Photo by Taylor Flowe
I’d like to end the year by reviewing something positive and uplifting. For 2023, I chose to examine the cult classic El Shaddai.
Michael Card is an American artist and songwriter with a distinguished career in contemporary Christian music. Beginning in 1981, Card released many albums, books, videos, and other works. Far too many than I’d like to count. However, he received 10 awards for his work, which includes 3 Dove’s, an RIAA Certified Gold Recording, and a Publishers Weekly Award for Best Religion Book.
Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Michael-card-el-shaddai-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?
The almighty God in the highest, whom we love, adore, and worship, is constant, a Savior, a good listener, and Liberator. Despite the many prophecies of old that pointed to Jesus as the Messiah, most of His people rejected Him. Yet, Christ was planned from the beginning.
Score: 10/10
2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?
The entire song perfectly reflects the Bible.
This song does not contain a Verse/Chorus/Bridge structure. Therefore, I assigned stanzas for each paragraph.
[Stanza 1]
Line 1: El Shaddai references Genesis 17:1. It means “God Almighty”. “Elyon” comes from Genesis 14:22 and Psalm 78:35, meaning “God most high”. “Adonai” is found in more than 300 places in Scripture and it means “Lord”. Put together, this opening line says “God almighty, God in the highest, oh Lord”.
Lines 2 and 3: God is unchanging (Numbers 23:19, Malachi 3:6, Hebrews 13:8, and James 1:17).
Line 4: Mostly repeats line 1 except for the middle part. It contains the word “Erkamka”, which means “I love you” and found in Psalm 18:1. Put together, this line says “God Almighty, I will love you, oh Lord”.
Line 5: Worship is our response to God for who He is (Psalm 19:1-4, Psalm 66:4, Psalm 103:22, Psalm 148:7-11, Psalm 150:1-6, Isaiah 55:12, Luke 19:40, and Revelation 5:13).
[Stanza 2]
Lines 1 and 2: References Genesis 22:1-19.
Lines 3 and 4: References Exodus 14:1-31.
Lines 5 and 6: Although Scripture is filled with several examples of this, the two that stand out the most to me are the woman who anointed Jesus (Luke 7:36-50) and the woman accused of adultery (John 8:1-11). Chiefly, because Jesus took this opportunity to shame those who condemned the outcasts. This sentiment is echoed in James 2:1-4.
Line 7: Although Scripture is filled with examples of God rescuing people, the ultimate example of this is Jesus, who set us free from the consenquences of our lawbreaking (Isaiah 53:1-12, Matthew 20:28, Mark 10:45, John 1:29, John 3:16, John 19:30, Acts 4:12, Acts 20:28, Romans 5:6-10, 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, Colossians 2:14, 1 Timothy 2:6, Titus 2:14, Hebrews 9:12, Hebrews 9:15-26, 1 Peter 1:17-21, 1 Peter 2:24, 1 John 1:7, 1 John 2:1-2, and Revelation 5:9).
[Stanza 3]
Lines 1-6: Repeats Stanza 1, lines 1-6.
[Stanza 4]
Lines 1-8: Despite the hundred’s of prophecied that Jesus fulfilled, most of the Israelite people rejected Him as the Messiah.
[Stanza 5]
Lines 1-6: Repeats Stanza 1, lines 1-6.
Score: 10/10
3. How would an outsider interpret the song?
Except for the Hebrew lyrics, the entire song is written in everyday language and easy to comprehend. The term “Christ” used in Stanza 4 makes it especially clear that this song is about Christianity. He rescued His people back then and will save them now.
Score: 9/10
4. What does this song glorify?
It glorifies Jesus as sent by the Father to free people from bondage, who worship and adore Him.
This song is suitable for corporate worship.
Score: 10/10
Closing Comments
Michael Card’s El Shaddai is a beloved classic. It reminds us that God is Almighty, adored, constant, and worthy of worship. Though the Israelites all but rejected Him as Messiah, He came to rescue the remnant from the due penalty of our sin, bringing Him glory. Unbelievers should find little difficulty interpreting similarly, even if they don’t know the meaning of Card’s lyrics in Hebrew,
This song is suitable for corporate worship.
Final Score: 9.5/10
Artist Info
Track: El Shaddai (listen to the song)
Artist: Michael Card
Album: Legacy
Genre: Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)
Release Year: 1983
Duration: 3:45
Agree? Disagree? Don’t be shy or have a cow! Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.
Comments
Linda Melcher
Michael Card! One of the greats! Love his music. And this review is spot on! Thanks! And what a great song to start the New Year with.
God almighty, God in the highest, oh Lord. Age to age You’re still the same and I love you!
Jerad
I really like Michael Card, but I’ve looked suspiciously on this song since I had an Old Testament Theology class with Daniel Block at SBTS in the early 2000’s. He said the word “Erkamka na” as it is said in the song does was unintelligible. I’m guessing the “na” was added for the rhythm to have the right number of syllables for the song because it isn’t in the Hebrew text. Dr. Block also thought the song tended to treat the Hebrew names of God as if it were some kind of magical words.