Sovereign Grace Music – Turn Your Eyes

Church-based worship albums are not a new phenomenon created by the likes of Hillsong, Bethel, or Elevation Worship.  Louisville, Kentucky-based Sovereign Grace Churches has been doing it since 1984 with Sovereign Grace Music.  Releasing a new live album every few years, they have released a staggering 51 albums, far too many to list here!

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?

Sovereign Grace Music invites us to fixate on Jesus.  If we do, we’ll stop thinking about strife, issues, and things that pale in comparison to knowing Christ.  Thinking about Christ’s shed blood on the cross that pays our sin-debt, we walk free from eternal death, the Holy Spirit living within us.  Worshipping God, we look forward to Jesus’ second coming, where every knee bows and every tongue confesses He is Lord.

This song follows the standard lyrical structure, except Chorus does not appear after Verse 1.

Score: 10/10

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

The entire song is in agreement with Scripture.

Lyrics posted with permission.*

[Verse 1]

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace

When we fix our eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2), we stop focusing on our problems, worries, and concerns.  They are counted as loss compared to knowing Christ (Philippians 3:8).

Side Note: These words are borrowed from Helen Howarth Lemmel’s hymn Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus.

[Verse 2]

Turn your eyes to the hillside
Where justice and mercy embraced
There the Son of God gave His life for us
And our measureless debt was erased

References Golgotha, or Calvary, or the “place of the skull” in Matthew 27:33, Mark 15:22, Luke 23:33, and John 19:17.  This is where Christ paid the penalty for our lawbreaking (Isaiah 53:1-12, Matthew 20:28, Mark 10:45, John 1:29, John 3:16, John 19:30, Acts 4:12, Acts 20:28, Romans 5:6-10, Romans 6:23, 1 Corinthians 1:30, 1 Corinthians 6:20, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Galatians 1:3-4, Galatians 3:13, Ephesians 1:7, Colossians 2:14, 1 Timothy 2:6, Titus 2:14, Hebrews 9:12, Hebrews 9:15, Hebrews 9:22, Hebrews 9:26, 1 Peter 1:17-21, 1 Peter 2:24, 1 Peter 1:18-19, 1 John 1:7, 1 John 2:1-2, and Revelation 5:9).  Once again, Sovereign Grace Music invites us to make Jesus the central focal point of our lives.

[Chorus]

Jesus, to You we lift our eyes
Jesus, our glory and our prize
We adore You, behold You, our Savior ever true
Oh Jesus, we turn our eyes to You

The audience responds to Sovereign Grace Music’s urgings, fixated on Jesus, worshipping Him.  Jesus gave us the glory that was given to Him by the Father (John 17:22).  He is also the reward by which we labor (Philippians 3:14).

This does not communicate works righteousness.  We were prepared beforehand for good works (Ephesians 2:10).  This passage comes directly after the oft-quoted “saved by grace, not by works” passage in Ephesians 2:8-9.

[Verse 3]

Turn your eyes to the morning

After all, that is where joy exists (Psalm 30:5).

And see Christ the Lion awake

Jesus is the Lion of Judah (Revelation 5:5), who awakens within us through the power of the Holy Spirit (Acts 6:5, Romans 8:9-11, 1 Corinthians 3:16, 1 Corinthians 6:16-19, Galatians 4:6, Ephesians 5:18, and 2 Timothy 1:14).

What a glorious dawn, fear of death is gone

With Christ as our focus, why should we be afraid (Genesis 15:1, Joshua 1:9, Deuteronomy 31:6, 1 Chronicles 28:20, Psalm 23:4, Psalm 27:1, Psalm 34:4, Psalm 56:3-4, Psalm 94:19, Psalm 115:11, Psalm 118:6, Isaiah 35:4, Isaiah 41:10-13, Isaiah 43:1, Isaiah 54:4, John 14:25-27, Romans 8:15, Romans 8:38-39, 2 Timothy 1:7, Hebrews 13:5-6, 1 Peter 3:13-14, 1 Peter 5:6-7, and 1 John 4:18)?

For we carry His life in our veins

See commentary on Verse 3, line 2.

[Verse 4]

Turn your eyes to the heavens
Our King will return for His own
Every knee will bow, every tongue will shout
“All glory to Jesus alone!”

References the eventual second coming of Christ (Matthew 24:43, Acts 1:9-11, 1 Corinthians 11:26, 1 Thessalonians 5:2-4, 2 Peter 3:10, and Revelation 16:15) and the fact that every knee bows and confesses Jesus is Lord (Romans 14:11 and Philippians 2:10-11).

Score: 10/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

Those outside the camp of Christ can ascertain that Christians love Jesus.  They worship Him and ought to orient their entire lives around Him, looking forward to His return.  Though they may not comprehend some of its finer details about the fear of death, Christ’s sacrifice, and debt payment that require deeper study, Sovereign Grace Music’s main message will not be lost on them.

Score: 8/10

4. What does this song glorify?

Its call for believers to direct our eyes to Jesus brings Him glory.

Score: 10/10

Closing Comments

Sovereign Grace Music’s Turn Your Eyes is an excellent song that reorients believers’ lives to focus on Jesus’ sacrifice, the Holy Spirit’s leading, to worship Him, and await His return, bringing Christ glory.  Unbelievers should easily come to the same conclusion, even if they don’t fully comprehend some of its theologically complex details.

I highly recommend this for corporate worship.

Final Score: 9.5/10

Artist Info

Track: Turn Your Eyes (Live) (listen to the song)

Artist: Sovereign Grace Music

Album: The Glorious Christ (Live)

Genre: Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)

Release Year: 2019

Duration: 5:09

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

*Copyright © 2019 Sovereign Grace Songs (SESAC) Sovereign Grace Worship (ASCAP) Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Updates:

03/09/2023 – Updated commentary on Verse 1 to include the source of these lyrics.  Thanks to Michelle S for discovering this!