Photo by Jari Hytönen
Hillsong is a name that needs no introduction. As of this posting, I reviewed four other songs from this juggernaut, including Oceans, So Will I, What a Beautiful Name, and P E A C E. All four received highly favorable Berean Test reviews. Will Who You Say I Am join the ranks of these titans or will it fall short? Let us find out together.
I will review the live version that appears on their album There is More.
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 beautiful message, communicating the effects of salvation, transitioning from a place of darkness, blindness, and bondage to light, sight, and freedom in Christ. It came at a huge cost: Jesus had to die. While the entire Gospel is not present, it is meant to be a song of praise rather than a formulaic presentation.
Side Note: For those sensitive to massive repetition, I counted the following phrases:
- “Who the Son sets free Oh is free indeed” – 4 times
- “In my Father’s house There’s a place for me” – 4 times
- “I am chosen, not forsaken” – 6 times
- “You are for me, not against me” – 6 times
- “I’m a child of God” – 8 times
- “Yes I am” – 8 times
- “I am who You say I am” – 15 times
Score: 10/10
2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?
All the lyrics agree with Scripture.
Lyrics posted with permission.*
[Verse 1]
Who am I that the highest King
Would welcome me
An adjusted version of Psalm 8:4, the “who am I that…” language (or equivalent) was once uttered (though not in English) by famous Biblical characters, including Moses (Exodus 3:11-15), David (2 Samuel 7:18, 1 Chronicles 17:16, and 1 Chronicles 29:10-14) and Job (Job 7:17; context starts in Job 6:1).
I was lost but He brought me in
Reminiscent of three parables Jesus told to the grumbling Pharisees and scribes who complained that Jesus welcomes among the most hated people in 1st century Judea: the tax collectors, along with other people whom they deemed “sinners”. These parables are the lost sheep (Luke 15:3-7), the lost coin (Luke 15:8-10), and the recklessly spending son (aka the prodigal son; Luke 15:11-32).
The third is the most significant as it personalizes Jesus’ message, that the “sinners” who repent (Luke 15:24) can be welcomed into God’s heavenly kingdom, complete with a celebration (Luke 15:23). In fact, the first two parables end with Jesus’ remark about a heavenly party when one sinner repents (Luke 15:7 and Luke 15:10). Indeed, these repentant sinners were once lost, but now they are found (Luke 15:24 and Luke 15:32).
Oh His love for me
Oh His love for me
We will find out later just how great that love is.
[Chorus 1]
Who the Son sets free
Oh is free indeed
Free from what? We can answer this by examining the context by which these lines refer: John 8:36. Jesus is on the Mount of Olives (John 8:1). After the skirmish with the Pharisees regarding the woman caught in adultery and spoke many truths concerning Himself, many of the Jews started to believe Him (John 8:30), though later, they tried to kill Him after Jesus utters the oft-quoted “Before Abraham was born, I am” (John 8:58). We will examine John 8:31-36 to answer this question.
To those who believed Him, Jesus told them that those who know the truth will be set free (John 8:31-32). This prompts these Jews to ask Jesus “What do you mean? We’ve never been slaves before!” (John 8:33). Jesus responds, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin” (John 8:34). This is the context by which Jesus says “if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36). The answer is clear: we are free from the slavery of sin.
I’m a child of God
Yes I am
An adopted son and daughter of the Most High God (see John 1:12-13, John 14:18, Romans 8:14-17, Romans 8:23, Romans 9:1-8, Galatians 3:26, Galatians 4:5-7, Ephesians 1:3-14, Ephesians 2:11-22, Hebrews 9:15, and 1 John 3:1-3).
[Verse 2]
Free at last, He has ransomed me
Connecting to Chorus 1, lines 1 and 2, this particular line speaks of a payment to release a prisoner. Given the Chorus, we can ascertain that the prisoner is enslaved by sin and was freed by a payment. This has Colossians 2:14 written all over it! This is confirmed explicitly in lines 3-5, below.
His grace runs deep
God’s unmerited favor runs so deep, a terrible price was paid. What price was that? Well…
While I was a slave to sin
Jesus died for me
Yes He died for me
That price was the death of Jesus. While other passages refer to it, including Leviticus 17:11, Isaiah 53:1-12, Matthew 20:28, Mark 10:45, John 1:29, John 3:16, Acts 4:12, Acts 20:28, Romans 6:23, 1 Corinthians 1:30, 1 Corinthians 6:20, 2 Corinthians 5:21, Galatians 1:3-4, Galatians 3:13, Ephesians 1:7, 1 Timothy 2:6, Titus 2:14, Hebrews 9:12, Hebrews 9:15, Hebrews 9:22, Hebrews 9:26, 1 Peter 1:17-21, 1 Peter 2:24, 1 Peter 1:18-19, 1 John 1:7, 1 John 2:1-2, and Revelation 5:9, these lines are more specific to Romans 5:6-10 and Colossians 2:14.
[Chorus 2]
Who the Son sets free
Oh is free indeed
I’m a child of God
Yes I am
Repeats Chorus 1.
In my Father’s house
There’s a place for me
Refers to John 14:1-3, which Jesus comforts His disciples after predicting His own death in John 13:21-38. He assures them that He will come again, that He will bring them to where He is going. Where is that? Thomas asked the same question in John 14:5. One of the most quoted Bible verses, John 14:6, is Jesus’ response to this question: He is going to the Father, and the only way we can go is through Him!
I’m a child of God
Yes I am
Repeats Chorus 1, lines 3 and 4.
[Bridge]
I am chosen, not forsaken
The first part is another reference to adoption. See Chorus 1, lines 3 and 4.
The second part quotes from Hebrews 13:5, which itself quotes from the words of God in Joshua 1:5.
I am who You say I am
Fills out the title of this track, with a declaration that what God says goes, regardless of what we might personally believe about it. Also called objective truth.
You are for me, not against me
A slight variant of Romans 8:31-32. We must understand that the context of this passage is Christ-followers.
I am who You say I am
Repeated from line 2, above.
[Chorus 3]
Who the Son sets free
Oh is free indeed
I’m a child of God
Yes I am
In my Father’s house
There’s a place for me
I’m a child of God
Yes I am
In my Father’s house
There’s a place for me
I’m a child of God
Yes I am
Repeats Chorus 2.
Score: 10/10
3. How would an outsider interpret the song?
Unless unbelievers have a criminal intent to twist these lyrics, it is near impossible for those outside the camp of Christ to interpret the message differently than those of us who follow Jesus, though perhaps without the deep analysis that is section 2. I have little doubt that it will invite curiosity about several concepts described, including ransom, slavery to sin, and chosen by God. We must avail ourselves to an explanation should the opportunity arise. However, unbelievers cannot be expected to understand such things based solely on the lyrics.
Score: 7/10
4. What does this song glorify?
It glorifies God as He defines who I am, not me.
Score: 10/10
Closing Comments
Hillsong’s Who You Say I Am contains an awesome message about Christ’s great love for us. It is Biblically sound and presents hope to unbelievers for those who wish to learn more, glorifying God.
Worship leaders may consider this song.
Final Score: 9.5/10
Artist Info
Track: Who You Say I Am (Live) (listen to the song)
Artist: Hillsong Worship
Album: There Is More (Live)
Genre: Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)
Release Year: 2018
Duration: 5:29
Agree? Disagree? Don’t be shy or have a cow! Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.
*Copyright © 2018 Hillsong Music Publishing (APRA) (adm. in the US and Canada at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Updates:
11/16/2022 – Removed leftover criticism regarding repetition in section 3 and conclusion. Also, I changed pronouns in section 4 from “we/us” to “I/me”, per Sam Gregory’s suggestion.
05/07/2021 – Per Artist Theology announcement, I expanded the red text to encourage others to study Hillsong’s theology.
03/24/2021 – Updated per repetition announcement. I increased section 1’s score and updated the last sentence of section conclusion. My views on repetition are a side note. This increased the overall score, from 9/10 to 9.5/10.
04/20/2020 – Inspired to hear it again by commenter Brian, I no longer saw a self-focused song. Instead, I saw as he did: God defines who we are, not us. Therefore, I increased its score from 8.5/10 to 9/10.
02/07/2020 – Added a summary to section 2 that was previously missing. Also, to keep this review in line with others, I removed my commentary on its use. This is a private matter left for worship leaders to decide and should not affect this song’s message score. This slightly increased the rating from 8/10 to 8.5/10.
07/04/2019 – Thanks to an email from Alex, to keep this review in line with other reviews, I lowered the score for section four given the centrality of self-described in other sections of this review. This brings the score down from 9/10 to 8/10.
Comments
Phil
Is it not highly egotistical? This song is very inward looking… If I could start by asking which way worship goes and you see my starting point. To me worship goes from us to God… This song reflects is all about us… Usually referring to God in the third person, the chorus is all about us, the whole song relies on us not God.
tastywallet
Phil,
Not sure I understand your point. Are you referring to my commentary? If so, can you be more specific?
-TastyWallet
Hop
I believe Phil is pointing out that a narcissist would have no problem finding this song from a perspective of “I am chosen and loved by God” which I bring the central figure and God just playing a role like anyone else who loves, helps, serves the desires of the ego centric person. His concern is that worship should have God as the central figure, not self — and it is a quite easy argument for someone to provide at least as much evidence for this centralizing on self as on God.
tastywallet
Hop,
Ah yes, I see where you are coming from! Much of the song can be interpreted as an overinflated view of one’s self with God’s approval in view; However, consider the following: A narcissist is, by Merriam-Webster’s definition, “an extremely self-centered person who has an exaggerated sense of self-importance”. Why would such an individual sing about his or her own humility (verse 1, line 1), lost-ness (verse 1, line 3), and slavery to sin (verse 2, line 3)? That doesn’t seem to fit with the profile of a narcissist.
I can see the concern for worship in this respect, given that the song is primarily about telling others about what God thinks of us. With that in mind, I added some additional text in section 1 and my final thoughts, without altering my score.
-TastyWallet
Kyrie
Just a personal thought, but I feel that at times some may view the song to be overly focused on self. However, considering the culture at Hillsong, I do think that they may be approaching songs from a very different perspective than what the viewpoint of most Christians may think Christian songs are supposed to be.
I do need to recognize that there is a portion for songs which minister to the individual, and that is where the songs will proclaim more of God, and reveal more of His goodness / love / works. However on the flip side, after the individual is filled so much with His love and goodness, and is overflowing with love, the individual cannot help but want to praise God telling Him how much “I love You”.
That is where Hillsong comes in to fill this gap, especially since not everyone is called to be a Psalmist (or lyricist in this case). Hillsong’s songs put words into the worshippers mouth to give them more words than just mere “I love You” to express their love and gratitude towards God.
Not sure if this properly explains why it has such an approach.
tastywallet
Kyrie,
Thanks for your comment! You explained your view just fine. Personally, I don’t have a problem with songs that minister to the individual. My concern is the use of a song that ministers to the individual used in corporate worship. It seems inappropriate for this setting.
For the record, I did not deduct points for this concern!
-TastyWallet
Gail Foster
Why over think this song? Why must we over think everything today? It’s a song that is easily understood by its simplicity and I am proud that God has chosen me and has not forsaken me and the repetition helps to cement that thought in my head. Repetition is how we learn and how children learn. New converts need to be able to recall text- perhaps even from songs when scripture passages might escape their memory.
Vince Wright
Gail,
Thank you for your comments! I am uncertain where I overthought this song, especially since repetition is where this song lost the majority of its points. While I agree that repetition helps us and children learn, it is also a sign of lazy songwriting when overused.
-Vince Wright
Sonya Thompson
Totally agree, Gail. It’s scriptural. Why do we have to nitpick and find fault?
Brandie Opone
Absolutely spot – faith comes by hearing (continuously hearing) repetition definitely helps me understand better.
Harvey Jones
Maybe the song wasn’t written for the reviewer in mind. I think the target audience is reached very well. Praise the Lord in every way and as often as you can.
Vince Wright
Harvey,
Are you the same Harvey Jones that I met years ago? If so, welcome to my website!
Thanks for your thoughts!
-Vince Wright
Penelope
Song expresses knowledge of our identity in Christ. Not narcissistic at all. It all depends on how you want to sing it. I disagree completely with your analysis.
Chadbourne
I don’t think that it’s narcissistic per se, but it certainly constitutes (for some people, myself included) an irritating amount of navel-gazing.
Jenn
I enjoyed this analysis, and felt it mostly apt. I would like to comment on whether or not it is appropriate for corporate worship. I feel that it is less about being self-focused, and more about rejoicing. No, it doesn’t directly make statements like “you chose me, thank you!” But it does acknowledge that we are chosen… And there is a tone of rejoicing in that. It reminds me of the many times where David has rejoiced that he was lifted from despair, or delivered from enemies. He was glad. I think that is the spirit behind this song as well.
T-rev
I don’t believe anyone can bring glory or give glory to God to the level He deserves until the know who they are in Him. Thats the point surely….it’s only in Him and through Him that we can be what He has called and ordained us to be for His glory. I used to hate ‘modern worship’. I couldn’t understand why it was necessary to repeat the same thing over and over again. But a few years ago something changed…..the reason for repetition, I believe, is to help us get the truth into our hard hearts and thick heads. Its not navel gazing…its biblical truth that bares reoetition.
John Ki
Hello! I mostly agree with the review, and with the thought that it is directionally inward toward the self. This being said I think that because God loved us first this song calls us to see ourselves in the way He does–but still in a corporate worship setting I’d connect this song with another song that proclaims more on the goodness/character of God, changing the direction to towards glorifying Him more!
Lastly, I think a lot of Psalms has a similar flow, beginning from (self -> redemption -> God) so you’re right that we should not isolate this song (self) but perhaps connect it with one that glorifies (God).
tastywallet
John,
Thank you for expressing your thoughts! Yes, the Psalmists are honest about how they feel. Some of what is written does contradict the teachings of Jesus if put to practice. But, I appreciate their honesty in expressing their internal feelings and, ultimately, the writers bring the focus to God. Worship songs ought to do the same thing.
-TastyWallet
Jade J
This song really helped me with seeing my worth as a child of God. I dont find anything wrong with it. Our church uses it in worship time and it’s one of my favorites. My fiance thinks differently though. He thinks hillsong is saying “I am” calling themselves gods. He say we are not allowed to say “I am” because God calls himself I Am. He believes they are tricking us. Thoughts?
tastywallet
Jade,
I am happy for you!
As for your fiancee’s comments, I believe he is mistaken. The phrase “I am who You say I am” is much different than “I Am who I am” found in Exodus 3:14. The qualifier “You say” indicates that one person declares something about the identity of another, contextualized as “child of God” throughout this song.
Simply stating “I am” does not automatically mean that one is calling one’s self God. Context is key. For example, in John 8:48-59, we know what Jesus meant by “I am” given the context of his claims (that He has seen Abraham) and the crowd’s response to throw stones at Jesus, most likely for “blasphemy”. However, as previously stated, “child of God” is the context behind Hillsong’s usage.
-TastyWallet
Davidy
Perhaps it’s the inordinate number of times the phrase is repeated and ending with ‘I am’. Per your review:
“Yes I am” – 8 times
“I am who You say I am” – 15 times
Why purposely end with ‘I am’ and repeat it so often.
As I sing, my mind links to verses from God’s word. We are to worship in spirit and in truth. God’s word is truth. Colossians 3:16 (ESV)
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
Most of the lyrics are scripture. So my mind is constantly reminded of many scriptures. It’s great to sing truths that apply easily. However, the most repeated phrase ‘I AM’ reminds me strongly of God’s answer to Moses, and Jesus saying multiple times ‘I AM’ in the gospel of John. It’s uncomfortable to use the phrase in reference to self. It’s too close to the new age thought that we are all divine.
Good good Father is similar in this way.
I’m sure the same truth could be expressed in another way to avoid the double meaning.
Vince Wright
David,
Thank you for your comments!
See my announcement regarding repetition.
-Vince Wright
Sam Gregory
Hi Vince,
I have to agree with David here and I think that you need to consider you 10/10 score for section 4 (what does this song glorify). You’ve claimed “It glorifies God as He defines who we are, not us.” But the entire song is written in the 1st person singular (I) rather than the plural (we). So you need to be able to write “It glorifies God as He defines who I am, not me” – see the problem? This is not a we/us song, it is a I/me song.
I would happily accept the lyrics as:
“Who the Son sets free Oh is free indeed”
“In our Father’s house There’s a place for us”
“We are chosen, not forsaken”
“You are for us, not against us”
“We are children of God”
“Yes we are”
“We are who You say we are”,
but this isn’t the song Hillsong have written.
I admit it is not possible to make every line work in the 1st plural (eg “We are children of God” is hard to fit into the metre of “I’m a child of God”) – they could have mixed their use of plural and singular. Indeed, where the song starts “Who the Son sets free…” (cf. John 8:36) doesn’t grammatically demand a singular referent (and in the original “if the Son sets you free” is indeed a plural you). As a result, I believe the song is too individualistically focused to be thoroughly biblical. The Bible has far more to say about corporate identity than individual identity – Hillsong fell short here.
Vince Wright
Sam,
Thank you for your comments!
First, yes, it’s written in first-person perspective. I could attempt to make an argument for why “we” is fine, but I need to update the review anyways. I found some leftover commentary about repetition and needed to come out. It’s not a big deal on my end, so I just changed it.
Second, in terms of individual focus, Steve Barhydt, a regular commentator on this site, had this to say about it:
“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.”
-Vince Wright
1518joefil1
Late to the party I guess, but I only just got around to using this song in corporate worship two weeks ago. I too at first wondered if it was too self focused. If however as I do, you place it in a set surrounded by other songs that do focus more towards God, it makes an excellent time out to be reminded of and to in turn boldly proclaim our identity in Christ. For example this coming Sunday for its second run I have it sandwiched in the middle of ‘Glorious Day’, ‘Goodness of God’, ‘Living Hope’ and ‘How Great Thou Art’. I also find it quite simple to cut down on some of the repetition, YMMV, but it seems like it’s going to be a good addition to our song roster.
tastywallet
1518joefil1,
I suppose I can see how that might play out in a worship set, but I hope I gave you something worth considering. Thanks for letting me know!
-TastyWallet
Ty
I feel like people are reading into this waaaaay too much. As a person who struggled with my identity in Christ. I had a rather negative view of myself, so this song ministers to me personally and to others who may get their identity from what the world says about them. It’s simple “I am a child of God.” I am who God says I am throughout the entire bible. For someone like me, repeating that to myself is necessary. Maybe for not someone who has a clear grasp of who they are before God, but this song is great at reminding me of the truth;
Vince Wright
Ty,
Thank you for expressing your view! I recently received a comment from my most recent review of Child of the King, where I made similar comments. I have been reading Scripture, praying, and reflecting on my own views toward what I perceive as an unhealthy focus on self. I briefly went through many of my own reviews and started to see some patterns. Much of my reasoning steps from the usage of “I”, “me”, and “my”; However, I was reminded that many of the Psalms contain just as many, if not more self-references. Another part is my failure to separate church and personal use. Some songs are wonderful at home, but not ideal for worshipping God in a corporate setting.
Pray for me as I continue my self-reflection, with a possible update to a huge swath of reviews. This includes Who You Say I Am.
-Vince Wright
1518joefil1
Good observation on the Psalms. I had a similar thought once when someone informed me that modern songs contained too many references to self. You know…modern songs like..’Amazing Grace’. 🙂
I keep the following Psalm extract list as a reminder:
Psalm 2:7 – I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.
Psalm 7:17 – I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.
Psalm 9:2 – I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.
Psalm 13:6 – I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.
Psalm 18:49 – For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations, and sing to your name.
Psalm 22:22 – I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
Psalm 22:25 – From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will perform before those who fear him.
Psalm 27:6 – And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the Lord.
Psalm 30:12 – that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!
Psalm 34:1 – I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
Psalm 35:18 – I will thank you in the great congregation; in the mighty throng I will praise you.
Psalm 40:5 – You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told.
Psalm 43:4 – Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.
Psalm 45:17 – I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations; therefore nations will praise you forever and ever.
Psalm 57:7 – My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast! I will sing and make melody!
Psalm 57:9 – I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations.
Psalm 59:16 – But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress.
Psalm 59:17 – O my Strength, I will sing praises to you, for you, O God, are my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love.
Psalm 61:8 – So will I ever sing praises to your name, as I perform my vows day after day.
Psalm 63:3 – Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.
Psalm 63:4 – So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands.
Psalm 63:7 – for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
Psalm 66:16 – Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for my soul.
Psalm 69:30 – I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving.
Psalm 71:14 – But I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more.
Psalm 71:22 – I will also praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, O my God; I will sing praises to you with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel.
Psalm 71:23 – My lips will shout for joy, when I sing praises to you; my soul also, which you have redeemed.
Psalm 75:9 – But I will declare it forever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
Psalm 89:1 – I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations
Psalm 101:1 – I will sing of steadfast love and justice; to you, O Lord, I will make music.
Psalm 104:33 – I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
Psalm 108:1 – My heart is steadfast, O God! I will sing and make melody with all my being!
Psalm 109:30 – With my mouth I will give great thanks to the Lord; I will praise him in the midst of the throng.
Psalm 111:1 – Praise the Lord! I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
Psalm 119:48 – I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes.
Psalm 138:1 – I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise;
Psalm 138:2 – I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.
Psalm 145:1 – I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever.
Psalm 145:6 – They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness.
Psalm 146:2 – I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
Christina
The focus on self instead of God bugs me the most when this song is done in congregational worship, but also… the bad grammar in the chorus drives me crazy!!! A correct sentence would be “He/she *whom* the Son sets free is free indeed.” So the best fix to the lyrics would be “Whom the Son sets free / he is free indeed” but I guess using “he” as a non-gender-specific 3rd-person singular pronoun is pretty taboo these days…
Vince Wright
Christina,
Thank you for your comment! I agree with your grammatical analysis; however, since it does not change the context, I did not penalize it.
-Vince Wright
PBrian
I havent read all the comments. But I have to say in general I have to disagree with the criticism of the self-focus of the song. It is not self focused to say “I am allowing God to define me” rather is this not the opposite? This is God’s desire for us! That we would allow HIM to live HIS life in us and HIM to define us and lead us! To be conformed to the image of Christ rather than further our own agendas and personalities. Also, if we are going to criticze songs that have a lyrical emphasis on self in modern worship we need to be just as critcial of the the cherished hymns, many of whom do the same.
PBrian
My apologies for the gramatical errors in the above post. I hope you got the gist of what I was saying. Listening to this song again, another thought that struck me is that what this song is …is testimony. testimony is PART of worship! We need to realize that songs are like sermons…each individual song or sermon cannot capture the entirety of the gospel message or the truths of Scripture. if one message doesn’t capture every point…dont worry there will be more next week! Discipleship is a process! This song is a beautiful testimony of what God has done for us and who we are in Christ. Part of its beauty is IN its simplicity. Does that simplicity miss some points? of course! But I will continue to use this for my congregation as they need to recognize that it is not for them to say who they are! We overcome the devil by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony! Amen.
Vince Wright
PBrian,
Thank you for your comments!
Having listened to the song again myself, I am left awestruck as to how I thought this song focused on self, when God is the One who defines who I am, as the song states. I’m also inconsistent, downgrading it in only the last section and in its conclusion and recommendation. Therefore, I removed the commentary and increased its score.
You also have a point about a single song. Part of the problem of my review process is that I limit my reviews to the words contained in the song to which I review. Sometimes, I miss out on a larger context within an album and occasionally examine it based on feedback from other people. In one example, the requester mentioned it before I reviewed Psallos’ songs The Old and The New, which helped the review process. This is also why I listen to commentary and occasionally update reviews as I’ve done just now.
-Vince Wright
PBrian
Vince, your response is filled with grace and wisdom and an openness to examine your thinking that is essential in the Christian but often woefully rare in the church these days. I appreciate you brother! Your thoughts and examinations are based on scripture and a desire to see God glorified! Keep it up!!
Vince Wright
PBrian,
I am humbled by your words, thank you for making my day today!
-Vince Wright
Peter
A good identity song, but something about the repeated emphasis of “I AM”, not in relation to YHWH but in relation to the singer grates on me terribly.
Vince Wright
Peter,
Thank you for your comment!
Bridge makes the connection between the phrase “I am” and YHWH declaring who Hillsong is when they sing, “I am who You say I am”. “You” is the Son who sets them free, according to Chorus. This indicates that YHWH declares who Hillsong is, showing the relation that you seek.
-Vince Wright