Photo by lucas clarysse
Contemporary Christian pastor artist Matt Boswell is the Pastor of Ministries and Worship at Providence Church in Frisco, Texas. He released two albums and two EP’s, including:
- Enter In (2005)
- Gravity and Gladness (2010)
- Messenger Hymns, Vol. 1 – EP (2012)
- Messenger Hymns, Vol. 2 – EP (2015)
Matt Papa is a modern hymnist who began his career in 2005. He released 10 albums, including:
- You Are Good (2006)
- Worship Vol. 1 (2007)
- Your Kingdom Come (2008)
- Scripture Songs & Hymns 1 (2009)
- Your Kingdom Come (2009)
- Scripture Songs & Hymns 2 (2010)
- This Changes Everything (2011)
- Look & Live (2 Cities Music/The Summit Church) (2013)
- Church Songs (2016)
- Songs From The Wilderness (2019)
Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Matt-boswell-and-matt-papa-his-mercy-is-more-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?
Boswell and Papa praise God because:
- His mercies are longer, stronger, and better than sin and judgment.
- He, the all-knowing God, chooses to remember our lawbreaking no more.
- He patiently waits for us to respond to His wooing, inviting us to come.
- He pays for the sin-debt that we could not handle, lavishing us with His abundant gifts and provision.
Score: 10/10
2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?
All of it accurately reflects Scripture.
[Chorus]
Lines 1-3: By “darkness” Boswell and Papa reference lawbreaking. They praise God because His mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23), are greater than judgment (James 2:13), and outpaces sin (Romans 5:20).
[Verse 1]
Lines 1 and 2: While it seems contrary to say that God remembers not our sins (Hebrews 8:12) and knows all things (1 Kings 8:39, 1 Chronicles 28:9, Psalm 44:21, Psalm 139:4, Psalm 147:4-5, Isaiah 40:28, Matthew 10:30, John 16:30, John 21:17, Acts 1:24, Hebrews 4:13, and 1 John 3:20), remembering is not the same as forgetting. Forgetting happens when we cannot remember. Remembering no more occurs when we choose not to bring it up. In this case, God chooses not to bring up our chequered past.
Line 3: Borrows from Micah 7:18-19, with the word “bottomless” added to communicate zero possibility of retrieval.
Line 4: Repeats Chorus, line 3.
[Verse 2]
Lines 1 and 2: That is, God is slow to anger (Exodus 34:6, Numbers 14:18, Nehemiah 9:16-17, Nehemiah 9:30-31, Psalm 86:15, Psalm 103:8, Psalm 145:8-9, Joel 2:13, and Jonah 4:2), patiently waiting for us as He stands at the door and knocks (Revelation 3:20).
Line 3: If the Apostle Paul is of any indication, who declares Himself the “chief of sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15), everyone is invited (Luke 14:21).
Line 4: Repeats Chorus, line 3.
[Verse 3]
Lines 1-3: This imagery comes from 2 Corinthians 8:9, describing Christ’s payment for our certificate of debt (Colossians 2:14) and provision offered out of the abundance of His heart (Genesis 2:15-16, Genesis 9:3, Genesis 22:8, Exodus 16:1-36, Psalm 18:2, Psalm 34:10, Psalm 81:10, Psalm 84:11, Psalm 107:9, Proverbs 10:3, Malachi 3:10, Matthew 6:25-30, Matthew 7:7-8, Matthew 21:22, John 14:13-14, John 14:26, John 15:1-10, John 15:16, Romans 8:32, Ephesians 3:20, Philippians 4:19, 2 Corinthians 9:8, and 2 Corinthians 12:9). As for the debt, Boswell and Papa are correct. If we could pay the debt ourselves, then Christ died needlessly (Galatians 2:21).
Line 4: Repeats Chorus, line 3.
Score: 10/10
3. How would an outsider interpret the song?
The song’s opening line, “Praise the Lord”, paints this as a religious song. However, it’s not until Verse 3 that Boswell and Papa clarify that this God also paid for our sin-debt, pointing unbelievers to a Christian interpretation. Boswell and Papa nearly quote Scripture at times, borrowing heavily from Scriptural language that happens to be everyday, making interpretation easy for unbelievers. Even the word “sin”, which unbelievers often view as mere mistakes, is defined as “debt”.
Score: 10/10
4. What does this song glorify?
It glorifies God as our patient, generous, powerful Savior whose grace is stronger than our sin, paid for with innocent blood.
Score: 10/10
Closing Comments
Matt Boswell & Matt Papa’s His Mercy Is More is great. It describes God as enduring, merciful, and provider, who knows all the terrible things we did, yet, willing to pay for our lawbreaking and provide us with His abundance and love, bringing Him glory. Unbelievers should easily interpret similarly.
I highly recommend it for corporate worship.
Final Score: 10/10
Artist Info
Track: His Mercy Is More (listen to the song)
Artist: Matt Boswell & Matt Papa
Album: His Mercy Is More: The Hymns of Matt Boswell and Matt Papa
Genre: Hymn, Rock
Release Year: 2019
Duration: 4:50
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Comments
Dave
This is an excellent song, as well as the lyrics being truthful, the chorus is simple and memorable so that our kids and special needs church members aren’t excluded from worship when we sing it.
I initially baulked at the word omniscient, but it’s the only big theological word in there, and they immediately explain it as ‘all knowing’ so it’s doing a bit of teaching.
I find the big idea of the song ~ God’s bigger, stronger, always new mercy, really moves me emotionally in worship, it’s so humbling to be reminded of that great good news!
Vince Wright
Dave,
Great to hear from you again! I am glad you like this song! Excellent commentary.
-Vince Wright