Photo by Nghia Le
Elevation Worship had an interesting 2019. They released two albums that year: Aleluya (En La Tierra) (in Spanish) and live album Paradoxology. They also released their EP At Midnight. Elevation Worship earned their first Grammy nomination for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album for Hallelujah Here Below, losing to Lauren Daigle’s Look Up Child.
It is hard to believe that See A Victory will be my ninth Elevation Worship review! It will join Faithful, Resurrecting, Hallelujah Here Below, Jesus I Come, Do It Again, Here Again, Yours (Glory and Praise), and O Come to the Altar.
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?
Though darkness may forge spiritual weapons of darkness, it will not be victorious against God. This inspires us to find small victories in our immediate circumstances. God takes the terrible things that occur in our lives and uses it for His ultimate good.
I fear that some believers may take this the wrong way, thinking that God will always rescue us from all negative circumstances. Verses such as Romans 5:3-5, Hebrews 12:4-11, and James 1:2-4 demonstrate that this position is false. Many of the Old Testament prophets were killed by their audience (Matthew 23:37 and Luke 13:34). Stephen was stoned to death (Acts 7:54-60). Tradition holds that all the Apostles (except for John) were murdered for their faith.
Side Note: To those sensitive to massive repetition, Chorus contains ten repeated paragraphs. Bridge and outro combined have eight. Combined, it makes up 60-80% of the entire song.
Score: 9/10
2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?
All lyrics are in alignment with the Bible.
Lyrics posted with permission.*
[Verse 1]
The weapon may be formed, but it won’t prosper
When the darkness falls, it won’t prevail
‘Cause the God I serve knows only how to triumph
My God will never fail
Oh, my God will never fail
The light of God will not fail to defeat the spiritual weapons of 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).
[Chorus]
I’m gonna see a victory
I’m gonna see a victory
For the battle belongs to You, Lord
Ultimately, God will be victorious over darkness/death (Deuteronomy 20:4, 1 Samuel 17:47, John 16:33, 1 Corinthians 15:55, 1 John 5:4, and Revelation 20:14).
I’m gonna see a victory
I’m gonna see a victory
For the battle belongs to You, Lord
Repeats lines 1-3.
[Verse 2]
There’s power in the mighty name of Jesus
Every war He wages He will win
There is at least one example in Scripture where Christ wages war: Revelation 19:11. Revelation 19:20-21 tells us how that war ended.
I’m not backing down from any giant
‘Cause I know how this story ends
Yes, I know how this story ends
Elevation Worship is inspired by Christ to “face their giants” as David physically did in 1 Samuel 17:1-58.
[Bridge]
You take what the enemy meant for evil
And You turn it for good
You turn it for good
Contextualizes Genesis 50:20 for Jesus’ final victory over death (Matthew 28:1-20, Mark 16:1-20, Luke 24:1-12, John 20:1-29 Acts 1:3, Acts 3:15, Acts 4:33, and 1 Corinthians 15:3-8).
You take what the enemy meant for evil
And You turn it for good
You turn it for good
You take what the enemy meant for evil
And You turn it for good
You turn it for good
You take what the enemy meant for evil
And You turn it for good
You turn it for good
You take what the enemy meant for evil
And You turn it for good
You turn it for good
You take what the enemy meant for evil
And You turn it for good
You turn it for good
Repeats Bridge, lines 1-3.
[Outro]
You take what the enemy meant for evil
And You turn it for good
You turn it for good
You take what the enemy meant for evil
And You turn it for good
You turn it for good
Repeats Bridge, lines 1-3.
Score: 10/10
3. How would an outsider interpret the song?
Elevation Worship’s message is general enough for unbelievers to comprehend. There are countless movies, books, and TV shows about light defeating darkness. They know how those stories end. Jesus’ victory is another to add to their collection of stories.
I mentioned in section 1 about my fear, that believers will think God will rescue us from all negative circumstances. This issue is more pronounced with unbelievers.
On a more positive note, the Bridge may give them something worth thinking about, despite its massive repeats.
Score: 8/10
4. What does this song glorify?
Its themes of God’s endgame triumph and turning evil into good bring Him glory; However, its possible misuse veils it.
Score: 9/10
Closing Comments
Elevation Worship’s See A Victory is pretty good. While it glorifies God through declaring Christ’s final conquest and utters God’s transformation of evil, its relentless refrain, and possible misunderstanding are pain points worthy of consideration.
Those who disagree with me or could offer an explanation could use it for corporate worship.
Final Score: 9/10
Artist Info
Track: See A Victory (listen to the song)
Artist: Elevation Worship
EP: At Midnight
Genre: Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)
Release Year: 2019
Duration: 6:03
Agree? Disagree? Don’t be shy or have a cow! Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.
*Copyright © 2019 Elevation Worship Publishing (BMI), So Essential Tunes (SESAC), Fellow Ships Music (SESAC) (admin at EssentialMusicPublishing.com), SHOUT MP Brio (BMI) (adm. in the US and Canada at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Updates:
02/23/2022 – Rescored this song to align with other reviews, alongside slight word changes to tone down my critiques. This raised the song’s score from 8/10 to 9/10 and changed my recommendation to “Perhaps”.
09/14/2021 – Per Artist Theology announcement, I expanded the red text to encourage others to study Elevation Worship’s theology.
05/17/2021 – After reading Mimi B’s question, I updated commentary on Verse 2, lines 1 and 2.
03/24/2021 – Updated per repetition announcement. I moved my commentary to a side note.
03/27/2020 – Upon further reflection and prayer, I decided that repetition does not impact an unbeliever’s interpretation or the lyrics’ inherent glorification of God. Therefore, I changed my score in section 4, raising this review from 7.5/10 to 8/10. Also, I corrected paragraph 2 in my commentary in section 1. It should have said “believers” and not “unbelievers”.
Comments
Maurice
Just found out about your site through a link in a FB worship group! I appreciate the thorough analyzation of the lyrics and generally agree with everything you wrote. 😀 I do wonder though…
At the end of your review, you write, “Though Biblically accurate, I cannot recommend it for corporal worship in light of the issues I discovered.” Which I assume is based on the issue mentioned in Section 1 where you state, “I fear that some unbelievers may take this the wrong way, thinking that God will always rescue us from all negative circumstances.”
So for clarity’s sake, are you saying that you would withhold your recommendation based solely on the fear of potential misunderstanding? I am not trying to make light of the real possibility that people (unbelievers or not) may misunderstand the lyrics of a worship song, but I have to look at two very important things…
1) If an unbeliever is listening to a worship song to the extent that they’re analyzing the lyrics, then I would also have to believe that the Holy Spirit just might be in the process of drawing that person back to Him. And if so, there is a spiritual work taking place that goes beyond the music, and has more to do with a heart change. In this case, I’m convinced that if God is working on the heart of an unbeliever, He is more than capable of navigating their confusion.
2) Not that this COULDN’T happen, but I cannot recall an occasion where someone decided the lyrics of a worship song held more weight than actual scripture in determining who God is or what He will do. Granted, there are many times I’ve seen people recite lyrics thinking they ARE scripture. But to me, these types of misunderstandings actually invite/spark conversation that allow for a deeper, clearer understanding of scripture. One would hope there is someone available to help them understand lyrical content and context.
I just don’t see a scenario where someone listens to this song in isolation, decides that God will save them from every bad thing, and then after feeling cheated when something inevitably goes wrong, walks away from the church and from God. There would have to be more to this scenario… how did they come across this song? Was it introduced to them by a friend or someone evangelizing them? If it sparked interest, wouldn’t they seek more information about the song, if not about God himself?
I just believe there is a necessary conversation that has been omitted from your scenario of potential misunderstanding. Because if we’re going based on potential alone, I have to side with God’s omnipotence.
Vince Wright
Maurice,
Thank you for your thoughts!
I just realized that I goofed in section 1. It should have said “believers”. I corrected this.
I am a cautious individual. I did not use the word “possible” anywhere in my review; However, If there’s a good chance that song lyrics could be misinterpreted or misunderstood, then it makes it harder for me to recommend within a setting where we worship the King of Kings. With ten’s of thousands of songs available, many of which I’ve reviewed and granted a much higher rating than 7.5/10 (I recently updated this to 8/10 for a separate reason), it seems better to look elsewhere. But that’s just me. Some worship leaders might disagree and use it anyways.
As for an actual scenario, I’ve talked with some people in the past who had their misunderstanding validated by song lyrics. I’ve talked with others who were challenged by lyrics that opposed this ideology. But, I haven’t had a conversation where someone who did not have a position concluded the misunderstanding due to a song like this. I don’t want there to be a first.
I hope that makes sense.
-Vince Wright
GDB
Scriptures like,
Thanks be unto God which always causes us to triumph in Christ…
If God be for us who shall be against ys…
1 Corinthians 15:57 KJVS
[57] But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 8:37 KJVS
[37] Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Where did Jesus lose?
There are battles and wars. You only lose when you quit.
It’s hard to phathom someone taking the tone to figure out how and why we shouldn’t expect God’s Best!
Galatians 3:13 we have been REDEEMED from the curse SO THAT the Blessing of Abraham might be ours. Losing is in the curse. Victory is in the Blessing.
Moses didn’t lose!
Joshua didn’t lose.
Abraham didn’t lose.
VICTORY IN JESUS
Yes, I disagree.
No, I am not inexperienced…I have been through many battles. I have never lost In Jesus Christ. I have lost in my own strength BUT I have NEVER lost in Christ! It is impossible.
Joe McCook
“Meditate on the scriptures day and night.” Joshua 1:8. There is no biblical limit to the amount we should read and meditate upon even very small sections of scripture. By doing so, it renews and transforms our mind and spirit. I will spend hours on just a single verse or section of verses. By doing the same when scripture is put to music, it becomes an even more powerful tool to transform my being another step further into the likeness of our Christ because “in this world we are like Jesus”. My concern dear brother is that you state “Elevation Worship’s repetition is highly excessive.” I fear you are missing out on one of the most powerful tools for transformation the Father has given us. I encourage you to truly meditate upon these songs, fighting to get past your own thoughts and ideas that the words are overly repetitive so that you may commune with our loving Father through Jesus in new and powerful ways. I expect you will never be the same and will come to embrace the repetitive nature of these songs if you are willing to fight past your preconceived notions of how a song should look. Remember, there are creatures around his throne that say for eternity “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come”. These beings and God himself never tire of saying and listening to these very few words for all eternity. Neither should we tire of meditation of scripture through song until we are transformed into his likeness. Many blessings dear child of God.
Vince Wright
Joe,
Thank you for your comment! You’re not the first to make this comment and, perhaps, you won’t be the last. I appreciate your advice.
-Vince Wright
WG
I am about to lead this song for my congregation in about 4 hours :). I have been a worship leader, well my whole life I’d like to think and bivocationally for five years. The theology we sing is critical because good theology is so lacking in the modern American church. And it never fails: most of the comments on these types of sites are those who come to bash the reviewer for not having enough faith or for being a Pharisee or for limiting/grieving the Holy Spirit.
What they do not see is how a mature believer who has strong in their faith can pull the good out of any moderately scriptural song (and almost all CCM worship is only moderately scriptural) and this song makes them feel so good, it’s ministered to them so much. What they do not see is that a very weak believer is very likely to interpret this song through the filter of the prosperity gospel which is hope, victory, blessing RIGHT NOW.
We are not citizens of this world, this is not our home. The ultimate victory, blessing, hope is in heaven. And the current generation of Christians simply reject this for the most part. If Jesus is no good to me here and now, then what good is He? That is the prosperity gospel in a nutshell.
So as I lead this song today I’m going to lovingly remind my congregation that yes sometimes a Giant is before us and its God’s will to be glorified through the fall of that giant – more MORE OFTEN 🙂 a victory in God’s book looks like a loss to man.
When Stephen was stoned to death, that was a huge victory as he glorified God.
Paul glorified God all the more that his thorn was NOT removed.
When I die to self. When I forgive someone who doesn’t deserve it.
A “victory” is not necessarily when I win the battle, but it IS always when God is glorified the most.
And of course more may comment that I too am being a Pharisee. These brothers also forget one of my favorite church family passages, 1 Cor 8:9-11:
9 Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak. 10 For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols? 11 So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge.
YOU may be able to sing a prosperity gospel song and understand biblically what the truth is behind it, but seekers and babies in Christ probably will not be able to.
Church life is to take into account the WEAKEST IN THE FAITH. The strong are to DEFER out of love, to the weak. Yet in these churches, they are much more inclined to say to the weak “keep up” or “I’m not going to let you hold me back from worshiping God!”. No, we worship God by HOW we love the weak. By how we disciple those with less discernment. By how we turn disciple makers into disciple makers.
Christ already won the victory at Calvary. And we will see a victory when he returns to rule and reign. My flesh wants to see the victory on my terms here and now. And I suspect your (and all who read this) flesh is pretty similar. God Bless you all as you follow Christ!
Vince Wright
WG,
Thank you for your commentary! I appreciate that you defended me and that you recognize the balanced approach that I take to reviewing music. I think that offering an explanation to contextualize a song such as this is a great way to address the deficiencies in my review, redeeming it for corporate worship.
-Vince Wright
WG
Vince, please know I am not saying your review was deficient in any way – personally I found most popular worship CCM songs deficient. I’m a pastor at heart first and I want my fellow believers to know the whole truth before we sing a half truth.
Vince Wright
WG,
I know, but I’m glad that you clarified anyways!
-Vince Wright
Martin Bowman
Hey there,
I like your review. I think your point about God’s victory potentially being misapplied is a good thing to bring up. Worship Leader’s, teachers, preachers, bible study leaders, any leader who leads other in the understanding the Bible and following Christ needs to seriously consider their words and communication about following Christ.
So, I appreciate you bring up your point.
I have struggled with this song as well. And, generally speaking, I would prefer not to lead this song as it’s apparent undefined application of God’s victory does seems unbiblical.
However, at the same time, something I think is an important to bring into the discussion is the personal and cultural context. These are things that can be forgotten when considering a song for use in a worship service setting. Honestly, as a worship song, personally, this song really does help me. Because I think it is too broad in application.
However, if I heard the reason for this song, the story behind it, it is possible I could be encouraged because of some Christian’s victorious personal story based on Christ’s strength. And that, is a big difference, this song is much more a song based on personal experience than it is biblical study. That does not make it less powerful in it’s use, but it does make it less applicable to a larger, or corporate, setting – unless the entire group knew the biblical truth or story this song is based on. I have looked over these lyrics numerous times trying to decide if I should use it corporately or not and ultimately I have decided I could only lead it if I explained the truth it is trying to convey from the Bible or if someone sang this as a solo or special song to bless others through their victorious story of Christ’s work.
Man, this reviewing song lyrics through biblical truth is hard work. Good job! And thank you for your work!
Vince Wright
Martin,
Thank you for your comments!
Many of the songs that I review have a story behind it that I attempt to ignore so that it doesn’t affect examining the lyrics as-is. This approach has the advantage that, if I happen to interpret it as the artist intended, then the artist succeeded in communicating their intended message without me knowing anything about the song’s background or history.
The disadvantage is that if I did not interpret it as the artist intended, then it’s hard to know if the deficiency is artist language or my interpretive abilities. This is why I put a disclaimer on my evaluation criteria page, that God can use a song despite my opinions.
Finally, I appreciate your compliment! I hope that my reviews continue to bless and challenge you to examine the music you hear, and I expect you to challenge me when you think I erred.
-Vince Wright
Tino
The person analyzing this particular worship song needs to get off his high horse. I’m a believer in Christ dealing with some adversity in my life right now and ‘See A Victory’ has been very inspirational in keeping my hopes up. I know in the end, when the dust settles, my Savior will triumph, regardless of my trials. This song contextualizes taking the good in this world with the bad and vice versa. At the end of the day God triumphs. AMEN
James
I would argue that the line “what the enemy meant for evil you turned it to good “ isn’t exactly biblical. The verse in genesis states that God MEANT it for good, not turned it to good. The song is misleading Gods sovereignty. God isn’t going around with a fire extinguisher fixing evil. He allows it to happen and at the same time is continually in the process of using it for His good for the sake of Christ. We may not recognize the good but it’s always there at work in the one that is called. Romans 8:28-30. It’s a subtle twist but I think it does affect the way we look at God and what our expectations are for things to “turn“ good
Vince Wright
James,
Thank you for your comment!
I looked at a few things in response to this argument. First, I looked at the interlinear to see what Strong’s had to say about it. The word “meant” comes from the Hebrew word chashab, which means “to think, account”.
I also looked at several definitions:
Think – Most likely used as a transitive verb, which calls to “to form or have in the mind” or intentionality. This definition speaks of something that God has in mind, but not necessarily a call to action.
Account – Again, lots of definitions! In this context, it would be some sort of record that something’s taken place. This word fits as a call to action, perhaps, to record that a transaction has taken place.
Meant (to) – This is an idiom that speaks to intentionality. Again, this is not a call to action.
Turn – Again, many definitions! I think the definition that fits best is 5a: “to direct or point (something, such as the face) in a specified way or direction”. Here is another call to action.
Finally, since you used (no pun intended) this word to describe what God does with evil to produce good, I looked up use also. The first definition seems to fit best: “to put into action or service”. I agree that’s what God does: He puts evil into service for good.
I’d like to offer one more thought. What is sanctification? It’s the process of becoming more holy; set apart for sacred use. We were once evil people. We weren’t always holy. Yet, God saved us. It says in Romans 5:6-8 that while we were sinners, Christ died for us. This changed (from our perspective) the trajectory of our life, from rebellious living to holy living. I think the parenthetical part is the key to why the phrase “turn around” is used in this context. It speaks from our perspective, that there was once evil, but now there’s good.
-Vince Wright
Mimi B
In verse 2, does “Every war He wages He will win”…mean that Jesus will start wars (not the kind between countries, but personal wars)? Could you please clarify what this line in that verse means. Thank you.
Vince Wright
Mimi,
Great question!
Take a look at Revelation 19:11-16, particularly the end of Verse 11 where it says, “He judges and wages war.” The context is about Christ’s second coming. The end of Revelation 19 explains how the war ended.
I updated my commentary.
-Vince Wright
Mimi B
Thank you so much for providing this information.
Kyle
My wife has been having an affair with a woman for 6 months and is currently filing for a divorce. When we talked about it and I told her that lying, cheating, betrayal, pain, anger, and divorce were clearly tools of the enemy, not God, she quoted this song to me – “he can take what the enemy meant for evil and turn it for good.”
She’s using that understanding to justify continuing to do what she wants to because it tells her that God, with or without her obedience, can (and will) turn her evil choices for good for everyone involved.
She has been a church goer for her entire life, but only knows lyrics from songs like these, not real scripture.
Vince Wright
Kyle,
I’m sorry to read about this! Praying for healing/reconciliation.
Your wife might want to take a look at Romans 6. Particularly, the opening Verses.
-Vince Wright