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BEHIND THE SONG WITH KEVIN DAVIS
#591 - "Ever Be" by Bethel Music
Kalley Heiligenthal shares the deeply personal process of working through the why behind the compelling desire to praise God.
 


BEHIND THE SONG WITH KEVIN DAVIS, #591 -
Posted: February 10, 2015 | By: KevinDavis_NRT
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Bethel Music has introduced and developed several amazing worship leaders, including Brian and Jenn Johnson, Amanda Cook, Steffany Gretzinger, William Matthews, Matt Stinton and Hunter Thompson.
 
We Will Not Be Shaken released everywhere January 27 featuring eleven original worship songs, all beautifully produced for the Church. These songs were written from a place of reflecting on what it means to have unshakable faith in God. The project is intended to lead listeners to that place also.
 
This compilation is unique from the Redding, California based Bethel Church in that it is composed of songs led by worship leaders and recorded at a scenic mountaintop setting, with featured leaders including Brian and Jenn Johnson, Amanda Cook, Matt Stinton and Hunter Thompson. The project introduces several new emerging worship leaders as well, such as Paul and Hannah McClure, Jonathan Helser and Kalley Heiligenthal.
 
You can hear Kalley's anointed, emotive and prophetic worship coming through in "Ever Be" from We Will Not Be Shaken. I had the chance to speak with Kalley about her gorgeous song.
 
Please tell me the personal story behind the song.

The chorus of this song came first. I was in a prayer room setting for a two hour time frame, and after about an hour and a half we ran out of songs. I thought in that moment about finding a hook that was repeatable, and that's where the chorus came from. The bridge came with relative ease.
 
The verses are where you'll find a lot of personal diving into my heart to set the stage for the rest of the song. The beautiful aspect of this song is that I was being coached on how to write the verses based on the question why to the statement "Your praise will ever be on my lips." For me, it was a beautiful process of learning what the answers were.
 
Most of us have many examples of God's faithfulness, His character, His nature and goodness to draw from. For me, it is highly emotional and very deep, but I didn't know how to put it into words and express it. The journey of writing the song was teasing it out and finding out what was inside of me, which involved me creating my story in the song.
 
I joke that I have an "Ever Be" journal which is a full notebook of me processing out why I have this call to constant worship and why is He worthy. We all know why, but I was allowing it to get fiercely personal, and the words and the story and my history with God gripped my heart and caused me to try to describe our infinite God with my finite words.

Which Bible verses connect to the message of the song?

Psalm 30:11-12 (The Voice): You did it: You turned my deepest pains into joyful dancing; You stripped off my dark clothing and covered me with joyful light. You have restored my honor. My heart is ready to explode, erupt in new songs! It's impossible to keep quiet! Eternal One, my God, my Life-Giver, I will thank You forever.
 
Isaiah 1:18 (NKJV): "Come now, and let us reason together," Says the Lord, "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson they shall be as wool."
 
Zephaniah 3:17 (The Voice): The Eternal your God is standing right here among you, and He is the champion who will rescue you. He will joyfully celebrate over you; He will rest in His love for you; He will joyfully sing because of you like a new husband.

What is the takeaway message?

The bridge is a part I love getting to in the song. We do our best to find words to describe who God is to us, and how thankful we are and how faithful He is. The bridge is the point of the relief that we'll spend eternity unpacking His goodness with the many voices of those who have gone before us. We get to do this for eternity. I don't even know if that's enough to mine out and explore who God is.
 
For me, this song is my story, and it's snippets of who God has been for me. We all get to answer that question of why His praise will ever be on our lips. The idea of being God's adopted sons and daughters, how He has decided that He can never disown us, amazes me. We are His and we can find ourselves in Him. Because of that, we take on His properties. The language of "Your strength becomes our own" addresses how our DNA is God's and we sound and look like Him. That's the promise.
 
For me, it is seeing that whatever I might find myself in and whatever God is revealing to me about myself, the promise of God is steadfast and I get to be like Him. That's what He died for. That's a grounding hope and a reality and where we are headed. The declaration "clothing me with white, free of all her guilt and rid of all her shame, and known by her true name" are God's phrases that I've needed to say to myself many times when I've needed to remember, or when I was wavering or confronting lies I'd been believing about myself. There's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
 
Lyrics:
Your love is devoted like a ring of solid gold                          
Like a vow that is tested like a covenant of old                        
Your love is enduring through the winter rain 
And beyond the horizon with mercy for today
 
Faithful You have been and faithful You will be
You pledge yourself to me and it's why I sing
 
Your praise will ever be on my lips, 
Ever be on my lips         
Your praise will ever be on my lips, 
Ever be on my lips
 
You Father the orphan
Your kindness makes us whole
You shoulder our weakness
And Your strength becomes our own
You're making me like You
Clothing me in white
Bringing beauty from ashes
For You will have Your bride
 
Free of all her guilt and rid of all her shame
And known by her true name and it's why I sing
 
You will be praised You will be praised
With angels and saints we sing worthy are You Lord  
You will be praised You will be praised
With angels and saints we sing worthy are You Lord

 
 
We Will Not Be Shaken is an excellent set of songs that focuses on the central themes of asking God to inhabit our inner being and truly allow the power of the Holy Spirit to sanctify us, along with relying solely on the love of Jesus to truly mold our hearts and make us more like Him. 
 
I really love how expressive these songs are. Kalley loves a lot, and that is evident throughout her stellar worship offering. These are all stand-out tracks filled with overwhelming biblical truth, and they are companions in my personal prayer and worship time.

Kalley sings songs with an amazing passion, with unashamed praise and gratitude to our Savior. All of these songs are poignant and powerful with earnest, worshipful lyrics. We Will Not Be Shaken will be one of the top worship albums of the year. It is truly a moving and prayerful worship experience.
 
The theme of how through God's strength we will not be shaken weaves through all of the songs, and is a message that all believers need to hear. This album is best described as a worship experience with an ethereal tone. These anointed worship leaders have consistently impressed me with their mature faith and sincere desires to serve Jesus.
 
The message of this song is so personal and biblical as it is directed to both believers and non-believers to know that there is no condemnation for our sins when we accept Jesus as our substitute and Savior. Being a Christian father of three young daughters, "Ever Be" reflects the yearning for Jesus to that I pray for my daughters to feel in their hearts as well. Every song released by Bethel Music completely focuses me as a listener on joining in praise, worship and adoration of our beautiful King Jesus.
 
The song is a beautiful reminder of our eternal promise and convicts us to remember that His praise should ever be on our lips as we wait for the blessed hope of living forever with Him. This song gives us a foretaste of eternity, where in Heaven followers of Jesus will sing "You will be praised, You will be praised, with angels and saints we sing worthy are You Lord." Amen to that!
 
(Watch the music video here.)


 

NRT Lead Contributor Kevin Davis is a longtime fan of Christian music, an avid music collector and credits the message of Christian music for leading him to Christ. He lives in Pennsylvania with his wife and three daughters.

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