Sanctus Real – Confidence

Christian rock band Sanctus Real formed in 1996.  Between independent and commercial productions, they released 13 albums and one EP, including:

• All This Talk of Aliens (1998)
• Message for the Masses (1999)
• Nothing to Lose (2001)
• Say It Loud (2002)
• Fight the Tide (2004)
• The Face of Love (2006)
• We Need Each Other (2008)
• Pieces of a Real Heart (2010)
• Pieces of Our Past: The Sanctus Real Anthology (2010)
• Run (2013)
• The Dream (2014)
• This Is Love (EP, 2016)
• Trade for Changed (2018)
• Unstoppable God (2019)

Though Sanctus Real was nominated for several GMA and two Grammy Awards, they won a GMA Award in 2005 for “Modern Rock Album of the Year” for Fight the Tide.

Also, check out my review of Lead Me.

Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Sanctus-real-confidence-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?

This song is about Sanctus Real’s spiritual warfare, that they war against enemy attacks that prevent them from responding to Jesus’ calling.  Sanctus Real runs us through Old Testament people, including Moses, David, and Daniel, who persevered under trial and took hold of their positions as God’s chosen leaders.  Sanctus Real wants to have their type of faith, mindset, and heart.  This will help Sanctus Real to push through spiritual attacks that prevent them from continual pursuit.  Similarly, we should look to these heroes of faith for encouragement (see Hebrews 11:1-40 for a quick summary).

This song follows basic format.

Score: 10/10

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

This song is consistent with God’s inspired Word.

[Verse 1]

Lines 1-4: Much like Moses in Exodus 4:10, Isaiah in Isaiah 6:5, John the Baptist in Matthew 3:11 and Luke 3:16, and Peter in Luke 5:8, Sanctus Real believes they are disqualified for God’s service.  Yet all these people have one thing in Common: God used them!  God’s strength is made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9).  It is what the world calls “foolish” that God uses to confound and shame the wise (1 Corinthians 1:27).

[Chorus]

Line 1: References the account in Daniel 6:1-28, where Daniel was undeterred by the threat of death by continuing his daily prayers to God.  Sanctus Real prays for this level of trust.

Line 2: References a good portion of the Torah, where Moses led Israel out of Egypt and into the promised land.  It seemed hopeless as the people continued to rebel, starting with the golden calf (Exodus 32:1-10 and Exodus 32:19-30) and ending with Israel’s rejection of God’s promise to take the promised land, which included defeating the Nephilim (Numbers 13:1-33 and Numbers 14:1-10).  Moses pled for his people to God, asking for mercy and forgiveness (Exodus 32:11-18, Exodus 32:31-32, and Numbers 14:11-38).  God spared Israel and allowed the second generation to enter with Joshua (Joshua 1:10-18).  Sanctus Real is also asking for hope, that they are spared from God’s judgment (Revelation 20:15).

Lines 3 and 4: References 1 Samuel 17:1-50, where David killed the giant Goliath.  David was called a “man after God’s own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14 and Acts 13:22).  This is the same type of heart that Sanctus Real wants, that is, a heart that has faith in God, that He will help Sanctus Real fight in his spiritual warfare (1 Corinthians 10:13).

[Verse 2]

Lines 1 and 2: Another reference to David, where in 1 Samuel 16:1-13, he was anointed to be the next king after Saul.  He became king when he was 30 (2 Samuel 5:3-4).  David was probably under 20 years since he would be considered too young to fight based on Numbers 1:3.  Since David’s father Jesse had eight sons, with only three old enough to fight (1 Samuel 17:13), that leaves 4 older brothers between the next eldest and David.

Assuming 1 year between each son, David was probably around 14 to 15 when he was anointed.  That means David waited and trusted God between 15 and 16 years before he took the throne.  In the same way, Sanctus Real will wait upon the Lord (Isaiah 40:31) in obedience and trust, that He will make good on His promises (2 Peter 3:9).

Lines 3 and 4: If God is fighting for Sanctus Real, who can win against them (Romans 8:31)?  They are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:37), existing within the context of spiritual warfare (Romans 8:26).

[Bridge]

Lines 1 and 2: References Jericho in Joshua 6:1-21, where Israel marched around its walls, shouted, and watched it fall.  Sanctus Real will be relentless in their pursuit until the walls that prevent them from serving God tumble.

Lines 3 and 4: Sanctus Real intends to follow Jesus’ command when He says “go”.

Lines 5-8: Repeats lines 1-4.

[Outro]

Line 1: Essentially repeats Chorus, line 4.

Score: 10/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

While I was initially tempted to consider this as an endorsement of the Word of Faith movement, the context is about internal struggles of inadequacy to serve in ministry.  References to Moses, David, and Daniel will ease a Christian conclusion, especially when coupled with the name of Jesus, explicitly mentioned in Bridge.  I’m certain that most unbelievers will know the basics of these three Old Testament characters and how they overcame obstacles, connecting their story with Christians who struggle with their place in servitude.  I don’t have good reason to believe that those who aren’t yet followers of Jesus will misunderstand or misinterpret Sanctus Real’s overall message.

Score: 10/10

4. What does this song glorify?

It glorifies God by coming clean about feelings of inadequacy, that Sanctus Real wars against attacks, and desires to be like faith warriors who were unqualified by world standards.

Score: 10/10

Closing Comments

Sanctus Real’s Confidence is a great song.  Sanctus Real asks for the same confidence in God that Moses, David, and Daniel had so that they can obey God’s calling, bringing Him glory.  Unbelievers should easily arrive at a similar conclusion.

I’m on the fence about recommending this for corporate worship.  It seems more inspirational than worship music, but I wouldn’t be opposed to hearing it at church.

Final Score: 10/10

Artist Info

Track: Confidence (listen to the song)

Artist: Sanctus Real

Album: Changed

Genre: Rock

Release Year: 2018

Duration: 3:02

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