“You Are The Lord” Song Review
Passion’s 2021 Song “You Are the Lord” is a robust song for congregational worship with numerous biblical sources.
“You are the Lord,” written By Leeland Mooring, Jonathan Smith, Brenton Brown, and Brett Younker, was released as a Passion single in early 2021. It was coupled with “Breakthrough Miracle Power”. The lyrics describe various attributes of God and are and well supported by scripture.
Verse 1 begins with a rephrasing of Psalm 104:2 which states “The Lord wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent.” The following line, “Almighty God, there’s no one like You God, there’s none like You” pulls inspiration from Jeremiah 10:6 which declares “No one is like you, LORD; you are great, and your name is mighty in power.”
Verse 2 alludes to imagery found in Psalm 104:32, Nahum 1:5, and Micah 1:4 which all describe mountains trembling before the Lord. The writers of this song contrast this powerful imagery with a “whisper” in the next line, supposedly harkening back to 1 Kings 19:12 where Elijah experiences God’s presence through a whisper rather than an earthquake or fire. Conversely, Psalm 107:29 depicts God’s whisper as changing the atmosphere around the psalmist; reducing a violent storm to a still sea. Considering the songwriter’s addition of the phrase “changes everything” to illustrate what the whisper accomplishes, it appears that both scriptures were drawn from in this verse.
Each line of Chorus 1 begins by acknowledging “You are the Lord” followed by an attribute of God and His name. Line 1 declares He is “forever lifted high” replicating the prophet’s words in Isaiah 57:15 describing the Lord to be “high and lifted up”. The second line of the chorus pronounces God to be “compassionate and kind” — a direct quote from Psalm 103:8. Line three of the first chorus has many scriptural allusions as well, speaking of God as “holy” — Isaiah 6:3, Revelation 4:8, and Exodus 15:11 — to name a few.
The third verse begins with another excerpt from Psalm 103:8 entitling the Lord as “slow to anger and rich in love.” Other verses where these attributes are listed are Psalm 145:8 and Exodus 34:6. 2 Peter 3:9 highlights the Lord’s patience with His followers which is reflected in the second line of the third verse. In the subsequent line, “always chasing after us, this is Your heart” may allude to John 17:26, where Jesus prays to the Father, “I have made You known to them, and will continue to make You known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.” Albeit one of the weaker lines in the song, this final line does act to remind us that God wants to be known by us and has taken the initial step towards reconciliation between Himself and humanity.
Chorus 2 responds further to this revelation by exclaiming “let the nations sing!” because He is Lord. This echoes psalm 67:4 which states “May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples with equity and guide the nations of the earth.” Jesus is described as King of Kings in the following line and is a direct quote of Revelation 19:16.
The bridge recounts how God broke off our chains and has given us freedom in His name. While the name of Jesus is not explicitly mentioned in this particular instance, it seems to be strongly inferred given the bridge’s resemblance to Galatians 2:20 and 5:1 which are overtly Christ-centered.
Musically, “You Are the Lord” is written and recorded in a moderate contemporary style at 70 bpm. The full melodic range spans an octave, through the general tessitura stays within a sixth making it easily accessible for a congregation to sing along with. While not overtly complex, the melody benefits from some clever underlying chord textures which elevate an otherwise unassuming tune to give off the perception of intricacy. Of particular note are the melodic sixths coupled with the maj7 chords in the first line of the verses and the “holy, holy, holy”’s which rest attractively over top the moving bass line. Some worship teams and congregations may run into initial challenges relating to the syncopated rhythms in the choruses, though these would fairly easy to simplify. Originally in the key of A, I would recommend bringing it down to F or E to be more singable for a congregation.
All in all, “You Are the Lord” is a robust song for congregational worship as it lists several attributes relating to the character of God and has numerous biblical sources. Just about every line is directly pulled from scripture and the song’s message is cohesive enough that it could be utilized as a response song or for teaching. The messages communicated in this song are so universal that “You Are the Lord” could be a welcome addition in multiple church contexts and cultures.
