The Song of the Moment is Battle Belongs (by Phil Wickham). For this time is not a song that we sing on a Sunday, and though it may be introduced at some point in the future, currently it is one to perhaps listen to, and is on the Worship Playlist.
A few weeks ago I was attending a Church service where my nephew was being baptized, and this song was used and felt to be important at the time. I had been aware of this song before, but not really often used it, and this reminder and opportunity to use it in worship seemed significant.
It is important in Worship to have a good mix and balance of songs with different themes, focuses and styles. For instance, adoration and praise songs that are purely focused on God and who He is, plus songs declaring what He has done for us and how great He is. Response and reflective songs are also important, even though often they can seem more focused on our ourselves rather purely on God and so while it is not best to dwell on these alone, it is important to include them in balance.
One thing I like about “Battle Belongs”, is that though there is acknowledgment of where we might be and our position (“when all I see is a battle…” “as I walk through the shadow”), it quickly recognises the Jesus is the one who fights our battles and without Him we have no fight. We may be experiencing all kinds of problems and struggles, or see them in the world around us, but here we sing about how powerful God is through this, and where there may seem no hope for us, out hope remains in Him.
I was recently listening to the audiobook of “Blessed Be Your Name” but Matt and Beth Redman, where they talk about the situations around the song they wrote of the same name. They had noticed a gap where worship songs of the time did not often acknowledge times of struggle and difficulty, but how these themes should not be overlooked and are even biblical;
“The book of Psalms is filled with a host of intense emotions and expressions toward God… …These are songs formed in the fire of affliction. They are the desperate cries of a worshipper on the road marked with suffering.
…So the question is this: If songs of lament are, first, thoroughly biblical and, second, extremely relevant, then why on earth are there not more songs to help us voice these heart cries?”
[BLESSED BE YOUR NAME, MATT AND BETH REDMAN, Hodder & Stoughton 2005]
“Battle Belongs” is probably not a song of lament as such, but it does make reference times of difficulty and the desperate need for God Himself to step in and fight our battles.
“So when I fight, I fight on my knees, with my hands lifted high…”
Here we acknowledge that our fight is in prayer and full submission to Him, recognising our own weakness, His strength and how through Him alone we are made strong. This submission and arms open attitude is what mainly struck me – whatever happens we are called to worship Him with our all and not take up our own battles with our own strength, but instead wholly trust in Him. How amazing it is that we are on His side and He graciously accepts us!
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