Sovereign Grace Music – Show Us Christ

Sovereign Grace Music, much like Hillsong, Bethel, and Elevation Worship, is a church-based organization that releases their own music. Beginning in 1984, They released more than 50 albums!

Also, check out my reviews of He Is Worthy, Lord, Have Mercy, Let Your Kingdom Come, and Turn Your Eyes.

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 begins by recognizing our wicked, hard hearts full of distrust and disbelief.  Sovereign Grace Worship requests from God that, like a tiller to a rocky path, He may break apart barriers that prevent His Word from germinating within us.  Upon completion, we will be ready to receive Christ when the Word is preached to us.  This is the same Word that:

• lights the darkness
• navigates us through impulses
• grants wisdom to simple people
• provides spiritual provisions and riches
• frees us from our enslavement to sin
• ultimately is Jesus, who speaks to us today through His Word

The song’s final lines (before returning to Chorus) utters the same words that the Apostle Peter said when Jesus’ followers were leaving him, namely, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life”.

Side Note: Before you read these lyrics and/or listen to this song, ensure that you have a box of tissues nearby to collect your tears.  I had to use my shirt.

Score: 10/10

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

Every word of this song radiates with Scripture.

Lyrics posted with permission.*

[Verse 1]

Prepare our hearts, O God

This opening line is about changed desires, where God conforms our yearnings to His will (Psalm 51:10, Jeremiah 24:7, Ezekiel 11:19, Ezekiel 36:26, Romans 2:29, Romans 12:2, 2 Corinthians 5:17, and 2 Corinthians 7:10).  According to 1 Samuel 10:9, Psalm 51:10, Jeremiah 24:7, Ezekiel 11:19, Ezekiel 36:26, Romans 2:29, Romans 12:2, 2 Corinthians 5:17, and 2 Corinthians 7:10, this transformational process is God’s handiwork.

Help us to receive

Receive what?  The answer is within lines 5 and 6.

Break the hard and stony ground

This line combines two concepts into one cohesive whole: Heart of stone (Ezekiel 11:19, Ezekiel 36:26, Jeremiah 31:33, and Hebrews 8:10) and Jesus’ Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-23, Mark 4:1-20, and Luke 8:4-15), explaining that many people have hard soil (or hearts) that makes it difficult (if not impossible) for God’s Word to flourish.  This request is for the gardener (God) to till the land, stirring one’s heart to receive the good seed.

Help our unbelief

Based on Mark 9:24, where a man whose child was possessed by demons stated “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief”.  The man was not contradicting himself.  He spoke of two different types of belief: intellectual ascent and active trust.  He believed in Jesus intellectually by saying to Jesus, “if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” (Mark 9:22).  But, Jesus revealed to this man that he wasn’t trusting in Him when He asked, “If you can?” (Mark 9:23).  Much like this man, we ask God to help us trust Him more.

Plant Your Word down deep in us
Cause it to bear fruit

After God loosens our hearts and helps us to have faith, He can implant His Word deep within our souls, causing us to do good works that glorify God (Matthew 5:16, John 15:1-11, 1 Corinthians 3:9, 2 Corinthians 5:17, 2 Corinthians 9:8, Galatians 5:16-26, Ephesians 1:4, Ephesians 2:10, Ephesians 4:1, Philippians 1:6, Philippians 2:13, Colossians 1:10, 2 Thessalonians 2:17, 1 Timothy 2:10, 1 Timothy 6:18, 2 Timothy 2:21, 2 Timothy 3:17, Titus 2:7, Titus 2:14, Titus 3:1, Titus 3:8, Titus 3:14, Hebrews 10:19-25, 1 Peter 2:12, 1 John 1:7, and 1 John 2:6).

Open up our ears to hear

See line 3.

Lead us in Your truth

That is, lead us to Jesus, who is the Truth (John 14:6).  This is a clever lead-in to Chorus.

[Chorus]

Show us Christ, show us Christ
O God, reveal Your glory
Through the preaching of Your Word
Until every heart confesses Christ is Lord

Sovereign Grace Music reveals the primary way that most of us are shown Jesus: through preaching.  According to Romans 10:14-15, there is an order that occurs that starts with God and ends with us receiving Him:

1. God sends a preacher to tell others about Jesus.
2. The preacher complies with God’s command so that others can hear about Him.
3. Some, upon hearing God’s Word, will respond by trusting in Him.

While Paul’s point is about expectations, that we cannot expect people to receive without a preacher or the preacher to preach without God’s guidance, Sovereign Grace Music’s prayer is that this process continues until every knee bows and confesses that Jesus is Lord (Romans 14:11 and Philippians 2:10-11).

[Verse 2]

Your Word is living light
Upon our darkened eyes

God’s Word is a lamp unto our feet (Psalm 119:105) and drives out the darkness within us (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).

Guards us through temptations

If we prayerfully study God’s Word (2 Timothy 2:15), this begins the process where His Word lives in our hearts so that we would not sin against Him (Psalm 119:11).

Makes the simple wise

According to Psalm 19:7, God’s Word is trustworthy and perfect, helping us simpletons attain Godly wisdom.

Your Word is food for famished ones

As quoted by Jesus in Matthew 4:4, Deuteronomy 8:3 teaches us that God’s Word helps us live spiritually.

Freedom for the slave

Those who pursue the perfect Word of God will find freedom, blessed in what they do (James 1:25).

Riches for the needy soul

God’s Word provides teaching, rebuke, correction, and training in righteousness so that we can become spiritually complete, providing spiritual riches that moth and thieves cannot destroy or take away (Matthew 6:19-21 and 2 Timothy 3:16-17).

Come speak to us today

All of these things that are true about God’s Word are also true about Jesus, who is the Word (John 1:1 and John 1:14).  Jesus is:

• light (John 1:1-8, John 8:12, and Ephesians 5:14)
• sustains us through temptations (1 Corinthians 10:13)
• turned simple fisherman into His wisest Apostles (Acts 4:13)
• is the bread of life (John 6:35)
• came to free the captives (Luke 4:14-21), particularly, slavery to sin (Romans 6:1-11, Romans 7:4-6, Galatians 2:19-20, 2 Timothy 2:11, and 1 Peter 2:24).
• provides spiritual enrichment (1 Corinthians 1:4-6)

[Bridge]

Where else can we go, Lord
Where else can we go
You have the words of eternal life

Quotes from Peter in John 6:68, who knew that, despite the controversial things Jesus said, he could not leave Christ because His Word is true.

Score: 10/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

Sovereign Grace Music intermixes Christianese with everyday language, pointing unbelievers to Christianity.  They should easily understand its overall message: Sovereign Grace Music asks God to implant His Word deep within us after removing unbelief.

The meaning of “bear fruit” will likely sail over the heads of those who haven’t studied Christianity, alongside making the simple wise.  Slavery will probably incur a physical interpretation, causing those outside Christianity to ponder how Christ accomplishes this feat.

Score: 7/10

4. What does this song glorify?

Every word glorifies God through the many truths Sovereign Grace Worship espouses, including our sinful, rebellious hearts and God’s transformational power through His Word.

Score: 10/10

Closing Comments

Sovereign Grace Music’s Show Us Christ is an excellent song.  It exemplifies Christ’s goodness, expressing our desire to conform to the image of Christ, bringing Him glory.  Unbelievers will probably comprehend this song’s main points, though perhaps missing/misinterpreting a few details about fruit, increasing wisdom, and enslavement.

I highly recommend it for corporate worship.  Seeker-sensitive churches may want to reconsider.

Final Score: 9.5/10

Artist Info

Track: Show Us Christ (listen to the song)

Artist: Sovereign Grace Music

Album: The Gathering: Live from WorshipGod11

Genre: Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)

Release Year: 2011

Duration: 4:55

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

*Copyright © 2012 Sovereign Grace Worship (ASCAP) Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission.