No, this is not the classic hymn everyone is familiar with. Though I would love to hear Christy Nockels work her magic on that classic, this is actually a song she and her husband wrote inspired by that classic written by the indomitable Martin Luther himself. And I’m glad they were so inspired. Take a listen if you’re not familiar with it (if you need lyrics here they are).
Pretty awesome, huh? Okay, let’s dive in a little and go over a few different aspects of it.
Orientations/Focus: Vertical, God-focused. Note in the lyrics that though the first few lines of each verse and the first line of the chorus are all horizontal (seem to declare outward, to men), the pre-chorus as well as the rest of the chorus is vertical, sung to God (note the much repeated phrase: “We will keep our eyes on you.”). It is God-focused because it speaks of God and his attributes.
Theology: Obviously, this is a very Biblical song. The primary theme is of trusting in (looking to) the God who will never fail. I like that the song starts off speaking of the righteousness of God – we do not trust in a lovey dovey God who wants to bless everyone, we trust in a Righteous Judge, who’s righteousness is akin to a flame, yet who rules with kindness and wisdom. And there is also an eschatological focus (“With You forever we will reign”). The nice twist done in the bridge where Christy first sings, “We will keep our eyes on You” and then switches it to, “We will set our hearts on You” is very insightful, and it challenges the singer (thusly your congregation) to think not only to where they are looking for hope, but where their heart is set – is it set on God, or our own pleasure and desires? Overall, though, the song has a driving, victorious feel to it. It is not a song of resignation (“God I can’t do this, so I trust in you”), but rather of confident expectation (“God you are an amazing God and I will set my eyes and heart on you because of how glorious and wonderful you are – forever!”)
Music/Instrumentation: The song is in the key of ‘C’, which makes it quite easy to handle on the keyboard, though the ‘Bb’ in the bridge is a little rough on some acoustic guitarists (I think our acoustic guitarist capo’s up to the fifth fret and plays in the key of ‘G’). Nothing too fancy about the chord progression, which is good – it can be learned easily and quickly by just about any team. The hard part is that most of the “heart” of the song is in the dynamics – the builds, the climaxes, and the quiet beginning and end. As far as instrumentation, it could probably be pulled of minimally with an acoustic guitar or piano by itself, though adding a djembe (or other pecussion instrument) would help a lot with those dynamics. To really mimic the recording you want to have a pianist, an electric and acoustic guitarist (a second on electric would provide some extra layering if available), bassist, drummer. Another keyboardist to pull out the strings would be a nice addition to filling out the instrumentation, but you can more than manage the full range of dynamics without one. And if need be, you could make do with only one guitarist, though I would suggest putting him/her on electric so they could really drive the last half of the song. As far as vocals go, two would be nice (song leader and someone for harmony), but any more you add will just fill out that chorus – which provides even more build.
Use: Though this song works excellently as an opener, an offertory, or even a communion song, I would highly encourage you to teach it to your congregation and have them sing it pretty regularly (not every week, though – that’s overkill).
