Rating:
Theological Correctness: 5/5
Use of Group Pronouns: 4/5Focus on Victory: 5/5
The Lordship of God: 5/5
Musicality: 5/5
Total: 4.8/5
Please read the details about our rating standard here!
Lyrics:
Praise the one who breaks the darkness
with a liberating light.
Praise the one who frees the prisoners,
turning blindness into sight.
Praise the one who preached the Gospel,
healing every dread disease,
calming storms and feeding thousands
with the very bread of peace.
Praise the one who blessed the children
with a strong yet gentle word.
Praise the one who drove out demons
with a piercing two-edged sword.
Praise the one who brings cool water
to the desert's burning sand.
From this well comes living water,
quenching thirst in every land.
Let us praise the Word incarnate:
Christ who suffered in our place.
Jesus died and rose victorious
that we may know God by grace.
Let us sing for joy and gladness,
seeing what our God has done.
Let us praise the true Redeemer,
praise the One who makes us one.
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Seriously, this song made my tear up a little when I first heard it in a Lutheran service. I confess that I was moved by the beautiful words written by Rusty Edwards, and his poetic declaration of Christ's miracles. Allow me to go into further detail as to why I love and approve this amazing hymn:
Theological Correctness:
The song is littered with scriptural reference and parallels, and we could go on and on trying to mention all of them. But allow me to discuss a few:
Among my favorites are the Old Testament parallels to Christ. While not explicitly mentioned in the song, I think of God feeding the Israelites with manna, and Christ feeding the thousands by multiplication of the loaves; not to mention "feeding thousands" with the very bread of His body.
Secondly, and more explicitly, the equation of Jesus being the Living Water as well as the rock in the desert that, once struck by Moses, produced a spring for the Israelites to drink from.
The appeal to and focus on the miracles of Christ (and His resurrection) very much pleases the Christian apologist in me as well. Great stuff!
Use of Group Pronouns:
The only reason I didn't give this song a 5/5 for use of group pronouns is simply because it is not until the third stanza in which an actual group pronoun is used. Because of that, it could be confused that the author is writing directly to individuals to have an individual experience rather than a collective act of worship. He wraps this up in the third stanza of course, putting it into context, but I find it's always better to establish that solidarity as quickly as possible.
Remember, church is not an individual experience, and with how much the music we listens to shapes our perceptions, we have to be strict about this one! Call me ideological if you like, but it's hard enough trying to "do church" (or any group activity) in Western Individualist cultures, so I think it really helps to try as hard as we can to tip the scale in the other direction.
Musicality:
I'm tempted to rate this song as a 4/5 for musicality, as one may find themselves more moved by the beautiful melody than the theologically inclined lyrics. But regardless the song is simple, yet wonderfully composed, and I believe anyone could appreciate the composition.
Being catchy and having good theology is a plus though. Remember that the teachers of antiquity (even Jesus) often set their teachings to rhymes, play-on-words, song, and other such tools to help their audience memorize what they were hearing or reading. In that regard, having a catchy tune to help you memorize these lyrics is actually a really great thing!
I hope you've enjoyed this piece as much as I have and add it to your rotation. Stay tuned for more great music like this!
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