Photo by Caleb Steele
Red Rocks Worship exists as a collective of worship leaders and songwriters whose aim is to help us draw closer to God. Born out of Red Rock Church in Golden, Colorado in 2005, they released four albums and two EP’s, including:
- Into the Light (2015)
- Living Liturgies (2016, EP)
- Here (Live) (2017)
- spark. (Live) (2019)
- spark. ACOUSTIC SESSIONS (2020)
- Things of Heaven (Where We Come From) (EP, 2021)
Also, check out my reviews of Breakthrough and Not Afraid.
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. I strongly encourage you to consider the potential blessings and dangers of this artist‘s theology by visiting Resources.
1. What message does the song communicate?
God’s words in song attracted Red Rocks Worship to Himself, causing them to join the angelic hosts and other Christ-followers in worship. God possesses all rule and reign, whose astuteness and mystery are unending. He is set apart from the rest of us, worthy of our praise.
Score: 10/10
2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?
This song exuberates Biblical concepts in spades.
Lyrics posted with permission.*
[Verse 1]
Gathered at the highest throne
Yes, because God is King of kings (Deuteronomy 10:17, Psalm 136:3, Daniel 2:47, Matthew 28:18, 1 Timothy 6:15, Revelation 1:5, Revelation 17:14, and Revelation 19:16).
Welcomed by a melody
Zephaniah 3:17 is the only passage I’ve found that supports a singing God. It uses the Hebrew word “rinnah”, which literally means “a ringing cry”.
An anthem I have always known
A song that’s always been in me
While there was a point where they violated God’s Laws (Psalm 14:1-3, Psalm 53:1-3, Job 15:14, Ecclesiastes 7:20, Jeremiah 17:9, Romans 3:10, Romans 3:23, and 1 John 1:8-10) and another point where they received Christ’s forgiveness (Matthew 26:28, Act 2:38, Act 5:31, Act 10:43, Romans 4:7, Romans 5:6-8, Ephesians 1:7, Colossians 1:14, Colossians 2:13-14, James 5:15, James 5:19-20, 1 John 2:1-2, and 1 John 2:12), in between these two points, God’s song was still stirring inside them, gently guiding them to repentance (Romans 2:4).
[Pre-Chorus (1)]
All glory and honor
Dominion and power
To You
These four points are summarized in Revelation 5:13-14 and Revelation 7:12.
[Chorus]
A million angels fall
Face down on the floor
All to echo, “Holy is the Lord”
Though the exact number is not given, Revelation 7:11 tells us that all the angels prostrated themselves and worshipped. They reflect the four living creatures who cried out “Holy Holy Holy is the Lord God Almighty” (Revelation 4:8).
My heart can’t help but sing
With all of Heaven roar
Red Rocks Worship is compelled to sing about God (1 Chronicles 16:23, Psalm 33:3, Psalm 96:1-2, Psalm 98:1, and Psalm 149:1), agreeing with the heavenly hosts in lines 1-3.
Forever echo, “Holy is the Lord”
Essentially repeats line 3, adding Red Rock Worship’s eternal praise (Nehemiah 9:5, Psalm 30:12, Psalm 52:9, Psalm 86:12, Psalm 89:1, Psalm 115:18, Psalm 145:1-2, Psalm 145:21, and Revelation 5:9-13).
Oh-oh, oh-oh
References Casper the friendly ghost.
Forever echo, “Holy is the Lord”
Repeats line 6.
[Verse 2]
Memorized by every heart
Written in eternity
Every lifted voice a part
Joining in the symphony
That is, everyone whose name is written in the book of life (Exodus 32:32, Psalm 56:8, Psalm 69:28, Daniel 7:10, Daniel 12:1, Malachi 3:16-18, Revelation 13:8, and Revelation 20:15) will join Red Rocks Worship to praise God eternally (see Chorus, line 6).
[Pre-Chorus (2)]
All glory and honor
Dominion and power
To You, oh-oh-oh
Combines Pre-Chorus (1) with Chorus, line 7.
All wisdom and wondеr
Belong to no other
But You, yeah
Nobody except for God is all-wise (Job 12:13) and all-wonderous (Psalm 40:5).
[Post-Chorus]
Oh, You’re holy, holy, holy
God is set apart (Leviticus 11:44-45, Leviticus 19:2, Leviticus 20:7, and 1 Peter 1:15-16, and Revelation 4:8).
You’re worthy, worthy
He is worthy of praise (1 Chronicles 16:25, 2 Samuel 22:4, Psalm 96:4-5, Psalm 145:3, and Revelation 4:11).
You’re worthy, worthy, worthy of the Lord
Essentially repeats line 2.
[Bridge]
Standing at the end of time
There before the throne of grace
Majesty before my eyes
Let it take my breath away
After they die physically, Red Rocks Worship expects to stand before God in awe and wonder (see Pre-Chorus, line 3-6).
[Outro]
Oh, bless me, all honor to You, Jesus
Red Rocks Worship is blessed to honor Christ (1 Corinthians 10:31).
Holy, holy, holy, holy, yeah
See Post-Chorus, line 1.
Score: 10/10
3. How would an outsider interpret the song?
This song is thick with Christianese language that unbelievers will understand. Word like “holy”, “Lord”, and “Jesus” points them towards a Christian worldview. They should easily conclude the same remarks as section 1.
Score: 10/10
4. What does this song glorify?
It glorifies God that Red Rocks Worship found God worthy of praise.
Score: 10/10
Closing Comments
Red Rocks Worship’s Echo Holy is great. It is a worship song, calling us to join Red Rocks Worship to praise our Maker alongside the angels and each other. This brings glory to God. Unbelievers should have little to no problem interpreting this song.
I highly recommend it for corporate worship.
Final Score: 10/10
Artist Info
Track: Echo Holy (Live from Littleton) (listen to the song)
Artist: Red Rocks Worship
EP: Things of Heaven (Where We Come From)
Genre: Rock
Release Year: 2021
Duration: 5:14
Agree? Disagree? Don’t be shy or have a cow! Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.
*Copyright © 2021 Songs From Richmond Park (BMI) Be Essential Songs (BMI) Upside Down Under (BMI) Songs of Red Rocks Worship Publishing (BMI) (admin at EssentialMusicPublishing.com). All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Updates:
01/21/2022 – Per Artist Theology announcement, I expanded the red text to encourage others to study Red Rocks Worship’s theology.
07/09/2021: Added other Red Rocks Worship reviews and bolded “Final Score”, with the word “Final” added.
Comments
Joel
Vince, thanks for following the Lord and creating a space on the internet that seeks to honor him and encourage believers to examine the songs we use as tools to point our hearts (and the hearts of others) to the King.
I found your site because I was doing my homework as a worship leader. This song (Echo Holy) has ministered to my soul, but before I introduced it in congregational worship, I wanted to ensure that the lyrics lined up scripturally.
“An anthem I have always known, A song that’s always been in me” and “Memorized by every heart written in eternity” rings of Psalm 139:4, which states “Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely.” and Psalm 139:16, which states “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
As your commentary notes, John writes in Revelation that the angels will “cry” Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Amighty. And the song’s lyrics indicate that we will be echoing “Holy is the Lord”.
So God knows those words that we will utter (“sing”) in heaven. He revealed them to John. John told us in Revelation. The Psalmist indicates that God knows our words before we utter them. Maybe 2 seconds before? Maybe an hour before? Does what we say take the Lord by surprise? Or is He all-knowing, and has He, as the Psalmist noted already written that we would be singing “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord…” before time was ever created (“before one of them (days) came to be”)?
I believe that the evidence is solid that in those end times, we will be echoing “Holy is the Lord God Amighty”, and there won’t be anyone up there running ProPresenter. The Lord KNOWS it won’t be me, because I can’t advance slides on time to save my life! Our hearts already know the lyrics then, right? And Revelation shows us that page in the Heavenly Hymnal already! And the Lord knew what that song would be before the beginning of time.
Be encouraged, brother. It is GOOD for us to sharpen one another and seek to honor him by choosing to meditate on what is pleasing to him. Why spend our limited time on earth memorizing and repeating (and then replaying in our minds) songs that espouse our hearts to ungodly things?
Your site and the comments of others here and elsewhere, in addition to my own research and seeking, have helped me determine my next steps regarding interdicting this song to our congregation.
God bless you, Vince.
Vince Wright
Joel,
Thank you for sharing! I am thrilled that my content, alongside the space I provided allowing commenters to have their $0.02, and the comments therein, have assisted you in deciding the direction of this song in your congregation.
-Vince Wright
Chris
I do struggle a bit with a few lines in this song:
An anthem I have always known
A song that’s always been in me
All glory and honor, dominion and power, to You
Perhaps those first two lines (and some others in the song) are a reference to Ecclesiastes 3:11. “He has set eternity in their hearts…” If so, they’re interpreting that verse a little loosely. Ephesians 2:1-5 tells us that until God made us alive, we were running away from Him and following the Enemy. We haven’t always known and haven’t always had a song in us that said that all glory, honor, dominion and power belongs to God. We only know and agree with that after God makes us alive.
Aside from those lines, the rest of this song is pretty great.
Stephen
I’m not agreeing or disagreeing with you about the quality of those specific lines, but the opening chapters of Romans would be helpful here. Romans 1:20 states that God’s eternal power and divine nature are clearly seen and understood by all creation. Romans 2:15 also states that the Gentiles who are without the law demonstrate by violating their own consciences that the Law is written on their hearts.
Steve Barhydt
Stephen,
From a fellow Steve, this is almost the exact comment that I was going to leave in regards to Chris’ concern.
I addition to your excellent comment, I would add the following quote from the French mathematician Blaise Pascal…
“There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of each man which cannot be satisfied by any created thing but only by God the Creator, made know through Jesus Christ.”
And in response to Ecclesiastes 3:11, I would add this quote from David Guzik’s work, https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/guzik_david/study-guide/ecclesiastes/ecclesiastes-3.cfm
***************Start of Quote*************
c. Also He has put eternity in their hearts: The Preacher understood that man has an awareness and a longing for the eternal, and that God has put this in their hearts. We can say that eternity is in our hearts because we are made in the image of an eternal God.
i. “God made man in his own image; and nothing more surely attests to the greatness of our origin that those faculties of the soul which are capable of yearning for, conceiving, and enjoying the Infinite, the Immortal, and the Divine…. Every appetite in nature and grace has its appropriate satisfaction.” (Meyer)
ii. The well-known missionary and author Don Richardson used the phrase eternity in their hearts to describe the phenomenon of redemptive analogies in most all aboriginal cultures. Almost every culture has traditions, customs, or ways of thinking that reflect basic Biblical truth, and these can be used by missionaries to explain the gospel.
d. Except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end: Though God has given man a longing for and awareness of eternity, God has not revealed very much about His eternal work. This keeps the yearning for eternity alive in the heart of man as a yet-to-be-fulfilled longing.
i. “The Preacher’s vast researches have found nothing in the finite earthly realm which can satisfy the human heart intellectually or practically… This is the nearest he comes to Augustine’s maxim: ‘You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they can find peace in you.’” (Eaton)
*****************End of Quote****************
We may spend several years of our lives not signing that ‘anthem’ but it doesn’t mean that it’s not within us waiting for the Holy Spirit to reveal Himself.
Aaron
I do love this song! Although this idea is clearly biblical, in a corporate worship context is there concern about potential confusion regarding why we are singing about angels worshipping God instead of us worshipping? (Especially considering some people might assume wrongly that we become angels when we die). I would love to sing this song in church but this is my only hiccup.
Kenyon Savage
Hi Aaron! I’m actually leading this song on Sunday at my church and the way I look at is that this is a depiction of what it will be like to worship God with the entire multitude when we all get to Heaven. It’s the idea and imagery of picturing the angels worshipping God and that then makes us want to join in with them! “My heart can’t help but sing with all of Heaven roar.”
Vince Wright
Aaron,
Great question!
Chorus says,
“My heart can’t help but sing
With all of Heaven roar”
This tells me that we join the angels in our singing, not singing about them.
-Vince Wright
Chris Casaus
what does echo Holy is the Lord mean
Vince Wright
Chris,
Great question!
Let’s start with a definition. According to Merriam-Webster, echo means, essentially, to reflect or repeat an original sound. Definition #3 says, “one who closely imitates or repeats another’s words, ideas, or acts”. Much like how sound waves reflect or repeat the original sound, so too are the multitude of angels repeating worship that the four living creatures started. We too join in that procession, for all eternity.
I hope that helps.
-Vince Wright