Original Post:
MATT REDMAN’S “WE SHALL NOT BE SHAKEN” ALBUM REVIEW PART 1: INTRO AND FAITHFULNESS 03/30/10 | BY ROCKHARBORWORSHIP
The heavens ring, the saints all sing,
“Great is Your faithfulness”
From age to age we will proclaim,
“Great is Your faithfulness”
How great is Your faithfulness
This is the first of four blog posts I will be composing in order to review fellow worship artisan and songwriter Matt Redman’s newest album “We Shall Not Be Shaken”. These posts will not necessarily be a commentary on every song as much as they will be my findings of key theological threads & content throughout all the songs. Let’s dive in.
In everything from the title of the album, to the track names, to the lyrics and meanings behind them, Redman has imbedded the most prominent theme of this record: God’s faithfulness. God’s unchanging, unfailing, everlasting presence. Songs like “We Shall Not Be Shaken”, “Through It All”, and the anthemic choral cry of “How Great is Your Faithfulness” are really the backbone of the album. This was Redman’s goal for the record. He says,
“This album praises God’s steadiness. We’re being reminded how shakable earthly things are: job losses, home foreclosures. When we traveled to Korea, there were high profile suicides due to the failing marketplace. So it feels appropriate now to address the economy in a worship song. Nothing in the Psalms was ever detached from its era.”
Nothing could be truer about our world and its state today. More than ever people need to hear about a faithful God, a God that has been around through every broken and failing economic system, through every corrupt government, and every natural disaster. For me the only appropriate thing to sing sometimes is “You are faithful! Jesus, You are faithful to the end!”
The track “We Shall Not Be Shaken” uses simple poetic language to declare unbreakable truth in an era of utter brokenness. This intentionally Psalm-like song is one of several that Redman has penned out centering the listeners attention on the unmatchable constancy of the one faithful God. He declares over and over again the resounding message of God’s dependability.
Throughout many verses on the record, Redman contrasts our reality with His reality. In “Through It All” the world is filled with “broken promises and so many empty words”. Listening to the track we get a sense of pleading from the worshiper to God saying, “Have mercy on this world. Be with us.” Then Redman contrasts this to God’s reality: “God of unbroken promises, always You keep Your word”. In a sense he answers the question.
A few verses that really seem to capture this theme are Psalm 136 and Psalm 100. In Psalm 136 David pours out his heart in worship. He sets the call as something that God has done that is deserving of praise and the response is the repetitive, ongoing, never-ending “His love endures forever” or as another translation puts it, “His loving kindness is everlasting”. Psalm 100:5 gets it in one verse, “For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations”. From age to age He has always been. Isaiah says that He never sleeps nor slumbers. He his always watching, always loving, always in control. He takes care of the birds of the air and the lilies of the field and knows when a leaf falls to the ground. When there is no sign of Him anywhere, He is really all around us.
Right from the get-go of the album with the first few songs, Redman makes a declaration of the faithful God who saves.
Cheers!
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To see the original post by Rockharbor Worship click here.
