TobyMac – Help Is On The Way (Maybe Midnight)

TobyMac is a man who requires no introduction. He began his career in 1987, alongside Kevin Max and Michael Tait, with their band DC Talk.

He began his solo career in 2001, releasing 11 albums and 3 EP’s.  These include:

• Momentum (2001)
• Welcome to Diverse City (2004)
• Phenomenon Festival Single (EP, 2004)
• Top Five Hits (EP, 2006)
• Portable Sounds (2007)
• Alive and Transported (Live, 2008)
• Tonight (2010)
• Christmas in Diverse City (2011)
• Eye on It (2012)
• This Is Not a Test (2015)
• Hits Deep Live (2016)
• Light of Christmas (2017)
• The Elements (2018)
• The Lost Demos (EP, 2020)

He’s also earned a plethora of awards for his solo work, as well as his contributions to DC Talk.

Also, check out my reviews of Feel It, Til the Day I Die , and I Just Need U.

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?

The first half of the song is about God’s promises, that His timing is perfect regardless of what we think.  Midway through, TobyMac offers two ways that God keeps His promises.  The first is that He is always with us, where His Presence is there amid our darkness.  The second is miraculous healings.  Either way, God’s promise is fulfilled.

While some might be tempted to lay the “Word of Faith” hammer on this song, I didn’t see where TobyMac claimed miracles were guaranteed if we have enough faith.

Score: 10/10

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

The entire song parallels Scripture.

Side Note: While TobyMac claims that Psalm 98:1 inspired him to write this song, the context of this Verse is about salvation, which is not shown in this song.  I did not deduct any points for this.

Lyrics posted with permission.*

[Intro]

May be midnight or mid-day
Never early, never late
He gon’ stand by what He claimed

God’s promises have not failed and will be fulfilled based on His timing (2 Peter 3:9).

Lived enough life to say…

Introduces the next section.

[Verse 1]

I heard your heart, I see your pain
Out in the dark, out in the rain
Feels so alone, feels so afraid
I heard you pray in Jesus’ name

TobyMac heard others praying to Jesus about their situation and will offer advice in Chorus, useful to them alongside anyone else who might be listening.

[Chorus]

It may be midnight or mid-day
He’s never early, never late
He gon’ stand by what He claimed
I lived enough life to say… (Say, say, say)

Essentially repeats Intro.

[Post-Chorus]

Help is on the way
Roundin’ the corner
Help is on the way
Comin’ for ya
Help is on the way
Yea-ee-ayy
I lived enough life to say…
Help is on the way

TobyMac personally experienced God’s assistance when he faced trials and tribulations.  What help is coming?  Verse 2 and Bridge explain this in more detail.

[Verse 2]

Sometimes it’s days, sometimes it’s years (Oh-oh)
Some face a lifetime of fallen tears (Oh-oh)
But He’s in the darkness, He’s in the cold
Just like the mornin’, He always shows (He always shows)

The help that God offers is His Presence, that He is with us through the pain and suffering (Deuteronomy 31:6-8, Joshua 1:5-9, Psalm 23:4, Psalm 46:1, Psalm 139:7-10, Isaiah 41:10, Jeremiah 23:23-24, Zephaniah 3:17, Matthew 6:25-34, Matthew 28:20, John 14:16-17, Hebrews 13:5, Romans 8:38-39, and Revelation 3:20).

There is a few other Casper the friendly ghost references.

[Bridge]

(Mm-mm, mm-mm)

Filler.

Well, I seen my share o’ troubles
But the Lord ain’t failed me yet

Up unto this present moment, God has never failed to deliver His promises to TobyMac.  While the word “yet” denotes the possibility that God will fail TobyMac, Intro’s “never” statements nullify this concern.

So I’m holdin’ onto the promise, y’all
That He’s rollin’ up His sleeves again

The idiom “roll one’s sleeves” means to do something difficult, intense, or demanding.  It comes from literally rolling up one’s sleeves before one begins to work.  One promise that God makes is that He will help us become better people through trials and tribulations (Romans 5:3-5, Hebrews 12:4-11, and James 1:2-4).  That is one way that God “rolls up His sleeves”.  Another way is through miraculous healings, as recorded throughout the Gospels, book of Acts, and explictly stated in The Message paraphrase of Isaiah 52:10 says, “God has rolled up his sleeves. All the nations can see his holy, muscled arm. Everyone, from one end of the earth to the other, sees him at work, doing his salvation work”.  Either way, God is working with and through believers.

Said, I seen my share of troubles (Rollin’ up, rollin’ up)
But the Lord ain’t failed me yet (Rollin’ up, rollin’ up)
We’ll keep holdin’ onto the promise, y’all (Rollin’ up, rollin’ up)
That He’s rollin’ up His sleeves again

Essentially repeats lines 1-4.

[Breakdown]

Rollin’ up, rollin’ up (Don’t ya know it?)
Rollin’ up His sleeves again (I can see Him rollin’)
Rollin’ up, rollin’ up (Help is comin’)
Rollin’ up His sleeves again

Essentially repeats Bridge, line 5.

[Outro]

Help is on the way
Help is on the way
Roundin’ the corner
Help is on the way

Repeats Post-Chorus, lines 1-3.

Score: 10/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

Unbelievers should be able to conclude similarly as I stated in section 1, provided that they were paying attention without their Word of Faith blinders on. God always arrives when and how He means to.  TobyMac uses phrases that most unbelievers should easily comprehend, with the phrase “pray in Jesus’ name” as the smoking gun that proves it’s meant to be Christian.

Score: 10/10

4. What does this song glorify?

This song glorifies God by correctly identifying His primary methods to address human suffering, showing us that He makes good on His promises.

Score: 10/10

Closing Comments

TobyMac’s Help Is On The Way (Maybe Midnight) is inspiring.  TobyMac is clear in his language, identifying two promises that God keeps, namely, that He is with us and will respond on His timing, bringing Him glory.  Unbelievers should easily interpret similarly.

This song is inspirational, but not appropriate for corporate worship.

Score: 10/10

Artist Info

Track: Help Is On The Way (Maybe Midnight) (listen to the song)

Artist: TobyMac

Album: N/A (sometimes appears as EP (album?) “TM8*”)

Genre: Pop

Release Year: 2021

Duration: 3:02

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

*Copyright © 2021 Achtober Songs (BMI) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com), Man Cub Muzak House (SESAC) So Essential Tunes (SESAC) (admin at EssentialMusicPublishing.com). All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Updates:

10/29/2021 – After re-considering these lyrics, I updated recommendation for corporate worship from “maybe” to “no”.

08/10/2021 – My mom found a close match to the phrase “Rolling up his sleeves” in The Message paraphrase, which I decided to include as part of the review.