Tuesday Tunes

So today's tune is probably one of my favorites out there right now...

My all in all by Phil Wickham 

It doesn't take long for anyone that knows me to figure out that I LOVE Phil Wickham.

He's pretty much the man when it comes to contemporary congregational singing. His singalong albums are so genius. I'm a huge fan for all things congregational so the fact that Phil Wickham even thought to create singalong's is such a blessing to this generation. He's basically created my generations version of those old Gaither singalongs that Bill Gaither used to do....(yeah, remember those?) I could go on and on about the man and his mad skills. 

But for today, let's focus. This song is structured very well in that it leads to a personal profession in a congregational way.

The verses proclaim who God is through imagery. Imagery is an important quality in song because it challenges us to see things differently and changes our perspective. This is especially important in worship because it is easy for Christians to get stuck in their own image of who God is and when we sing about the various metaphors that God represents, we can help prevent that from happening.

Side-note: getting stuck in our own image of who God is leads to idolatry and keeps us from growing...and when I think about that, my brain hears "Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!" 

The chorus declares a proclamation of God and takes it a step further in making it personal to us. Out relationship with Jesus is such a personal thing. It's necessary that we recognize that personal relationship in our songs. Our faith is a constant realization that it is our relationship with Jesus that impacts our daily walk in Him. To make such a personal profession together is incredible for the Church. It speaks to the individual but is orchestrated congregationally. What a great approach for a lyric! 

Spiritually the chorus is addressing the source of life and connecting that to our motive in life. This is a powerful thought. It demands reflection but also inspires action. There is some strategy to the chorus in that it brings the idea to a full circle. This is what great worship is made of! When songs make proclamations in a way that carries over into action, we feel empowered to make such a proclamation a reality. 

Bottom line: it all goes back to who God is. Whether it be through imagery or proclamation this song is made deeply personal because singing who God is impacts who we are. It helps us see our helplessness and motivates us to look to our helper. It shifts the focus back to where it was always meant to be. It is in this full circle that we experience the glimpse of life that we are striving to produce in our everyday walk with the Lord and are motivated to make it a reality because of who He is. 

Thanks for reading.

God bless!