Photo by Joshua Earle
Passion is a home-grown worship band associated with their home church, Passion City Church. It spawned from their first Passion conference in 1997 under the banner of Choice Ministries. This was held in Atlanta Georgia. Since then, they released 23 live and studio albums.
Also, check out my other Passion reviews.
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?
We have enough faith to make mountains fall into the waters, expecting God to move when asked to intervene. Despite our misgivings that God seems distant and disinterested in our day-to-day affairs, given that God is Lord of all creation, He knows these things and more. He shows how much He loves us by saving us before we were born and keeping His promises. In response we worship Him, desiring to experience more and more of Him.
Side Note: To those annoyed by massive repetition, Stanzas 5-9 repeats/essentially repeats Stanza 3 five times in a row. Stanza 6 is a bit different though, repeating “singing Alleluia” four times in a row, albeit a bit slower.
Score: 10/10
2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?
This song does not contain a Verse/Chorus/Bridge structure. Therefore, I assigned stanzas after each paragraph.
Lyrics posted with permission.*
[Stanza 1]
If faith can move the mountains
Let the mountains move
Borrows from Matthew 17:20, Matthew 21:21, and Mark 11:23, with us declaring that we have this level of faith.
We come with expectation
Waiting here for You, waiting here for You
Lest they become like the sea, tossed around to and fro, unstable and doubting that God will bring anything (James 1:5-8).
[Stanza 2]
You’re the Lord of all creation
And still You know my heart
Contrasts God’s seeming distance as the Sovereign over creation (Genesis 1:1, Deuteronomy 4:39, Deuteronomy 10:14, Joshua 2:11, Nehemiah 9:6, Psalm 29:10, Psalm 45:6, Psalm 50:7-15, Psalm 93:1-2, Psalm 115:3, Psalm 135:6, Isaiah 43:13, Isaiah 45:9-10, Isaiah 46:10, Lamentations 5:19, Daniel 4:35, Romans 9:19-21, Ephesians 1:11, Hebrews 1:8, James 4:15, Revelation 4:11, and Revelation 20:11) with His closeness, knowing the intricate details of our inner-being (1 Samuel 16:7, 1 Kings 8:39, Psalm 44:21, Psalm 139:1, Proverbs 16:2, Jeremiah 17:10, and Luke 16:15).
The Author of salvation
He is the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).
You’ve loved us from the start
He showed His love by saving us before the foundation of the world (Matthew 25:34, Ephesians 1:4, Titus 1:2, 1 Peter 1:19-20, Revelation 13:8, and Revelation 17:8).
[Stanza 3]
Waiting here for You
We wait upon the Lord (Psalm 25:5, Psalm 27:14, Psalm 37:9, Psalm 62:5, Psalm 69:3, Psalm 123:2, Isaiah 8:17, Isaiah 40:31, and Jeremiah 14:22).
With our hands lifted high in praise
And it’s You we adore
Singing Alleluia
We respond to God’s lovingkindness by worshipping Him with all our hearts (Psalm 86:12, Psalm 103:1-2, Psalm 103:22, Psalm 119:10, and Psalm 138:1).
Alleluia is a Latin word derived from the Greek transliteration of ‘”hallelujah”. The latter 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 sing “we joyfully praise God in song” when we use this word.
[Stanza 4]
You are everything You’ve promised
Your faithfulness is true
That is, God keeps His promises (Numbers 23:19, Joshua 21:45, Joshua 23:14, 1 Kings 8:56, Romans 4:21, 2 Corinthians 1:20, 1 Thessalonians 5:24, Hebrews 10:23, and 2 Peter 3:9).
And we’re desperate for Your presence
All we need is You
We want to experience God personally, longing to be with Him more than anyone or anything else (Philippians 3:8-10).
[Stanza 5]
Waiting here for You, Lord
With our hands lifted high in praise
And it’s You, Lord, we adore
Singing Alleluia
Essentially repeats Stanza 3.
[Stanza 6]
We will wait for You, Lord, He’ll stand with You
We will sing Alleluia
Singing Alleluia, Alleluia
Singing Alleluia, Alleluia
Essentially repeats Stanza 3.
[Stanza 7]
Waiting here for You
With our hands lifted high in praise
And it’s You we adore, we adore
Singing Alleluia
Repeats Stanza 3.
[Stanza 8]
Waiting here for You
With our hands lifted high in praise
And it’s You we adore
Singing Alleluia, singing Alleluia
Essentially repeats Stanza 3.
[Stanza 9]
Waiting here for You
With our hands lifted high in praise
And It’s You, It’s You we adore, with our lives
Singing Alleluia, singing Alleluia
Essentially repeats Stanza 3.
Score: 10/10
3. How would an outsider interpret the song?
The song’s opening lines are a common Christian phrase that most unbelievers will be familiar with. Combined with words and phrases such as “Lord of all creation”, “Alleluia”, and “author of salvation”, they should conclude that this song is about the Christian God. They will also see over and over again that Christian worship Him, showing that they love and adore Him. This song contains a healthy mix of everyday and Christianese language, with unbeliever interpretation effortless.
Score: 10/10
4. What does this song glorify?
It glorifies God as One who starts and finishes our Christian faith, who shows His love to us by saving us, and honoring His oaths. His example and lovingkindness draw us to worship Him.
Score: 10/10
Closing Comments
Passion’s Waiting Here for You is great. It glorifies God by declaring Him Ruler, Savior, and faithful, with Christians singing His praises. Unbelievers should find this conclusion easy to come by.
I highly recommend this song for corporate worship, though perhaps with fewer Stanzas at the end.
Final Score: 10/10
Artist Info
Track: Waiting Here for You (listen to the song)
Artist: Passion (Feat. Christy Nockels)
Album: Here For You
Genre: Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)
Release Year: 2011
Duration: 6:06
Agree? Disagree? Don’t be shy or have a cow! Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.
*Copyright © 2011 Thankyou Music (PRS) (adm. worldwide at CapitolCMGPublishing.com excluding the UK & Europe which is adm. at IntegratedRights.com) / Rising Springs Music (ASCAP) worshiptogether.com Songs (ASCAP) Vamos Publishing (ASCAP) Gloworks Limited (PRS) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Comments
Jonathan
Thank you for reviewing this song, a perfect anthem for corporate worship, with a line in the chorus that literally calls the congregation to lift up their hands in praise! And it was delivered by the one and only Christy Nockels, such a powerhouse. I gotta say that the lyrics is mostly a generic pep talk, compared to her other songs. Theologically speaking, it’s not as educational as Mighty Foretress or Healing is in Your Hands, and it’s not as poetic as Carry Your Name or Faithful One, what makes it outstanding is her stellar vocal performance. If you’ve ever heard a cover version at a regular sunday service worship session, it often turns to be a noisy bleh, the background music sounds louder than the singer’s voice, and you can hardly feel the vibe that pumps you up and lifts your hands up. Only in Christy’s original live version did she reached that level that filled the auditorium with the Holy Spirit, it was so powerful that you could even feel it in front of the screen if you happen to watch it for the first time.
Vince Wright
Jonathan,
Thank you for your comments! I am glad you enjoyed my review.
-Vince Wright
Jonathan
You’re welcome. You might wanna consider one of these four titles that I named in my comment. There’re a lot of scriptural nuggets to analyze in those, I’ve just requested Healing is in Your Hands based on Romans 8:31-36.