Photo by Priscilla Du Preez
Bethel Music is a powerhouse organization, spanning several artists, containing several songs I reviewed previously, including Rita Springer’s Defender, Housefires’ Build My Life and Good Good Father, Kari Jobe’s Forever, Phil Wickham’s This is Amazing Grace and Living Hope, and Cory Asbury’s controversial song Reckless Love.
Raise a Hallelujah will be the second review under the label “Bethel Music”, the first being No Longer Slaves. We will tackle the studio version.
Lyrics can be found in https://genius.com/Bethel-music-raise-a-hallelujah-live-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. 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?
It is a call to action, that Bethel will “raise a hallelujah” and calls us to “sing a little louder”, with eight different ways, including:
- In front of the enemy,
- Louder than doubt,
- Utilizing song as a tool,
- In the midst of trials and tribulations,
- With every fiber of their being,
- While witnessing darkness run away,
- While experiencing the mysteries of God, and
- Losing fear.
There are two reasons Bethel offers to justify praise, namely, because the King defeated death and heaven fights for them. Though the name of God or Jesus is not explicitly named, this rationale clarifies the recipient of Bethel’s praise, namely, Jesus Christ.
Score: 10/10
2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?
All lyrics are Scripturally sound.
[Verse 1]
Lines 1-4: The word ‘Hallelujah” is a compound Hebrew phrase, with “hallelu” meaning “a joyous praise in song” and “jah” or “yah”, which refers to the Tetragrammaton YHWH. Put together, we are singing “we joyfully praise God in song”.
Bethel joyfully praises God in song:
- in front of their enemies (1 Kings 18:36-40, Psalm 23:5 and Daniel 6:10-11),
- to drown out unbelief (1 Kings 18:20-40),
- to weaponize music (Psalm 150:1-6), and
- to acknowledge God as One who fights our battles (Deuteronomy 3:22, Deuteronomy 20:4, Joshua 23:10, and Romans 8:31).
[Chorus]
Line 1: Despite the trials of this life, praise and worship are Bethel’s response, reminiscent of Christ’s response to persecution in Matthew 5:11-12 and the Apostles in Acts 5:41. Also, see Romans 5:3, 2 Corinthians 12:10, Colossians 1:11, Colossians 1:24, Hebrews 10:34, Hebrews 12:4-11, and James 1:2.
Line 2: Perhaps louder than unbelief, as described in Verse 1, line 2.
Lines 3 and 4: Clear references to the resurrection of Jesus (Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, John 20, Acts 1:3, Acts 3:15, Acts 4:33, and 1 Corinthians 15:3-8).
[Verse 2]
Lines 1-4: A second list of actions associated with Bethel’s praise, that they praise:
- with their whole heart (Psalm 86:12, Psalm 103:1-2, Psalm 103:22, Psalm 119:10, and Psalm 138:1),
- while watching God’s light drive out 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),
- while experiencing the unfathomable mysteries of God (Job 11:7-12), and
- in the middle of doubts, that fears may subside (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).
[Bridge]
Recycled lyrics from Verse 1, with a different opener: “sing a little louder”.
Score: 10/10
3. How would an outsider interpret the song?
Non-followers of Jesus will easily recognize this as praise and worship, and will probably not mistake it for worship of someone else other than the God of the Bible. That is, unless they don’t understand that the King who defeated death refers to Jesus. This is a possible, but not likely scenario.
Score: 9/10
4. What does this song glorify?
The entire song focuses on worshipping the God of creation, obviously glorifying Him.
Score: 10/10
Closing Comments
Bethel Music’s Raise a Hallelujah is an excellent song that stirs our hearts towards worship. Highly biblical, wonderful message, and easily accessible to unbelievers are hallmarks woven throughout each stanza.
Worship leaders will have to decide if they want their congregation singing about what they want to do for God, rather than, well, worshipping God. I personally do not think this penalizes the song per my review, but it’s something worth considering. It might be useful as a lead-in first song to prepare our hearts for worship, but aside from that, I can’t recommend it for corporate worship.
Final Score: 10/10
Artist Info
Track: Raise a Hallelujah (Live) (listen to the song)
Artist: Bethel Music
Album: Victory (Live)
Genre: Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)
Release Year: 2019
Duration: 4:04
Agree? Disagree? Don’t be shy or have a cow! Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.
Updates:
07/28/2021 – Updated per email from Lydia, that Verse 2, line 4 is about removing fear itself, not fear of losing God. I also updated sections 1 and 2.
06/11/2021 – Per Artist Theology announcement, I expanded the red text to encourage others to study Bethel Music’s theology.
03/19/2021 – Updated per repetition announcement. I raised section 1’s score and updated my conclusion. I also fixed a grammatical error in section 1. This raised its score from 9.5/10 to 10/10.
Comments
Pam
A great, new song that I heard for the first time on Easter. I love it.
tastywallet
Pam,
I am happy for you!
-TastyWallet
Fredie
We sang it in the church.Lyrics are biblical except we lost on focus when the singer repeatedly sang”sing a little louder”more than ten times.Our vertical worship become horizontal when the song instructed to sing it louder 10x plus.I totally lost it.nothing biblical on that
Scott
Totally agree. Our solution is to simply shorten the portions of the song that are overly repetitive and man-centered.
Dave
Thanks for taking the time to write this review. The only part I question, and can’t seem to come to terms with in regards to this song, is weaponizing music (Pslam 150). That’s not how I’m understanding that scripture, so please help me understand how you got to that conclusion using that scripture. Are there other scriptures that support the idea of weaponizing music?
tastywallet
Dave,
Excellent question! This is the only passage I could think of that would support the idea of weaponizing music in the context that Bethel Music uses it. My thought process is that praise and worship is a response to the onslaught of the attacks of the world, the flesh, and the devil, the unholy trinity of temptation and sin in the world.
-TastyWallet
Steve Barhydt
2 Chronicles 20:21-22
And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever. And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.
tastywallet
Steve,
…go on…
-TastyWallet
Steve Barhydt
Dave’s comment above is that he was unsure about the “weaponization” of music. From this scripture it is apparent that Jehoshaphat used the singers (in this particular battle anyways) as the “front line” attack against the Moabites and the Ammonites. So powerful was this method that the warriors did not have to raise a single weapon (swords, arrows, etc.)
In this day and age we do not fight with spiritual battles with physical weapons but with prayer and praise.
tastywallet
Steve,
Thanks for the additional explanation! I appreciate that.
-TastyWallet
Dave
Thanks so much for the responses. All good stuff!
Jordan Brown
Hey dave! Using music as a weapon has been used in the bible a couple of times. The most common thing I can think of is God using music as a main part of destroying the walls of jericho.
Humans in general have been using music as a weapon throughout history and even today. For instance, drumlines came from the days when thousands of people had to march in time (pre walkies!) and the in sync drums helped the army know when to move or attack based on the beat played.
Also think about MMA or any sport. They have a “fight song” if you will.
Just my two cents! 🙂
Vixtor
Hola Steve. Crwo q te equivocas.. Peleamos con la palabra… Para derribar argumentos de hombres q se levantan con impiedad. Si.. Debo alabar en medio de la adversidad… Pero no es un arma.. Y es mas la canción dice.. Melodia… Ni siquiera alabanza
Edited by Vince Wright:
Google Translate: Hi Steve. Crwo that you are wrong .. We fight with the word… To demolish the arguments of men who rise up with impiety. Yes .. I must praise in the midst of adversity … But it is not a weapon .. And the song says .. Melody … Not even praise.
Cheryl Krichbaum
Yes, 2 Chron 20:1-30 is exactly what comes to mind every time I listen to this song.
Joshua
Also we can think about Jobs response when he was attacked by Satan and everything he lost, including when his own children were taken away. The bible says he tore his clothes and praised God. We too can choice to praise God (or use worship as weapon) instead of drowning in our sorrow or being defeated by the enemy.
Vince Wright
Joshua,
That is one way of looking at it!
-Vince Wright
Vixtor
Tengo la misma duda.. Bueno en realidad estoy convencido de q la melodia no es una arma.. El arma es la palabra de Dios… Esto es un un poco molesto.. Que siempre hay algo motivaciónal y no bíblico en las canciones de Bethel
Edited by Vince Wright:
Google translate: I have the same doubt .. Well actually I am convinced that the melody is not a weapon .. The weapon is the word of God… This is a bit annoying .. That there is always something motivational and unbiblical in Bethel songs.
Scott
2 Chronicles 20:21. On the day of battle, the singers went out before the army (as they approached the enemy) and sang praises to God. God gave the victory to Israel.
WB
If you do some homework you’ll discover the song’s backstory is about battling doubt that a child would die from sickness, as if our resolve could prevent that by praising louder or harder. Compassionate prayer for a sick child is awesome. Praising God in the midst of a storm is spot on. Thinking our valiant, self determined efforts of faith is a slippery slope. I’ve seen this play out where people begin to have faith in faith. It’s important if you are a Berean to research other teachings of Bethel and put this into that context.
tastywallet
WB,
Thank you for your challenge! I make the attempt to research the thought behind the lyrics, but sometimes I miss stuff. If you have a link, I can take a look at it and reconsider my review.
-TastyWallet
thoughtsmeander
I think WB is referring to this: https://youtu.be/fqlgKWZf4ak
tastywallet
Thoughtsmeander,
Thanks for your help! Perhaps it is, but I would rather hear it from WB to be 100% sure. This is emotionally moving though.
-TastyWallet
Steve Barhydt
WB,
It seems to me that your comments are rather snarky.
First, the song has nothing to do with thinking that “our resolve could prevent that by praising louder or harder” but rather a concerted effort to bolster our faith in a 1 Samuel 30:6 “David encouraged himself in the Lord his God”. type of way.
Our hope comes not because we sing loud but, as the chorus states, “Up from the ashes, hope will arise
Death is defeated, the King is alive!”.
Second, the Bereans were called “noble” because they “searched the scriptures daily” to see if Paul’s teaching were accurate. That is exactly what this website does.
There are no less than 42 scriptural references in the “How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?” section. Considering that the stated goal if this website is “about applying critical thinking skills to compare lyrical content from popular Christian artists against the Bible for accuracy”, I would say that tastywallet as done his homework quite well.
One of the things that I appreciate about the reviews on this website is that the songs are allowed to stand for themselves without getting mired down in theological “finger-pointing” because of difference in doctrines.
tastywallet
Steve,
I appreciate the support, thanks!
-TastyWallet
Gilbert
The number of scriptures he refers to for defense of his point of view can have little to do with with proving a point. In my questioning his defense of “Spirit of the Living God” he refers to many scriptures of the suffering Christ, but defends the lines “when He falls” that this refers to the Holy Spirit. So which is it, the referenced scripture or the Holy Spirit? If it is the Holy Spirit the examples used occur either the salvation of Cornelius and family, so how does the Spirit that is now within him continue to fall?
Vince Wright
Gilbert,
Was this meant for Spirit of the Living God? If so, can you be specific to the line in question? If not, can you clarify the line within this song? I am afraid I cannot find that which you criticize.
-Vince Wright
Vixtor
Steve… Pero es que si es conocida la teología de nueva era de bethel. Es obvio q tengamos q poner sus canciones en ese contexto.. Es. Muy peligroso… Porq eso es lo q transmitimos a nuestros congregantes
Edited by Vince Wright:
Google Translate: Steve… But if bethel’s new age theology is known. It is obvious that we have to put their songs in that context .. It is. Very dangerous… Because that is what we transmit to our congregants.
Steve Barhydt
Vixtor,
To sum up you comments… Bethel is bad therefore this song is bad.
You say “if bethel’s new age theology is known It is obvious that we have to put their songs in that context ” I disagree.
This website puts songs in the context of THE BIBLE to see if the lyrics “measure up.”
Please show me, IN THIS SONG, any of Bethel’s “new age theology.” or anything that directly contradicts the Word of God.
Please use scriptures to prove your point.
You have said that “Well actually I am convinced that the melody is not a weapon”
Yet 2Ch 20:17-22 gives the account of Jehoshaphat’s army defeating vastly superior armies with SINGERS alone. (Yes, it was their faith in God not the singing that brought about the victory. But when they sent the singers before the warriors they proved their faith in God.)
17
Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.
18
And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping the LORD.
19
And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with a loud voice on high.
20¶
And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper.
21
And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever.
22¶
And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.
A “melody” is just words put to music. When those words are a praise to our Almighty God
(as “I raise a Hallelujah” is) we go into battle expressing our faith in Him.
Traductor de google
Para resumir sus comentarios … Bethel es mala por lo tanto esta canción es mala.
Dices “si se conoce la teología de la nueva era de Bethel, es obvio que tenemos que poner sus canciones en ese contexto”. No estoy de acuerdo.
Este sitio web coloca las canciones en el contexto de LA BIBLIA para ver si la letra “está a la altura”.
Por favor muéstreme, EN ESTA CANCIÓN, cualquier parte de la “teología de la nueva era” de Betel. o cualquier cosa que contradiga directamente la Palabra de Dios.
Utilice las escrituras para probar su punto.
Has dicho que “Bueno, en realidad estoy convencido de que la melodía no es un arma”.
Sin embargo, 2 Crónicas 20: 17-22 da el relato de cómo el ejército de Josafat derrotó a ejércitos muy superiores solo con CANTANTES. (Sí, fue su fe en Dios, no el canto lo que trajo la victoria. Pero cuando enviaron a los cantores ante los guerreros, demostraron su fe en Dios).
17
No tendréis necesidad de pelear en esta batalla; estad tranquilos, y estad quietos, y ved la salvación del SEÑOR con vosotros, oh Judá y Jerusalén: no temáis ni desmayéis; salid mañana contra ellos, porque el SEÑOR estará contigo.
18
Y Josafat inclinó su cabeza a tierra, y todo Judá y los habitantes de Jerusalén se postraron delante de Jehová, adorando a Jehová.
19
Y los levitas, de los hijos de Coat y de los hijos de Corí, se pusieron en pie para alabar al SEÑOR Dios de Israel a gran voz en lo alto.
20¶
Y se levantaron de mañana y salieron al desierto de Tecoa. Y mientras ellos salían, Josafat se puso en pie y dijo: Oídme, Judá y habitantes de Jerusalén; Creed en el SEÑOR vuestro Dios, y seréis establecidos; creed a sus profetas, y seréis prosperados.
21
Y habiendo consultado con el pueblo, nombró cantores al SEÑOR, que alabasen la hermosura de la santidad, saliendo delante del ejército, y dijeran: Alabado sea el SEÑOR; porque su misericordia es eterna.
22¶
Y cuando empezaron a cantar ya alabar, el SEÑOR puso emboscadas contra los hijos de Amón, Moab y el monte Seir, que habían venido contra Judá; y fueron heridos.
Una “melodía” son sólo palabras puestas en música. Cuando esas palabras son una alabanza a nuestro Dios Todopoderoso
(como es “Levanto un Aleluya”) vamos a la batalla expresando nuestra fe en Él.
Hilary
I agree. Although the lyrics may be Biblical, knowing what bethel church’s theology is, I simply can’t sing this song because I feel it supports bethel. Each time churches sing this song, bethel gets more money. I cannot support a church with such a heretical theology.
Vixtor
De acuerdo contigo Hilary
Edited by Vince Wright:
Google Translate: Agree with you Hilary.
Ta3
Shalom, what does ‘up from the ashes’ mean? Is that bibical??
Ender's Shadow
One of the challenging features of Church History is the degree to which many of those whom we recognise today as saints of God had some seriously messed up ideas as well as good stuff. Classic examples of this are Luther’s anti-Semitism, Calvin’s drowning of an Anabaptist, Augustine’s issues with sex and the Congregationalists of Boston burning Quakers who wouldn’t stay away as heretics in 1658 or so. The only solution that works for me is to ignore the unstated beliefs of a person or group when looking at their material, and merely to test what we are being presented with.
Vince Wright
Ender’s Shadow,
Thank you for your comment! This is part of the strength of The Berean Test: examination of lyrics apart from artist theology.
-Vince Wright
Carry Noel
Perhaps this article would be of some interest, and perhaps the topic addressed in it would be worth some further commentary. This comes via the Gospel Coalition… https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/use-bethel-songs-worship-4-diagnostic-questions/ Thoughts?
tastywallet
Carry,
This is duplicative of your comment to my August poll. I recommend reading my response there.
-TastyWallet
Randy
I think this song is a self-centered song and some of the lines does not line up with the bible.
The song talks about everything you need to do to gain favor from above.
The line my weapon is a melody contradicts the bible that our weapon is the word of God. Melody are just notes.
“Heaven comes to fight for me” also is not in the bible but the LORD himself will fight for you and his name is Jesus Christ.
Using the words Hallelujah, Death, and King do not always necessarily points to Jesus Christ. Why dont they mention the name that is above every name? Are they ashamed of him?
tastywallet
Randy,
I appreciate the challenge!
I can see your conclusion, that raising one’s own hallelujah can migrate towards idolatry as opposed to God as the object of worship. However, what I see is Bethel Music instructing others to tell people about Christ’s death defeated, following their example.
I also do not agree that the Word of God is the only weapon at our disposal. We also have prayer (James 5:16) and worship, which include musical instruments (Psalm 150:1-6) as useful tools God may use to stir hearts to Himself.
The statement “heaven comes to fight for me” is a figurative usage to describe precisely what you stated.
I agree that not all usages of Hallelujah, Death, and King refer to Jesus; However, it is my belief that the phrase “Death is defeated”, followed by “the king is alive” is uniquely Christian. As for not mentioning Jesus’ name, I do not require all songs to explicitly state that name for artistic purposes. Sure, I would prefer it, but using indirect references does not bother me, so long as the artist clearly identifies the subject.
-TastyWallet
Jonny
Yes Randy. This was exactly my thought on hearing the song for the first time this morning.
Raabhart
I think you guys may want to consider the lyrics “out of the ashes, hope will arise”. When you see these lyrics you need to ask yourself if there’s any gods that were cremated? If you look into krishna the Hindu god, I think you’ll find this song was written to him whether the writers knew it or not. Given the eastern practices that have crept into Bethel, this should not be a surprise.
Vince Wright
Raabhart,
Thank you for your comment!
I doubt that many people have studied Hinduism to listen to this as a god becoming cremated, especially in the Western world. I doubt even more than anyone would interpret it as such, given that hope arises out of the ashes and that the end of the Chorus speaks on Christ’s death and resurrection.
-Vince Wright
Raabhart
Vince, this is the great deception. It doesn’t speak of whos death and resurrection it’s referring to. Krishna was “resurrected” spiritually and went to heaven to become king of kings and lord of lords. He was the manifestation of the supreme Hindu god vishnu. When we look at the text out of the ashes, hope will arise. I think it reads to interpret as if our hope comes from whatever is in the ash. The problem is that I know of no where in the Bible that says out hope comes from ash. In Isaiah 61 our ashes are exchanged for a crown of beauty. Which most other Christian songs affirm when you look at the lyrics. I think if you change the wording there to “out of the darkness” which could be interpreted as Jesus tomb, then the song would line up with scripture. As it’s written I believe it to be in violation of the first, and second commandments. So while the song may cause you to have an emotional experience, it also is causing people to unknowingly sin. Which in turn will not allow those singing it to walk in the fullness of the spirit. That’s why I brought it to your attention. If you can show me that the text is referring specifically to Christ, then I’ll retract my statement. If not I would caution people against this song for the reasons stated above.
Vince Wright
Raabhart,
Thanks for your further explanation. I see two threads in your response.
The first thread is identity. I haven’t shared this yet in my reviews or comments, but this is what goes through my head when it comes to matching up identities. I think about the first of three classical laws of logic known as the “Law of Identity”. Something is what it is and is not what it is not. In mathematics, this concept is expressed as A = A.
We can derive from this basic concept the idea of attributes. Suppose that we had an equation X = Y. How do we know this is true? Everything that is true of (the attributes of) “X” must also be true of (the attributes of) “Y” without ambiguity. We can apply these concepts to comparing the lyrics to each worldview (Christianity and Hinduism) to determine which identity fits best.
One could construct an argument that the entire song is Hindu. What do you make of the name “Jesus” mentioned in the Interlude? It seems to me that all the praise mentioned in prior lines references Jesus as the recipient of their praise. This is the attribute that seems to tip the favor for Christianity as a better fit than Hinduism.
The second part is about the line “Up from the ashes, hope will arise”, existing at the third line in the Chorus. I stated that this references the resurrection of Jesus. I did not go into detail and should not have stated it merely as the resurrection of Jesus. I think “out of the darkness” is Biblical, but that does not exclude us from using other metaphors to communicate the same message.
I am almost certain you are familiar with the guilt offerings in Leviticus 5 and 6. They were offered as an atonement for sin, fulfilled in the person of Jesus on the cross under the New Covenant. What did they do with the ashes? One of the priests carried them off to a clean place (Leviticus 6:10-11), a sort of burial for burnt offerings. Of course, the sacrificed Christ was also buried, carried away to another location and guarded by the Romans. As you are aware, He rose again three days later. This is the hope that arose out of the grave, a sort of “ashes” of the “burnt offering” that was sacrificed on the cross. The burnt offerings in the Old Covenant never came back to life.
Does that make sense?
-Vince Wright
Raabhart
Thanks for the explanation Vince. I never looked at it as though they were referencing the burnt offering, but that would make sense depending on their theological view of the atonement. The version I heard did not have the interlude. If one sings the interlude as well, then there’s a clear indication that it’s Christian. If one doesn’t then I think it could easily be interpreted as a Hindu song. I’ll admit Ive only heard the song a handful of times, but I had issues with it immediately, so was surprised to see a 9.5/10 rating. In closing I’m not a fan of Bethel in general due to some of their practices and the theological issues surrounding their leaders. So I tend to overly scrutinize their songs.
Cheers
Vince Wright
Raabhart,
Understandable! I have issues also with Bethel, as well as Hillsong, theology.
-Vince Wright
Jeff Massey
I’m very appreciative that you say you have a problem with their theology and yet still work to judge their song unbiasedly. Although I agree that there are many aspects of this song that I strongly question. The problem that I have seems to be a lack of consistency in judging with this song as I’ve seen with several other songs you’ve reviewed. It seems this one has gotten off much easier on its score than other songs that I think are far more worship centered. This one never mentions Jesus and doesn’t really ever credit Christ/God with being the recipient of praise, yet you’ve given lower scores to other songs for the same issue. Why has this song not been knocked down for the same exact reason? It’s unclear exactly who they’re worshiping. This song, as said elsewhere, does seem to worship self. There are many instances of what “I’m” going to do as opposed to what Christ’s doing for me / through me. Another problem I have is when they sing “Heaven comes to fight for me.” I think this gives too much merit to any individual. I may be wrong or too critical in this, but God is sovereign and He does what glorifies Himself. Heaven comes to fight for Christ/God. I do not command Heaven. God does. And my final problem is about singing louder and louder. Singing louder does in no way affect God’s strength/faithfulness/working in our lives. Praying harder does not either. Why sing louder? That’s not a worshipful sentiment or ideology. In all honesty, ‘singing’ louder is 100% based on an emotional response.
Honestly though, really appreciate what you’re doing here and have almost 100% agreed with the other songs that I’ve looked into your reviews of.
Vince Wright
Jeff,
Thank you for your challenge!
I was fixated on the word “hallelujah”, which is a compound Hebrew phrase, with “hallelu” meaning “a joyous praise in song” and “jah” or “yah”, which refers to the Tetragrammaton YHWH. Put together, we are singing “we joyfully praise God in song” when we use this word. I even talked about this in my opening comments on Verse 1. The rest of the song seems to fit into this concept, describing various ways of doing this. I thought it was enough hints to make the connection that we worship God, hence, the high score.
Also, it does say in Spontaneous that “Everything [is] to You, Jesus”. Specifically on the 13th line.
I understand your critique regarding singing about one’s own self when singing this song. Bethel sings about what they want to do and invites their audience to do the same. I don’t think this is a bad approach in terms of songwriting and it could find use as an opening song as a lead-in to worship. But, it’s not a worship song.
Finally, I agree that singing louder is an emotional response; However, I’m more interested in the truth of the lyrics, as opposed to whether or not they are emotional. If Bethel wants to sing louder great! I am happy for them, so long as we can all walk away understanding that louder does not equal better. I don’t get the sense that Bethel thinks it improves worship.
I hope these clarifications help and am glad that you like what I do! Even if we don’t 100% agree on everything.
-Vince Wright
Jeff Massey
You know what!? Thanks for breaking down the word hallelujah for me again. 🙂 That does drastically change my approach to critiquing this song personally. It can be hard to see past first judgments… even in the context of certain songs. Thank you for the evidence that I had not seen. Still not sure I like the song… but that’s a completely different argument. lol. I’m still hesitant with many worship songs that have to much “me” or “I” in them. But the definition of ‘Hallelujah’ helps me come to a closer conclusion to what you came to.
Vince Wright
Jeff,
My pleasure! If you don’t like it, that’s OK. I’m not too thrilled about it myself if I’m being honest.
If you’re interested, there’s another song that has the word “hallelujah” in it where I gave a much, much lower score. You’ve probably heard of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah, even if you don’t recognize the original artist. It starts off okay but goes off the Scriptual rails after the Chorus!
-Vince Wright
Vixtor
Hola Vince. Gracias por el trabajo y esfuerzo q haces. Solo quería comentar lo siguiente. Obviamente prefiero y me parece indispensable que en una canción aparezca la palabra Jesús o Dios para tener más claro que la canción se dirige al Dios que los cristianos adoramos. Pero, aún debo argumentar que esto no es suficiente. La palabra dice que vendrán muchos en su nombre pero q no son de él.. Que vendrán muchos Cristos.. O q se dirá “Jesús está allá o allí…y no será El.. Entonces toda la doctrina de una canción debe ser clara y doctrinal…. Sino es pura emoción y no adoración verdadera.. Entiendo q Dios mira el corazón.. Pero los q somos líderes estamos para guiar al pueblo y Bethel no me parece una iglesia cristiana sino seudocristiana… Y por eso sus canciones tienen tanta controversia…
Edited by Vince Wright:
Google Translate: Hi Vince. Thanks for the work and effort you do. I just wanted to comment on the following. Obviously I prefer and it seems essential to me that the word Jesus or God appears in a song to be clearer that the song is directed to the God that Christians adore. But, I still have to argue that this is not enough. The word says that many will come in his name but that they are not his .. That many Christs will come .. Or that it will be said “Jesus is there or there… and it will not be Him .. Then the whole doctrine of a song must be clear and doctrinal…. But it is pure emotion and not true worship .. I understand that God looks at the heart .. But those of us who are leaders are here to guide the people and Bethel does not seem like a Christian church but a pseudo-Christian church… And that’s why her songs have so much controversy…
Vince Wright
Vixtor,
Thank you for your comments and compliments! Unfortunately, I don’t speak or read Spanish, so I used Google Translate to convert your comments. Hopefully, it came out as you intended!
I agree with your statements. Uttering the word “Jesus” is not enough. Our songs should also include acts/wonders/deeds that are uniquely His. The cross and subsequent resurrection is a popular example. This is the case in this song. Take a look at Chorus, line 4. Bethel sings of Christ’s death and resurrection.
Regarding Bethel: I’m afraid that I don’t do Bible analysis on artists on this website. There are plenty of other sites that talk about that. At The Berean Test, I examine lyrics to see how it stands against Scripture, regardless of the artist’s beliefs, agendas, or goals.
-Vince Wright
Steve Barhydt
Vixtor,
it is my belief that “Bethel… songs have so much controversy…” because people like you have a “guilty before proven innocent” mindset when it comes to their music. (No doubt with what they believe to be good intentions)
I see it on this website all the time. Lyrics are nit-picked and scrutinized above and beyond all rational lines of thought.
Wild theories of new-age beliefs and practices are thrown at both Bethel and Hillsongs without a shred of proof or Biblical substantiation. Everything from “Up from the ashes” in this song referring to the mythological Phoenix (i.e. Lucifer) to Hitler being associated with the Hillsongs Church (https://www.thebereantest.com/hillsong-worship-what-a-beautiful-name)
Many, if not most, of these outrageous claims completely ignore the context of the lyrics or overall message of the song. Even fewer have a Bible based defense of their objections to the lyrics. Philosophical arguments abound but very few scriptural ones.
Don’t get me wrong! I’m not here to condone or condemn every thing about Bethel. There are things about Bethel theology that I strongly disagree with but I see NO evidence that those teachings influence their lyrics. It is merely assumed, by those like yourself, that a Bethel song is filled with error because Bethel has some false teachings.
The strength of this website is to let each and every song stand on it’s own merits and not to get bogged down in endless theological debates.
You say ” the whole doctrine of a song must be clear and doctrinal” yet even within the Christian church there are differing views on very important doctrines.
Soteriology is a prime example. There is no more important doctrine than the doctrine of Salvation yet the Calvinist / Armenian debate has raged for centuries (and probably will until the Lord returns). I am not a Calvinist (technically I’m not an Armenian either but that debate is not for this website :)) but I consider those who are my brothers and sisters in Christ because there is more that unites us than divides us.
Pneumatology is another one. I am a Continuationism, that is that I believe that the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit are still for the church today and should be normative in our church services. Others who follow a Cessationist world view believe that the Gift’s ended with the death of the Apostles. I still love and consider them fellow believer’s in Christ. Why? Because there is more that unites us than divides us.
I am not in any way saying that doctrine is unimportant. Sound doctrine IS very important. But I believe that there is more that unites us than divides us.
Over the course of time, this website has reviewed (by my count, sorry Vince if I’m wrong) 12 Bethel songs (average rating 8.29 with three 9.5 and one 10 rating) and a staggering 22 Hillsong titles (average rating 8.36 with 6 9.5 and 5 10 ratings)
Their music has been shown over and over again to be Biblically based and should serve to unite us instead of letting the “errors” of non-Soteriological doctrines (Word of Faith, Dominion , NAR, etc.) divide us. This is especially true when I have yet to hear a scripture based argument against these songs.
Yvonne
Why do they not refer directly to Jesus Christ so as to leave no ambiguity as to who they are worshipping.. even the Phoenix myth was raised from the ashes after three days. My question does this song TRULY magnify and worship Jesus Christ our is it a melody and beat that stirs up the flesh and not TRUE WORSHIP IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH.
Vince Wright
Yvonne,
Thank you for your comments and question!
If I believed the song too ambiguous to conclude Christianity, I would have rated it lower.
Also, Psalm 150:3-5 contains a laundry list of instruments used to praise God. If that isn’t a melody, I don’t know what is.
-Vince Wright
Vixtor
Hola Vince… Lo q pasa es q Jesús no fue incinerado… El resucitó y su cuerpo no sufrió corrupción…
Edited by Vince Wright:
Google Translate: Hello Vince … What happens is that Jesus was not cremated … He rose again and his body did not suffer corruption …
Ben Donelly
A point of interest: In new age teaching, it is the Phoenix which rises from the ashes, Lucifer. Hope arising from the ashes is NOT biblically accurate concerning the person and work of Jesus Christ. Jesus was never ‘ashes’. Remember, it is a little leaven which leavens the whole lump. Spiritual discernment is one of the gifts of The Spirit with good reason. I am on a worship team and this particular lyric sends off alarm bells. Something is not right about this song and therefore something is not right about this ministry. My thoughts on this.
Neal Cruco
Ben,
Vince previously commented on this line. Have you read it?
“The second part is about the line “Up from the ashes, hope will arise”, existing at the third line in the Chorus. I stated that this references the resurrection of Jesus. I did not go into detail and should not have stated it merely as the resurrection of Jesus. I think “out of the darkness” is Biblical, but that does not exclude us from using other metaphors to communicate the same message.
I am almost certain you are familiar with the guilt offerings in Leviticus 5 and 6. They were offered as an atonement for sin, fulfilled in the person of Jesus on the cross under the New Covenant. What did they do with the ashes? One of the priests carried them off to a clean place (Leviticus 6:10-11), a sort of burial for burnt offerings. Of course, the sacrificed Christ was also buried, carried away to another location and guarded by the Romans. As you are aware, He rose again three days later. This is the hope that arose out of the grave, a sort of “ashes” of the “burnt offering” that was sacrificed on the cross. The burnt offerings in the Old Covenant never came back to life.”
Jaq
I actually have a problem with the “sing a little louder” chorus. I fail to see how singing louder glorifies God more, but rather it has to potential to make it harder to hear each other, and look to meet others needs… I heard recently of a man who was a Christian during nazi Germany and he details the response his church had towards hearing the trains taking the Jews to concentration camps, was to sing the hymms louder so as to drown out the screams from the Jews in the trains like cattle.
https://www.gospelherald.com/articles/67858/20161109/pro-life-film-sing-a-little-louder-shares-alarming-holocaust-church-lessons.htm
Vince Wright
Jaq,
Thank you for your challenge! I moved this post to its appropriate section.
I agree that singing louder does not necessarily glorify God more. I understand how it may annoy some and others may abuse it, but surely we cannot judge a concept by its abuse? What I cannot see is how it would be implicitly unbibical, or fails to implicitly glorify God.
-Vince Wright
jaqteisen
That’s fair that its not actually ‘un-biblical’, I suppose Ive always struggled, particularly in corporate worship, when the songs involve meaningless or unclear phrases repeated over and over, or when the songs spend more time speaking about our own self and what we are doing for God, rather than laying aside our own selves and lifting up our Lord for who He is and what He is doing.
I appreciate your blog, thanks for taking the time to review so many songs and test them against the bible.
Vince Wright
jaqteisen,
Thank you! I appreciate your thoughts and compliments.
-Vince Wright
AnetteB
I understand if we want to express our adoration and faith by singing loudly. I just think it is kind of weird to repeatedly sing “sing a little louder”. Who are we singing this Verse to? It seems misplaced and so does not make it a worship song for church.
Edwin
I love this song. I can understand some of the trouble people have with the song. I think you have to look at the context in which it was written. For instance the line “up from the ashes, hope will arise”. The way I see it and I’m certainly not saying I’m right, it’s just my interpretation of it, I see it as that they were put through the fire which the bible does talk about as a purifying fire and out of the fire hope will arise. The other part some people have an issue with is “sing a little louder”. I understand that singing louder does not necessarily make things better but if you include the line with the “ louder than the unbelief” then it makes sense to me because sometimes the unbelief is sometimes so prevalent in our lives that we need to rise above it. Raising a hallelujah louder than the unbelief makes sense then. The writers were probably in a state of unbelief that God would heal their child so they had to rise above it.
Just my point of view.
Vince Wright
Edwin,
Thank you for your point of view!
-Vince Wright
Kathi Creed
I guess I don’t see how this song praises God and in a difficult time this is not what I would sing.
Steve Barhydt
Kathi,
I believe that Vince has given an excellent scriptural defense of why and how this song does glorify God, could you provide a Biblical reasoning as to why to does not?
Richard
Hi
I really appreciate the reasoned debate on this site.
I think this is a powerful song.
But I believe it to have been generated in the Soul and directly from the Spirit.
Mixture. It’s soul worship.
Much of Bethel music is the same.
God is purifying us.
May the Lord Jesus be glorified only in our Praise.
Richard
Richard
Sorry I mean not generated in the Spirit.
That’s not to say the song is not well intentioned or those who sing / enjoy it are not sincere.
But God is cutting deep.
He is dividing soul from Spirit.
He is taking us out of carnality into heavanly worship.
So much of this worship is preformance based and emotionally arousing. Its sweet but little real substance.
This may sound snarly but God wants worshipers in Spirit and Truth.
The real test is in testing the Spirit of our worship.
Let us be very wary of strange fire.
Steve Barhydt
Richard,
First, the fact that “God wants worshipers in Spirit and Truth.” has nothing to do with soulish worship.
John 4
20Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
The Samaritan woman at the well was trying to argue that there was a physical place that different groups of people were claiming that one had to go to in order to worship.
Jesus’ response was “No, true worship is not external but internal.”
To quote John Piper …
“Worship must be vital and real in the heart, and worship must rest on a true perception of God. There must be spirit and there must be truth. . . . Truth without emotion produces dead orthodoxy and a church full (or half-full) of artificial admirers . . . . On the other hand, emotion without truth produces empty frenzy and cultivates shallow people who refuse the discipline of rigorous thought. But true worship comes from people who are deeply emotional and who love deep and sound doctrine. Strong affections for God rooted in truth are the bone and marrow of biblical worship. (Desiring God, 81-82).
Secondly, I would ask of you the same thing I ask of Kathi, a Biblical defense of your reasoning.
You say “I believe it to have been generated in the Soul… not generated in the Spirit”. OK. I accept that as your opinion but only the Word of God can accurately and completely make that delineation.
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
Vince has shown that the lyrics are scriptural. If the lyrics are scriptural then they are spiritual. If the lyrics are scriptural then they are truthful. (Of course, these lyrics, or any other, do NOT rise to the level of being the inspired, infallible Word of God.) If they are both spiritual and truthful, can we not worship God “in Spirit and in truth” when we sing this song?
Therefore, for you to say “So much of this worship is preformance based and emotionally arousing. Its sweet but little real substance” is unjustified for the following reasons…
1) “So much of this worship is preformance based” is judging the motives of the song writer and those who sing the song. Again this is something only the word of God can do.
2) “emotionally arousing”
Just because a song stirs our emotions does not make it soulish any more than a well-crafted and delivered sermon that piques my intellect is soulish.
Mary, the mother of Jesus, in Luke 1:46-47 says
My soul doth magnify the Lord,
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
Is she being soulish? Of course not! Her soul (intellect, emotions and will) are joining together with her spirit to praise God. We do this with every song we sing and with every sermon we listen to.
3) “little real substance”
How is that a song speaks about our continued faith in God during hard times of “sweet but little real substance?”
A recurrent theme through the Psalms is the fact that we can take refuge in God. Are these Psalms of “little substance?” Of course not.
By the way. many of these Psalms refer to the soul as the active participant in our faith in God(Psalm 62:1,Psalm 42:11,Psalm 139:13-14 ,Psalm 63:1,Psalm 103:1 )
We are more than just spirit and the goal of every Christian should that we live blameless before God in all that we do.
1 Thess 5:23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Vixtor
Hola… No entendí.. Si la letra es bíblica entonces es espiritual?.. La palabra hallelujah se utiliza en muchas canciones seculares.. Es una palabra bíblica pero eso no hace a esas canciones “espirituales”.. No comparto q de las cenizas salga esperanza… La explicación que se ha dado para tratar de hacer calzar esa frase con la resurreccion Jesús me parece muy rebuscada… Respeto su opinión pero Jesús jamás fue cenizas.. Es mas sus huesos no fueron quebrados…
Edited by Vince Wright:
Google Translate:
Hello … I did not understand .. If the lyrics are biblical then it is spiritual? .. The word hallelujah is used in many secular songs .. It is a biblical word but that does not make those songs “spiritual” .. I do not share what is from the ashes hope comes out … The explanation that has been given to try to make that phrase fit with the resurrection Jesus seems very far-fetched to me … I respect your opinion but Jesus was never ashes … Moreover, his bones were not broken …
Steve Barhydt
Vixtor,
The comment that you are referring to was “Vince has shown that the lyrics are scriptural. If the lyrics are scriptural then they are spiritual. If the lyrics are scriptural then they are truthful.”
I was responding to another commentator who said (about this song) “It’s soul worship. Much of Bethel music is the same.” contrasting it to “God wants worshipers in Spirit and Truth.”
Vince, I and others have offered scripture upon scripture to show why this song and, the concepts within it, contradicts NOTHING in the Bible. I am still waiting on you to provide a single scripture to back up your claim.
In addition, as I have said on another comment “The fact that the world misuses or misunderstands the word “Hallelujah” is irrelevant. The world constantly misuses the name of God as well. I refuse to let culture dictate what Biblical words and concepts mean.”
As to the phrase “Up from the ashes” No one is claiming that this song states that Jesus was cremated. Vince has already given an excellent explanation of this phrase (with Scriptural support) so I’m not going to repeat it.
I will add however that “Up from the ashes” is figurative language and not to be interpreted literally.
“Ashes” are what’s left over after total destruction. We have the benefit of 2000 years of hindsight. We know that Jesus did rise again. However, the first century disciples would have felt “total destruction” for the three days following the crucifixion. (Read Luke 24) Their hopes, dreams, plans, and aspirations were all turned into “ashes” when Jesus took His “final” breath.
Jesus was never turned to “ashes” but the hope that the disciples felt undoubtedly was. It was out of these “ashes” that new hope was born when Jesus rose from the grave.
Likewise, today, the only hope we have is in the resurrected Christ.
I Corinth. 15
12Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?
13But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:
14And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.
15Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.
16For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:
17And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
18Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
19If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
20But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
Rachel Shallenberger
I clicked on all the references you provided for singing praise as a means of weaponry, and not one of them actually defends this position. They either do not mention singing at all, or it has no mention of war. You take a very mathematical, logical approach, and I can appreciate that, as I also take that route, however, those of us inclined to think more analytically must defend those who do not. People are not analyzing logical fallacies, as you do, when singing. The net effect of this song is singing as giving us more power. That is the feel when we sing it, and it is not triumph in joy, but rather triumph out of defense, like “You may be trying to knock me down, enemy, but I will just sing louder and louder, roaring, because you can’t hurt me.” Honestly, it’s more like a song sung as a defensive against the enemy, even to the enemy, rather than honoring God, submitting to His power. It also directs people away from the Word of God, which is my biggest problem with it– you don’t think churches are doing that enough already?? Churches are already pushing others to focus on emotionalism over the Word (Bethel certainly does that as they regularly look outside of scripture for revelatory truth), and we don’t need that. I know you explain “hallelujah”, but the song doesn’t, and the song is overall misleading and unhelpful in the church. We don’t need to feel more powerful. We need to rest in God and turn to Him as our help. Also, we need to be singing to Him, and FOR Him, not to some unnamed enemy. Honestly, knowing Bethel, I get the vibes that they’re singing this to churches that disagree with their theology! It’s so vague, emotional, not scripturally-based (despite all the links you provided), and with how it leads people further in this direction, I think we need to denounce this song and no longer sing it in church.
I think it’s helpful to not only look at this from a mathematical standpoint. It is an art form, therefore we must also consider it in light of themes, messages, ethos/pathos/logos, what the author is conveying, etc. When you look at themes and the overall tone of it, it is very, very lacking in anything helpful in the church. It focuses on us and what we need to do (even worse, it focuses on the enemy!), not on Jesus. Not on God and how He’s already taken care of it all. It doesn’t honor Him, it just builds a rallying cry for us. We need the Word, not emotion.
I’m so tired of the NAR trying to infiltrate the church. The Word needs to be taught and sung, and God needs to be worshiped. This song FAILS!
Thanks for your analysis!
Steve Barhydt
Rachel,
You obviously have a strong opinion about this song that is considerably different than the one the Vince, I and others share. That’s great! You will find no one on the web who is more willing to interact with your opinion than Vince.
However, let me make a few observations about your comment above…
1) The stated purpose of this website is “The Berean Test is about applying critical thinking skills to compare lyrical content from popular Christian artists against the Bible for accuracy.” https://www.thebereantest.com/about-the-berean-test To complain that we are being too analytical to the exclusion of something else is like going to a famous steakhouse and complaining that they don’t have a “peanut butter and jelly sandwich” on the adult menu.
This is a Biblical “meat and potatoes” website dedicated to looking at Christian music solely through the lens of Scripture.
As I have said many times, the strength of this website is that each and every song stands on it own when the light of the Bible is shined in it. Each song is a solitary entity, separate from the repertoire of the artist / songwriter and distinct from the doctrines of the home church of the artist unless those doctrines are specifically referenced in the song being reviewed.
Less “critically thinking” people are certainly welcomed here but there is no “PB&J” on the menu.
2) I am not going to spend a lot of time going over why this song is Biblical. Vince did a very good job in his review. Myself and others have used multiple Scripture references defending his review and this song.
I would, however, ask you to do the same.
There is not a single verse referenced or quoted in the entirety of your comment. This makes rational debate impossible and renders your rebuttal of Vince’s review into more of an anti-Bethel rant.
You state “We need the Word, not emotion” yet your comment is filled with emotion and no Word of God.
3) The word “Hallelujah” (Latin) or “alleluia” (Greek) or “halal yah” (Hebrew) has a sole meaning that dates back centuries even millennia. “Praise YAHWEH”
You claim that the song is misleading, I fail to see how. Let’s put a literal translation into the words of the song. ( One of Webster’s dictionary definitions of raise is ” to lift up” https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/raise)
I “lift up a praise to YAHWEH”, in the presence of my enemies
I “lift up a praise to YAHWEH”, louder than the unbelief
I “lift up a praise to YAHWEH”, my weapon is a melody
I “lift up a praise to YAHWEH”, heaven comes to fight for me
I “lift up a praise to YAHWEH”, with everything inside of me
I “lift up a praise to YAHWEH”, I will watch the darkness flee
I “lift up a praise to YAHWEH”, in the middle of the mystery
I “lift up a praise to YAHWEH”, fear you lost your hold on me!
Does that sound like “it’s more like a song sung as a defensive against the enemy, even to the enemy, rather than honoring God”?
4) “Sing a little louder” is the songwriter’s version of the “Shout to the Lord”, a theme used over and over again in the Bible particularly in times of battle.
Psalm 98:4, Psalm 35:27, Joshua 6:20 (the walls of Jericho a war time situation),2 Samuel 6:15, 2 Chronicles 20:18-22 (Jehoshaphat defeated the Moabites and Ammonites solely by praising and singing),2 Chronicles 13:15, Psalm 33:3, Psalm 118
In conclusion, Rachel, I have one question for you “If an artist not affiliated with Bethel had written and recorded this song, what would be your opinion of it?”
Ronnie
I feel like you have a very large dog in this race Steve. It’s one thing to correct someone, in love, and another thing to ridicule because they have a different or even strong opinion that may be opposite of yours. For example = “Less “critically thinking” people are certainly welcomed here but there is no “PB&J” on the menu.” ….
I will answer you last question about if someone not affiliated with Bethel written and recorded the song, what you have a different opinion and I can say I would not. There are teachings coming out of Bethel that are wrong and it is not secondary issues, they are important issues and they are bad which then puts a bad taste in some people’s mouth and there is nothing you can say to change that. When you teach Jesus was just a man in right relationship with God and that is how He performed miracles and you deny He was God and Man at the same time, that is a major issue. The song sung in your private personal time, maybe in the car on the way home from work because you have had a terrible day, maybe you received some bad news and you sing this song to lift you spirit, I believe is appropriate, but to use this as a song to sing corporately with and in the church is a problem because the song is self centered , it says over and over I , I , I . Songs of praise and worship should contain God you are, God you have done this, God is, You Lord are my, You lord can etc, etc. The songs we sing in church should be directed to and directly about God and His attributes not me, you, we and especially I. To mention I here and there is one thing, but for the song to be filled with I is not worship to God Almighty.
We should be wiling to help and or correct one another but the way we go about doing that should mean just a much and be just as important to us.
Steve Barhydt
Ronnie,
First, I never said I didn’t have a dog in the race. I certainly do. I am very frustrated by people who dismiss a good, Biblical song simply because it is associated with a group that they disagree with doctrinally. (especially when they misrepresent what that group really believes but that discussion is not what this website is focused on).
So often the critics of these groups will “nit-pick” a song to death just trying to find something to disagree with so they can dismiss the whole song.
Second, I meant absolutely no ridicule to Rachel or her opinion. Again, the purpose of this website is “about applying critical thinking skills to compare lyrical content from popular Christian artists against the Bible for accuracy.” To do so we attempt to go deep into the Scriptures and apply what we find there to these songs. We understand that not everyone has this inclination, desire, or ability. That’s why we appreciate the wonderful tool that Vince has given us.
That said, this website is NOT about analyzing, critiquing, or supporting every belief that the artists may have. In fact Vince wisely puts that responsibility back on all readers and contributors to his site.
“Also, a high score does not necessarily endorse the theology of said artist. For example, Hillsong is well-known for promoting the Word of Faith and New Apostolic Reformation movements, both of which are unbiblical in my view. They also received many high scoring reviews, some of which are 10/10. We should all do our own due diligence to examine the theology of artists.” https://www.thebereantest.com/criteria-for-evaluating-christian-music
As to your accusation that this song is too self-centered, I have addressed this complaint in other reviews so I am not going to take the space here to do it again. The bottom line is that the Psalms are filled with references to me, my, and I.
Read the following statements…
“I love my wife’
“I think my wife is the most beautiful woman on earth”
“I want to spend the rest of my life with no person other than my wife.”
“I adore my wife”
“I am the luckiest man in history to be married to my wife.
Are these statements about me or my wife? Even though I use the word “I” over and over the focus is “my wife”
Likewise, this song may say “I” a lot, but it’s about what “I” am doing… Praising God in the midst to the hard times.
The chorus gives the reason why “I” can make these declarations loudly because…
“Up from the ashes, hope will arise
Death is defeated, the King is alive!”
The song is about what I am doing because of what HE has already done!
Finally, I have absolutely no problem with strong opinions that disagree with mine (in fact there’s a couple of things that Vince and I disagree on quite strongly). However, this is a website about discussing songs from a Biblical viewpoint therefore dissenting opinions should be backed up with scripture. Otherwise you are just leveling accusations at Vince for his reviews, contributors for their comments, or the artists for their beliefs.
Lou
Amen, Rachel, unfortunately many churches do no have their authority based on the WORD of God, but rather are very subjective and therefore lack biblical foundation. I grew up in a church that was all about emotion and loud music and the bible was not the authority in their lives but church tradition and emotions were, sad to say that but very true.
And we as believers in Christ should test everything by the scriptures, like the Bereans did.
Not too long ago at a church service, the worship band was singing this song, and It really started bothering me because it sounded kinda militant to some degree, I think sometimes churches miss what their mission is and glorify other things instead of the Lord Jesus Christ who is to be praised, loved and worshiped in spirit and truth and hold up the WORD of God as ultimate source of truth. Our mission if we should accept it is Mat 28:19.
Thanks guys great discussion, pray for Bethel Music.
Steve Barhydt
For those who complain that Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) is too self centered I offer the following quantitative analysis:
There are 2423 words in the English KJV in Psalm 119…
The most used word is “thy” (referring to God) at 209 occurrences.
The second most used word is “I” at 142 occurrences.
Let’s take this a step further…
Nouns and pronouns for God (Thy, Thine, Thou, Thee, Lord) are used 285 times. (or 11.76% of the total word usage.)
Nouns and pronouns for the Psalmist (I, me, my ,mine, myself) are used 312 times (or 12.88% of the total word usage.)
What does this mean and why is it important?
First, to claim that a song is too self centered and, therefore, should not be sung in church because it has too many personal pronouns (I, me, my) is unsupportable in light of the fact that the Holy Spirit had no issues with inspiring the psalmists to refer to themselves multiple times in their songs.
Second, a lot of Christian music is about the relationship the believer has with the Almighty God (or that the unbeliever could have with Him.) Relationships are NOT one-sided. Songs about relationships are not going to have just one side represented in the lyrics.
As long as what the “I/me” in the song is claiming or proclaiming does not contradict what the Scripture says about “I/me”, the song should be considered Biblical.
Christopher Babb
I don’t believe that the issue most people have with the song being too self centered has to do with the word usage of “I” and “me” but rather the perspective that the author has decided to take when writing the song. This song is solely about the singer minus one very vague lyric. There are tons of worship songs that use “I” language such as “Great are you Lord”, “I love you Lord”, “As the Deer”, “Amazing Love”, “Beautiful One”, “Death was arrested” and so on and so on. But all of those songs are about how the singer worships/praises/thanks Him for his beauty/sacrifice/love/grace/etc. The same way they are used in the Psalms. Whereas Raise a Hallelujah is primarily the singers singing about themselves and what they do to combat darkness instead of what Christ has already done.
Steve Barhydt
I can see where you are coming from with regards to praise from the Psalms, however, I disagree with you on two points.
1) You say, “This song is solely about the singer minus one very vague lyric.” I disagree.
As I pointed out in my comment above to Rachel, the word “Hallelujah” (Latin) or “alleluia” (Greek) or “halal yah” (Hebrew) has a sole meaning that dates back centuries even millennia. “Praise YAHWEH” (Vince also mentions the definition of hallelujah in his review).
So from the title of the song to the last phrase of the outro, the songwriters and, therefore, the singers of this song are repeating over and over again “Praise God”
The fact that the world misuses or misunderstands the word “Hallelujah” is irrelevant. The world constantly misuses the name of God as well. I refuse to let culture dictate what Biblical words and concepts mean.
Also, the fact that many Christians may not fully understand the meaning inherent in the word “Hallelujah” is equally irrelevant. It doesn’t change the meaning away from “Praise God”
Therefore, there is not “one vague lyric” about God in this song. The entire context of the lyrics reverberate with praise to God.
2) You state “Raise a Hallelujah is primarily the singers singing about themselves and what they do to combat darkness instead of what Christ has already done.” Again, I disagree.
The supposed “one vague lyric” namely “Death is defeated, the King is alive!” is the linchpin upon which the song derives it’s meaning. This phrase is the “center” of the song, not the self-aggrandizement of the singers.
Without this phrase there is no…
…heaven comes to fight for me
…Up from the ashes
…hope will arise
…I will watch the darkness flee
…fear you lost your hold on me!
The Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15 (KJV)
16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:
17 And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.
18 Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
Lest you think that “king” could be someone other than Jesus, Vince correctly states in his response to Randy above “I agree that not all usages of Hallelujah, Death, and King refer to Jesus; However, it is my belief that the phrase “Death is defeated”, followed by “the king is alive” is uniquely Christian.”
The hyperlink given by Vince in his introduction to this song gives some insight into the songwriter’s heart and mind and, although these words are not sung with this song on Sunday morning (and, therefore, not part of Vince’s review), they are pertinent to the intended focus of the lyrics…
Just begin to raise your own hallelujah
I can’t do it for you
There’s a song written on your heart only you can sing
And when you sing enemies flee
When you sing prison walls come falling down
When you sing heaven invades the earth
So just begin to lift up your hallelujah
Raise it like a banner
Raise it like a flag
Raise it in the middle of the storm
Let it rise, let it rise
Like a symphony to the King
EVERYTHING TO YOU, JESUS (emphasis mine)
We raise it all
Sing a little louder!!
**********End Quote**********
In conclusion, by using the word “Hallelujah” the songwriters ARE praising God and God alone. Also by referencing the death and resurrections of the “King”, they make Him the CENTRAL reason for that praise.
Therefore, there is absolutely nothing self-centered about this song.
Vixtor
Me sigue pareciendo muy poético y poco o nada bíblico la frase sobre las cenizas…. Jesús no fue cremado.
No resurgió de sus cenizas porq el no fue derrotado el se entregó a sí mismo por nosotros…. Renacer de las cenizas.. Si bien suena bonito.. es creencia pagana insertada en una canción cristiana.
Edited by Vince Wright:
Google Translate: I still find the phrase about the ashes very poetic and little or not at all biblical…. Jesus was not cremated.
He did not rise from his ashes because he was not defeated, he gave himself up for us…. Reborn from the ashes .. Although it sounds nice .. it is a pagan belief inserted in a Christian song.
D.M.
As a Messianic Jew, I should point out that Jews remember the phrase “sing a little louder” quite differently than christians do.
https://www.pennylea.com/sing-a-little-louder
Vince Wright
D.M.,
I’m sorry to read that!
-Vince Wright
isaiah41v10
We have started singing this song in church recently, and I find it extremely unsatisfying and distracting to sing, for the reasons given by others in the comments.
I am surprised that it was given such a high ranking on this website. With so many excellent songs available, that are better lyrically, musically and theologically, this one does not deserve to be included in congregational worship. It is not focused on God and does not glorify Him. It contains very little truth that builds the spirit.
B
I thought real praise and worship talked of the Lord’s great and wonderful deeds. A Song should come out of the reality of the relationship of the heart to our Lord and what He has done. Not a big fan of the modern worship..it seems more of a concert that gets emotions stirred up. Nebuchadnezzar had music played when he wanted people to immediately stop what they were doing and worship his god…the Father wants true worshippers, those who give themselves to Him and worship by loving and obeying Him. Not arguing here, but we have to understand what scriptures mean, in addition to quoting them.
Dave
‘I raise… I raise…. I raise… Sing a little louder, Sing a little louder….my weapon is…. a melody…… I’m gonna sing, louder and louder, hear my praises roar.’
This song focuses mainly on me – singing my melody – louder and louder, to overcome; the enemy, my doubt, and the storm. Which is fine, music is a beautiful, really powerful, biblically mandated tool – but with only a passing reference to what the melody is about, the song gives the impression we can overcome just by …singing a tune, defiantly.
It could so easily mention the work of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the support of other Christians when we’re in dark places. What a missed opportunity.
Compare the focus in this to another simple, repetitive song, ‘Jesus all for Jesus’ – chalk and cheese.