Rating:
Theological Correctness: 5/5
Use of Group Pronouns: 3/5
Focus on Victory: 3/5
The Lordship of God: 5/5
Musicality: 5/5
Total: 4.2/5
Please read the details about our rating standard here!
Lyrics:
From heaven You came, helpless Babe,
Entered our world, Your glory veiled;
Not to be served but to serve,
And give Your life that we might live.
This is our God, the Servant King,
He calls us now to follow Him,
To bring our lives as a daily offering
Of worship to the Servant King.
There in the garden of tears,
My heavy load He chose to bear;
His heart with sorrow was torn,
‘Yet not my will but Yours,’ He said.
Come see His hands and His feet,
The scars that speak of sacrifice;
Hands that flung stars into space
To cruel nails surrendered.
So let us learn how to serve,
And in our lives enthrone Him;
Each other’s needs to prefer,
For it is Christ we’re serving.
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I read in another blog somewhere about this guy named Graham Kendrick. I'm probably behind the times on Christian music as it is something I've always had a bit of frustration listening to (hence my journey here of finding theologically accurate music). But nonetheless, they suggested Graham Kendrick if you're thirsting for some theology in your praise music. I can't say I'm disappointed!
Theological Correctness:
The first verse above teaches us of the kenotic emptying of Christ:
"Christianity maintains that Jesus did not "empty" himself of any of his divinity in the incarnation, although it is true that his divine attributes were veiled. When the Kenosis theory concludes that Jesus is or was less than God (as has been the case in the past), it is regarded as heresy."
Furthermore, the song, especially the chorus, speaks perfectly of Christ's ontological equality with God while emphasizing His functional subordination. That is, that Jesus/Holy Spirit are subordinate to God the Father only in their ability to act, not subordinate in rank.
Verse four also touches on Jesus' role in the creation of the universe, which is important and falls well in line with his role as the incarnate Word of God.
Lastly on this note, what I love about this song is in the last two stanzas of the chorus, it very much implies that worship is something we do with our lives through daily service to God, not an isolated event we take part in when we listen to praise music. The latter is a very poisonous idea which is part of why I've had so much trouble reconciling myself to Christian music in the past. But this song really gets it right in my opinion.
Use of Group Pronouns:
The song does okay for the most part using group pronouns, though Graham kinda messed up in verse three:
My heavy load He chose to bear;
It also seems implicit in verse four that Graham is appealing to individuals instead of collectively as a group:
Come see His hands and His feet,
Focus on Victory:
One thing that does disappoints me about this song, beautiful as it is, it's a song about the crucifixion that DOES NOT mention the resurrection! I chose to give it a 3/5 instead of a lower score however because the song focuses on the kingship of Christ, which of course necessitates victory from death on the cross in His case. The resurrection is implied, but it would have been easy to make it a little more explicit.
Musicality:
This song may feel a little dated to some listeners, but I have to give it a 5/5 on musicality for the fact that not only is it reverent, but to me it does not feel like it's trying to manipulate my emotions with the instrumentation. The "feels" that I get from this song come completely from the words, and I respect any song that can pull that off.
All in all, I give "The Servant King" by Graham Kendrick a solid 4.2/5. Good stuff!
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