I've long considered emotional alternative rock my overall favorite genre of music. Bands like Anberlin, The Fray, Foo Fighters and House of Heroes write songs that I connect with personally, and are exciting musically. 

The band Thrice also fits that category for me. When I learned that Thrice's lead singer, Dustin Kensrue, was releasing his own full-length solo worship album, I was very excited to hear his prayers to our Lord and Savior, Jesus. I am thrilled with how his album, The Water & The Blood, turned out. 

 

The album is loaded with songs for the Church, and is also great for reflective times of personal worship and adoration. Dustin's biblical lyrics are one of the highlights for me personally, and I recommend the album for alternative rock fans looking for inspirational songs. I had the opportunity to interview Dustin about his great new song, "Rejoice." 

 

Please tell me the personal story behind writing this song.
 

I had the idea to write a song that was pretty directly a call for people to worship, specifically in rejoicing. We see in Philippians and other places that Paul calls us as Christians to rejoice—even in suffering and hardships. I wanted to have a song that called people to rejoice in what God has done and who He is, and who we are in Him. Also, I wanted to work in the idea of rejoicing through trials and suffering. That was the big idea behind the song.

The other cool thing about the song is that I had the opportunity to co-write the song with Stuart Townend who has written "In Christ Alone" and "How Deep the Father's Love for Us." I had mapped out the song with what I wanted to do with the chorus, and had major ideas for the verses. Stuart worked on some more ideas, and I'm happy with how it turned out. I think it did what I was trying to do which is that it goes to the place of calling people to rejoice in suffering, in a way that hopefully doesn't feel insensitive or trite.

 

I mapped out all those Bible passages about rejoicing in writing this song. I searched for all the places in Scripture where we are called to rejoice in different circumstances. For me, the second verse is straight canon and I wasn't going to mess with that. I also really like the third verse, about how Jesus walked this path before us, and He is walking with us still. It's the idea that we have a God that isn't far off, but came down in human form and walked with us, through suffering, ahead of us, and took our place. Not only that, but He's still walking with us. That idea is the key which unlocks the last half of the song about rejoicing through suffering. That's how we're able to do that.

Another song on the album addresses that same point, called "God is Good." In that song I'm trying to engage the listener to sing that God is good even as you don't feel that way. We see in the character of Christ God's heart for us, even when we don't see His purposes or understand them, we can look to Jesus and see exactly how the Father feels about us. We know exactly what lengths He'll go to for us, so we can trust that He is good in the midst of not being able to see goodness.

Another thread that ties the songs together is that God will help you sing. In the bridge of "God is Good" there is the line, "Lord, we believe, but help our unbelief, Lord we believe, but help our hearts to sing." Both songs are dealing with the issue that's a hard place to be when we are suffering, but we are called to rejoice and I think there's help and wisdom in knowing that we can ask God to help our hearts to see His goodness and mercy in the midst of pain, and know that He will do that. Apart from His grace, there's no way we could rejoice. That's a supernatural gift from a good God. 

 

Dustin has managed to strike a great balance of singing about rejoicing in the midst of suffering. The song "Rejoice" has an ambient and worshipful vibe, like the Stuart Townend-penned modern hymns of the faith such as "In Christ Alone." One of the things about hymns are how they tend to be Scripture-based songs, and rather than singing about us and how we are feeling about life, they are focused on Jesus, as He is who we are singing these songs about. 

 

I noticed that this song never uses the pronoun "I" and instead includes the terms "we" and "us" and the song is lifted up to our "Maker," "King," "Lord," "Jesus," "God" and "Father." As the song calls worshippers, it is a great reminder that if we're not worshipping God, we're placing our worship or our "worth ship" in something other than Him. God is worthy of all of our praise and adoration. That is cause to "rejoice, in the midst of suffering, He will help you sing." Jesus is still walking with us now, even in the midst of our troubles and suffering. Take heart and stand amazed. We should have amazement at the Presence of God and that His Holy Spirit is indwelling in each of us who are followers of Jesus.

 

The other truths that this song addresses are to "raise your voice, He is worthy of our praise, and with trembling, rejoice." Worshipping God is a reverent act, with an awe and wonder of His greatness and we are called to "serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling" (Psalm 2:11). That truth is combined in this song with expression of joy in lifting our hands in worship based on the freedom we have from the redemption of our Lord and Savior, Jesus. This song is a great anthem for the Church to celebrate and offer to God, as "children of the promise / the beloved of the Lord / won with everlasting kindness / bought with sacrificial blood." Amen to that!

 

(You can listen to the song here.)