely correct, but at the same time not supported in the New Testament.
Heath Achatz
Glad to read this comment. I play at church and do not sing this song. Mainly. I have seen the glory already in Christs redemption of man. Secondly, the heavens are open for believers already. I always try to sig it as the 2nd coming, but it seems to bring about double mindedness.
Steve Barhydt
Although this song foreshadows the physical Second Coming of our Lord, I believe that the main thrust the song is that we can and will experience the presence of Jesus here in this life.
Each time we come together as a body of believers (“We’ve waited for this day, we’re gathered in Your Name”), we long for the presence of God to be with us.
As Jesus said
Matthew 18:20 King James Version (KJV) For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
If Jesus were here physically we would not the Lord to “unveil our eyes”. However, as flesh and blood creatures we are not always able to “see” the presence of God. Therefore, like Elijah praying for his servant in 2 Kings 6:17, we pray that God give us the spiritual insight to see Him.
Vince Wright
Steve,
Thank you for your challenge! I did not fully incorporate the present as I thought I had and clearly missed it in section 1. I added further commentary.
-Vince Wright
Armando Silva
Not your cup of Tea huh? Well, let us hear you writing and/or singing a song glorifying our Father, his Son or his holiest of spirits “THE HOLY SPIRIT”
I, do not see any problem with Ms. Andrew’s hymn to the Most High’s Son returning to take us home clean like snow.
Maybe I’m in Err but at timesci believe ppl find double meanings in the songs. We can find double meaning in everything in the English tongue if that’s what you are looking for. At that point I believe YOU the discoverer of the alternate meaning needs to sit back and ask yourself where did that other meaning come from…….I’m a retired police officer and what you expressed is WHAT YOU MEANT! The initial meaning is meant. The other, is what’s In your heart.
That, is how react to what I hear, see from us, The sinners.
Sue
Great review! We have actually sung this one at our church multiple times. Goes over well.
I would challenge though that there is a format to this song:
V1 – Pre chorus (“Your the reason…).
– Chorus – V2 – Pre chorus – Chorus 2x – Bridge repeated several times (“show us, show us your glory”…)
But just my two cents. Thanks for all your hard work on the reviews! Very helpful!
:- )
Vince Wright
Sure,
Thanks! I appreciate that.
Thanks for the challenge! I found it under Vertical Church Band’s version and incorporated it in this review.
-Vince Wright