Bad worship songs - Goodness of God - Ed Cash, Jenn Johnson (Bethel Music)

From time to to we examine the lyrics of worship songs. Our desire is not to mock or humiliate, but rather to honestly examine content with a view to calling forth a better worship expression.

With the great volume and variety of worship music available, none of us should have to settle for bad worship songs. We should be able to select hundreds or even thousands of top notch songs very easily.

What makes a song a worship song? Is it enough to contain words like God or holy? How about vaguely spiritual sounding phrases? Should Jesus be mentioned?

We think an excellent worship song should contain the following elements:

• A direct expression of adoration (God, you are...)
• A progression of ideas that culminates in a coherent story
• A focus on God, not us
• Lyrics that do not create uncertainty or cause confusion
• A certain amount of profundity
• A singable, interesting melody
• Allusions to Scripture
• Doctrinal soundness
• Not excessively metaphorical
• Not excessively repetitive
• Jesus is not your boyfriend

It's worth noting the most worship songs contain at least something good. That is, there might be a musical idea or a lyric that has merit. Such is the case with this song, Goodness of God.
Video link.

Lyrics:

vs. 1 

I love You, Lord; Your mercy never fails me
All my days, I've been held in Your hands
From the moment that I wake up
Until I lay my head
Oh I will sing of the goodness of God

Chorus 

All my life You have been faithful
All my life You have been so so good
With every breath that I am able
Oh I will sing of the goodness of God

vs.2 

I love Your voice
You have led me through the fire
In the darkest night
You are close like no other
I've known You as a Father
I've known You as a friend
I have lived in the goodness of God

Bridge: Your goodness is running, it's running after me
Your goodness is running, it's running after me
With my life laid down, I'm surrendered now, I give You everything
Your goodness is running, it's running after me

Overview

This is a pleasant song, though it isn't particularly profound or noteworthy. And except for one substantial flaw in the bridge, it does a pretty good job of relating biblical concepts. 

The production is relatively simple, largely avoiding the overwhelming mélange of sounds that so many contemporary worship songs seem to favor these days. 

In addition, though the song is basic it is unique enough to rise above the cookie-cutter worship songs that so litter the Contemporary Christian music scene.

Melody and Harmony

The melody is almost entirely pentatonic, and proceeds naturally with no surprises or big intervals. Its pacing and trajectory of the melody is spot on. It is pitched in a generally singable range, though the bridge gets a little high for men.

The chords are about as basic as it gets, using only four (I, IV, V, and vi). The first half of the verse starts with a I - IV - I progression  over the first two stanzas, followed by a walkdown (V [first inversion] - vi) for the third stanza, followed by a IV - V (sus) turnaround. 

The second half of the verse is vi - IV - I, but has the same walkdown and turnaround at the end of the phrase, finally landing on the I.

The first two stanzas of the chorus contains a rudimentary IV - I - IV - I - V progression, with the third stanza adding the same walkdown and turnaround as the verse.

The bridge chords are I (first inversion) - IV - V - I, pretty much the most basic chord progression there is. The bridge does this twice, then begins to do it a third time but doesn't land on I, instead moving to the vi chord for a Deceptive Cadence. The bridge then returns to the previous sequence of chords to end it.

Lyrical Problems

The lyrics are oriented entirely from a personal perspective, with the profuse use of "my," "I," and "me." We don't necessarily have a problem with occasional personal references, but this is a song designed for congregational worship. 

The songwriters are overloading the song with their own experiences, which many congregants might not have been experienced. We find this particularly in the second verse. Almost all of the verse is the unique experience of the songwriters:

• Loving God's voice
• Going through the fire 
• Going through dark times
• Knowing God as a father and friend 

Certainly these are valid for many Christians, but not necessarily all who might sing this song. But they are personal, specific, and unique experiences do not belong in a worship song. That's the point.

These are somewhat minor problems compared to the bridge, however. Up to this point the songwriters have stuck pretty close to the Bible, but the bridge descends to a level that is very nearly nonsense:

Your goodness is running, it's running after me

It seems this is a reference to the parable of the Prodigal Son. In the parable the father spots his formerly wayward (but now repentant) son in the distance and runs to greet him. But in the previous song lyrics there is no context for this waywardness or any statement alluding to repentance. 

Absent these concepts, why are we being chased? Are we running away from God's goodness? Are we resisting Him somehow? The songwriters previously asserted their love for God's voice, how He's held them in His hands, and that He is close like no other. So why is God's goodness chasing the songwriters if He's already present?

Indeed, the second half of the bridge directly states that the songwriters are given completely to God: 

With my life laid down, I'm surrendered now, I give You everything

 So it really makes no sense that God's goodness would be running after someone God has already "caught" and is enjoying close fellowship with Him.

Conclusion

We have found that Bethel songs are frequently a bit superficial in their lyrics, so it is welcome to see a tad more depth in this song. 

We would suspect the average congregant would casually sing the lyrics without a second thought, overlooking the problems we have outlined. That does not excuse the song, however. 

Does the good outweigh the problems? We don't think so. We cannot recommend the song.