Austin Stone Worship – This Glorious Grace

Austin Stone Worship is a collective of artists, much like People & Songs,  Psallos, The Porter’s Gate, and Red Rocks Worship.  Founded in part by Chris Tomlin, they began in 2002 and released ten albums, including:

• Austin Stone Live (2011)
• A Day of Glory (2012)
• The Reveille Volume 1 (2013)
• King of Love (2013)
• The Reveille Volume II (2014)
• This Glorious Grace (2015)
• EVERFLOW (2017)
• The Reveille, Vol.III (2017)
• Dentro (2020)
• With/In (2020)

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?

Austin Stone Worship offers their hopelessness without a Liberator.  They deserve God’s judgment and plead for His mercy.  Grateful, they are forgiven, able to enjoy a personal relationship with God, the most important that they possess.  In response, they praise Jesus, the God who is worthy of their worship.

This song follows basic format.

Score: 10/10

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

This song aligns with God’s inspired Word.

Lyrics posted with permission.*

[Verse 1]

God I need You, I need You, I need You
Every breath, every pulse of my heart
Christ have mercy, have mercy, let mercy abound
I need You, I need You now

Austin Stone Worship expresses their desperate need for God’s mercy and explains why in Chorus.

[Chorus (1)]

God pour out Your grace, glorious grace
That I would be held by Your perfect embrace
I am undeserving, You are high and worthy
All of my praise for this glorious grace

Austin Stone Worship seeks to have a personal relationship with God.  This is more important than anything they possess (Philippians 3:8-10).  They don’t deserve it (Matthew 18:8, Matthew 25:41, Matthew 25:46, Mark 9:43, Jude 1:7, Revelation 14:11, and Revelation 20:10).  Yet, God offers forgiveness to anyone who asks (2 Samuel 22:4, Psalm 18:3, Psalm 55:16, Joel 2:32, Acts 2:21, and Romans 10:9-13).  In response, Austin Stone Worship praises God.

NOTE: Chorus’s second iteration is an expanded form of this stanza.

[Verse 2]

God I’m longing, I’m longing to see You

See commentary in Chorus.

In Your presence all darkness will fade
Shine Your glory, Your glory, let glory surround

God is the light that shines through the darkness (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).

I’m longing to see You now

See commentary in Chorus.

[Bridge]

God Your grace, like rising seas
Has swallowed death and sin in me

This describes the “great exchange”, where God turns out ugly, dead ash-heap of sin into a beautiful tapestry, full of life and freedom (Romans 6:1-11, Romans 7:4-6, Galatians 2:19-20, 2 Timothy 2:11, and 1 Peter 2:24).  Death, the last enemy, was defeated by Christ (Isaiah 25:8, Hosea 13:14, Luke 20:35-36, 1 Corinthians 15:24-26, 1 Corinthians 15:55-57, 2 Timothy 1:10, and Hebrews 2:14).

God Your grace like rising seas
Has swallowed death and sin in me

Repeats lines 1 and 2.

Glory to my God who saves
Jesus Christ, my glorious grace

Specifically identifies Jesus as the One who offers this salvation.  No other name can (John 14:6 and Acts 4:12).

Glory to my God who saves
Jesus Christ, my glorious grace
Glorious grace

Essentially repeats lines 5 and 6.

[Verse 3]

God I worship, I worship, I worship You
For Your glory, my all in all
You are worthy, You’re worthy, You’re worthy
I worship, I worship You
God I need You, I need You now…

A rehash of Verse 1 and part of Chorus, except that God is worthy of Austin Stone Worship’s praise (1 Chronicles 16:25, 2 Samuel 22:4, Psalm 96:4-5, Psalm 145:3, and Revelation 4:11).

Score: 10/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

Unbelievers will see unabashed praise and worship towards Jesus, with every fiber of Austin Stone Worship’s being.  This song’s language is common, making it easy for those outside Christianity to interpret similarly to my statements in section 1.

The only thing unbelievers will not understand is what God is saving us from.  Sin is error and death is physical to the typical unbeliever.  How can God save us from physical death if we all die, including Christians?  This requires some study on their part, that Austin Stone Worship means spiritual death; eternal separation from God.

Score: 7/10

4. What does this song glorify?

This song glorifies God as the One who deserves our affection for His lovingkindness towards the wicked.

Score: 10/10

Closing Comments

Austin Stone Worship’s This Glorious Grace is a praiseworthy song.  It invites us to worship God for His mercy towards us, saving us from His wrath that we deserve.  This brings glory to God.  Unbelievers will find interpretation easy, except for the reason why Christians praise God.

I highly recommend this song for corporate worship.  Seeker-sensitive churches could explain the “why” before worshipping with this song.

Score: 9.5/10

Artist Info

Track: This Glorious Grace (Live) (listen to the song)

Artist: Austin Stone Worship

Album: This Glorious Grace (Live)

Genre: Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)

Release Year: 2015

Duration: 6:03

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

*Copyright © 2015 Austin Stone Music (ASCAP) Bird And Minion Music (BMI) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Updates:

06/24/2021 – Per Artist Theology announcement, I expanded the red text to encourage others to study Austin Stone Worship’s beliefs.

03/17/2021 – Updated per repetition announcement.