Just take a look at the song titles of Meredith Andrews' latest record, Worth It All, and you'll see a faith journey that's simultaneously introspective and vertically expressive. Andrews' passionate, powerful vocals sing about struggles and victories, present concerns and future hopes. 

 

"I'll be the first to admit that my eyes are not always on the Lord," said Andrews in a recent blog post. "I am weak. I am easily distracted by circumstances and deadlines and brokenness inside and all around me. We can find ourselves in a dark place in a hurry. Yet it is in the darkness that the soul-piercing light of Jesus invades the shadows and illuminates the Truth. He is Truth. His Word is Truth. And we must cling to the Light of Truth even in the night."

 

That ultimately hopeful and faithful perspective can be found on Andrews' latest single, "Strong God," which you may have heard first recorded by her co-author on the song, Desperation Band's Jon Egan. At the recent National Worship Leader Conference, Meredith Andrews shared about this powerful song, and how God's strength is so far beyond us, and yet is for our benefit.

 

 

I wrote this song with Jon Egan from Desperation Band. It was totally his idea at the start. We had toured together before and he came to Nashville and said he had thoughts about a song that came straight from Psalm 68. 

 

When we toured together, we were focused on raising awareness about caring for the poor, the orphans, and about the sex trafficking trade. We wanted to highlight those things and how God is calling people to rise up and be the Church. God wants us to be the hands and feet of Jesus. God wants us to love people. I really believe that when you are made aware of something and when you see the reality of what's happening in the world with kids living in the streets without parents and the poverty in the world, we are responsible to help. I don't want to hide my face from that. I pray for the Lord to show me what I can do. 

 

The idea of God being Father to the fatherless was one of the things that drew Jon and I together on this. We have similar passions and a common goal to see the church rise up and care for the orphans and the widows. 

 

When Jon opened up Psalm 68, we read the entire passage. I love verses 4-6. If you look at my Bible, I have a note here about when I went to India in January, 2005. There was an orphanage that we visited, and I was reading that passage there with 2500 orphans. God is their Father. I saw it firsthand. He was meeting them where they were. Even though many of them didn't know where their parents were, they knew God was their faithful Father. It was so life changing for me, especially since I have adopted younger brothers. This song is part of my story.

 

Psalm 68:4-6: "Sing to God, sing in praise of His name, extol Him who rides on the clouds, rejoice before Him—His name is the Lord. A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, He leads out the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land."

 

...Psalm 68:18: "You have ascended on high, You have led captivity captive; You have received gifts among men, Even from the rebellious, That the Lord God might dwell there."

 

...and Ephesians 4:8: "Therefore He says: 'When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.'"

 

 

I love how in Psalm 68, verse 4, we have the picture: "extol Him who rides on the clouds." When you think about it, Who else does that? It's amazing. It just shows God's power, His grandeur, His strength. There's a contrast as well. This God who is so big and so strong, is also near to us, a Father to the fatherless, near to the weak and the brokenhearted. He is our Defender. He is an intimate God. He comes near to us, and that is so amazing to me. The God of the unseen rushes in, especially to the humble, the needy, the broken, and the weak. God is strong for the weak. 

 

When I talk about this song from stage, I mention that not only is God strong for Himself, but He is strong on our behalf. He is strong for His people. I know in my own life, and in my weaknesses, how God demonstrates His strength in those weaknesses for His glory. I can walk away and know that God is speaking. That was God ministering to people. That was God helping me on the days when I felt like I didn't have anything left to give. Even those days as a mom when I'm sleep deprived. I have a newborn. I want to raise my boys to love God and be near to Him and know Him. I love that God is strong on our behalf. 

 

 

We don't have to pretend that we are strong and have it all together. We can rest in the Lord's strength for us. Just a story in singing this song, recently I was singing at a conference for moms. Sometimes as mothers we feel the gap and our lacking and neediness. The Lord had me dwell on the part in the passage about widows. I never thought much about that because I talk a lot about orphans. I don't know very many widows personally. That day I said the Lord is our husband. Later on, a woman approached me and said she felt the Lord pushed her to attend the conference and as she walked in, she heard me talk about God being a husband to widows. The woman is 34 years old, has 4 children and had lost her husband 6 weeks earlier. She said she needed to hear that. It was confirmation that the Lord is her strength and is near to us. It's amazing how strong God is in our weakness and how He speaks clearly and ministers to the hearts that need Him. When we are singing about the Lord and His character, His strength, I believe that God delights in that type of worship. He rushes in and begins to sing over us and minister to His people, meet us where we are and show us Himself. Picturing the body of Christ singing this to the Lord, His Holy Spirit rushes in to meet us and reveal the Father's Heart. 

 

 

Meredith consistently writes and sings piercing, relevant and moving songs. What's especially cool about this album is how Meredith invites listeners into her life by sharing what's on her heart. She dwells on prayerful yearnings, lays out spiritual truths and worships God all at the same time. 

 

As I spoke with Meredith about this great song, we realized that the verses and chorus really encompass amazing biblical truths. From the truth of Genesis 1 that "God spoke and the light appeared," to the assurance of Psalm 68:5: "A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, Is God in His holy habitation." We can also reflect on the promise of Psalm 68:18: "You have ascended on high, You have led captivity captive; You have received gifts among men, Even from the rebellious, That the Lord God might dwell there" and the fulfillment in Ephesians 4:8: "When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men."

 

I love how the bridge proclaims the biblical Truth: "There is no higher, "No," There is no greater, "No," There is none stronger than our God!" When singing it, try really shouting out the "No" in response that there is none greater, none higher, and none stronger than Our God. That takes me to the Throne Room. When you recognize God's Sovereignty in your life, then you are in the proper mindset to die to yourself and focus on the needs of others. That's His heart, to care for the oppressed, the victimized and the "least of these." Look at injustice in the world through God's eyes and you can't help but be moved to act.. Jesus commands believers to love others as He loved us, and to show His love by helping people who can't help themselves. There is so much injustice in the world on so many levels.

 

Meredith's mission is all about writing and singing songs that reflect what it means to have freedom in Christ. This great new worship song really sets me in the proper mindset to praise God for loving me so much that He gave His life away for all that was lost. I love singing out the lyrics: "Father to the fatherless, Defender of the weak, Freedom for the prisoner, We sing, This is God in His holy place, This is God clothed in love and strength, Sing out, lift your voice and cry out, Awesome is our strong God, mighty is our God!" Amen!

 

(You can watch an acoustic performance of the song here.)