John Mark McMillan & Sarah McMillan – King Of My Heart

This is another favorite song sung at my congregation.  I gave How He Loves a low rating, so perhaps King Of My Heart will do better.

This one was co-written with John’s wife, Sarah McMillan on an EP entitled You Are the Avalanche.  The album peaked at number 3 in Billboard’s US Christian Albums.

Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/John-mark-mcmillan-and-sarah-mcmillan-king-of-my-heart-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.

1. What message does the song communicate?

God is good.  The verses contain an act of homage to God, asking Him to protect, sustain, ransom, direct, ground, and live inside us.  He does not let us down in the sense that He fulfills His promises and gives us hope.  These are all reasons why God is good.

Another explanation for “never gonna let you down” is that God answers prayer 100% of the time affirmatively, which is not true.

Verse 2 contains an error about how God is the reflection of our days.

Side Note: To those who are sensitive to massive repetition,  Bridge repeats the same two lines eight times in a row, once before Chorus and another afterword.

Score: 7/10

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

Most of it agrees with the Bible; However, one of the lines in Verse 2 is unbiblical.

[Verse 1]

Line 1: Refers to Christ (Isaiah 9:6, Isaiah 11:10, John 12:15, 1 Timothy 6:13-16, Revelation 17:14, and Revelation 19:11-16).

Line 2: The word “mountain” is a metaphor for stronghold or defense (Genesis 15:1, Deuteronomy 33:29, 2 Samuel 22:3, Psalm 3:3, Psalm 5:11, Psalm 12:5, Psalm 18:2, Psalm 20:1, Psalm 28:7, Proverbs 30:5, Psalm 33:20, Psalm 34:19, Psalm 46:1, Psalm 57:1, Psalms 59:1, Psalm 84:11, Psalm 89:18, Psalm 91:1-16, Psalm 115:9, Psalm 121:1-8, Psalm 140:4, Isaiah 41:10, 1 Corinthians 10:13, and 2 Thessalonians 3:3).

Line 3: That is, living water (John 4:10 and John 7:37-39).

Line 4: Given that God rules over us, it is Him who provides this new song for us to sing (Psalm 40:3).

Line 5: Repeats line 1.

Line 6: See commentary in line 2.  As a bonus, Psalm 91:1 specifically mentions God as shadow for the specific purpose of shelter.

Line 7: Jesus gave His life as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:20-28 and Mark 10:35-45).

Line 8: Repeats line 4.

[Chorus]

Lines 1-4 Declares that God is good (1 Chronicles 16:34, Psalm 23:6, Psalm 27:13, Psalm 31:19-20, Psalm 34:8, Psalm 86:5, Psalm 100:5, Psalm 106:1, Psalm 119:68, Psalm 135:3, Psalm 136:1, Psalm 145:9, Lamentations 3:25, Nahum 1:7, Matthew 19:17, Mark 10:18, and Luke 18:19), followed by the sounds of a ghostly figure.

[Verse 2]

Line 1: Repeats Verse 1, line 1.

Line 2: Oceanic imagery utilizing God as the power that runs our lives depend upon, similar to Jesus’ usage of vine and branches in John 15:1-11.

Line 3: Further figurative usage describing God as the mechanism that keeps us from drifting, probably from committing sin (Psalm 19:12–13, Psalm 55:4, Psalm 139:1-4, and 1 Corinthians 10:13).

Line 4: Repeats Verse 1, line 4.

Line 5: Repeats Verse 1, line 1.

Line 6: That is, the Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:11-12 and Acts 2:3-4).

Line 7: We are the echo (or reflection) of God’s days (Genesis 1:27), not the other way around.

Line 8: Repeats Verse 1, line 4.

[Bridge]

Lines 1 and 2: There is a yes and no to this.  Yes, in the sense that the hope that God gives us does not disappoint (Romans 5:4-8).  Yes, in the sense that He always fulfills His promises (2 Peter 3:9).  However, no in the sense that our immediate, fleshy, often impatient requests to God often go unanswered or unfulfilled.  There is the experiential sense of disappointment that comes with that; However, the authors express the “yes” response when referring to God as not letting us down.

Lines 3-16: Repeats lines 1 and 2.

[Outro]

Lines 1 and 2: An allusion to Psalm 30:5.

Lines 3 and 4: Repeats lines 1 and 2.

Score: 7/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

Those who do not yet follow Jesus should find the message easy to comprehend.  It seems obvious that this song contains several requests to God, proclaiming that God is good, and, making it more overt in the Outro with its explicit name-drop.  However, their likely interpretation of “never gonna let you down” is 100% answered prayers, leading some away from Christianity.

Score: 5/10

4. What does this song glorify?

It glorifies God, though the gaffe in Verse 2, as well as the potential Word of Faith statement in Bridge, puts a veil over it.

Score: 7/10

Closing Comments

John Mark & Sarah McMillan’s King Of My Heart is pretty good.  I find it mostly biblical, a great message, and easy for unbelievers to understand, all of which glorify God.  However, its statement that we are the echo of God’s days and potential proclamation that God answers all prayer affirmatively mars His glory.

I am torn over its congregational usage.  While it does have some Marks in terms of Scriptural references, the error in Verse 2 and explanation for “never gonna let you down” will require some tweaking to remain theologically accurate.  However, given the low rating I gave it, it makes it extremely difficult to justify a “perhaps” rating.

Final Score: 6.5/10

Artist Info

Track: King of My Heart (listen to the song)

Artist: John Mark McMillan & Sarah McMillan

Album: You Are the Avalanche

Genre: Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)

Release Year: 2015

Duration: 4:55

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

Updates:

04/20/2022 – Updated review to align with others concerning “never gonna let you down”.  This lowered the song’s overall score from 8/10 to 6.5/10.

03/25/2021 – Updated per repetition announcement.  I moved my commentary to a side note, added the “echo” error in section 1, and slightly increased section 1’s score.  This raised the overall rating from 7.5/10 to 8/10.