Since I first heard their song "Give Me Faith," Elevation Worship has consistently blessed me as a worshiper with their anthems for the church: "Unstoppable God," "Open Up Our Eyes," "O Come to the Altar" and "Resurrecting." The band is the worship team of Elevation Church, based out of Charlotte, North Carolina and led by Pastor Steven Furtick. Right alongside the Outcry Tour, where they appeared this spring with Lauren Daigle, Hillsong Young & Free and Jesus Culture, I was excited to worship along with Elevation Worship's latest album There is a Cloud.
These are great songs to pray along with these anointed worship leaders to express allegiance to Him, with longings to know Jesus and be in His presence. I really love how expressive these songs are. I had the chance to speak with Chris Brown and Mack Brock in-person before Outcry Tour in Reading, Pennsylvania about "Do it Again."
Please tell me the personal story behind this song.
Mack: "Do it Again" has been in the works for years. A couple of years ago our pastor was preaching at a Hillsong conference, and his message was about how God's promises still stand. The title of the message was "Don't Stop on 6," and it was about how when Joshua was walking around the walls of Jericho, they needed to continue walking around seven times as God promised for the walls to come down. That is such a big message for our church. He was preaching the message, and he kept coming back to the phrase "God's promise still stands." Matt Redman texted Pastor Steven and said, "there's a song in that concept." So one of the greatest worship songwriters of all time says there's a song there, and he prompted it.
We worked on ideas with Pastor Steven. Some songs come quickly, and some songs come in phases over a long time. We went into a songwriting retreat, and we came up with the chorus "Your promise still stands, great is Your faithfulness," which is something we talk about a lot at our church, the faithfulness of God. We lived in that for a long, long time. While we were sitting there writing, Pastor Steven came up with the first line of the song: "walking around these walls, I thought by now they'd fall." Immediately when he spoke that, it totally turned the song into a personal and intimate song. That's something we all can sing about in our personal lives.
Which Bible verses connect to the message of the song?
Lamentations 3:22-23(VOICE): "How enduring is God's loyal love; the Eternal has inexhaustible compassion. Here they are, every morning, new! Your faithfulness, God, is as broad as the day."
Deuteronomy 4:39(NIV): "Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other."
Hebrews 11:1(NLT): "Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see."
Romans 4:3(NLT): For the Scriptures tell us, "Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith."
Matthew 17:20(NIV): He replied, "Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."
Ephesians 2:13-16(NKJV): "But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity."
What is the takeaway message?
Mack: Dealing with a sin struggle, or walking around a wall of some addiction or struggle, or like Paul with a thorn in his side, we all have these things we've been dealing with for a long time that we thought God would take care of, and He hasn't yet. But, He hasn't failed us.
We lived in that for a long time, and when we came to the bridge, we thought the best thing we can do to live for God's faithfulness in the future is to look back and remember what He has done in the past. As much as we all have issues now that we are struggling with or are frustrated with, as a believer we all have moments where we can look back at when God intervened and showed up in your life and you came to know Him for the first time. We all have something where we can say "I've seen You move" and "You made a way when there was no way." When you look back with gratefulness for those times, those are some of the best building blocks and portable power station for faith now. We are not done yet, and the future is bright. We can believe because He's done it once, He'll do it again. The song has been an anthem for us. It's a faith-building song.
Chris: With this song, and with There is a Cloud, hopefully with what we are presenting from a songwriting standpoint is that there is an understanding that I've walked around walls at some point, and I've lost and buried something in a season of sorrow in my life, thinking this is dead, this dream is gone. This is over, but I'm holding on to the promise that God will call it forth in its time. We want people to know that God is faithful. Hopefully, listeners relate and connect with the song.
Lyrics: Walking around these walls
I thought by now they'd fall
But You have never failed me yet
Waiting for change to come
Knowing the battle's won
For You have never failed me yet
Your promise still stands
Great is Your faithfulness, faithfulness
I'm still in Your hands
This is my confidence, You've never failed me yet
I know the night won't last
Your Word will come to pass
My heart will sing Your praise again
Jesus You're still enough
Keep me within Your love
My heart will sing Your praise again
Your promise still stands
Great is Your faithfulness, faithfulness
I'm still in Your hands
This is my confidence, You never failed
Your promise still stands
Great is Your faithfulness, faithfulness
I'm still in Your hands
This is my confidence, You never failed me yet
I've seen You move, You move the mountains
And I believe, I'll see You do it again
You made a way, where there was no way
And I believe, I'll see You do it again
I'll see You do it again
Your promise still stands
Great is Your faithfulness, faithfulness
I'm still in Your hands
This is my confidence, You never failed
Your promise still stands
Great is Your faithfulness, faithfulness
I'm still in Your hands
This is my confidence, You never failed me yet
And You never failed me yet
I never will forget
You never failed me yet
I never will forget
I'm impressed by the consistent quality and fresh worshipful songs that come from Elevation Worship. This album is no exception and is arguably their finest and most Scriptural collection of songs for the Church yet. There is a Cloud is about proclaiming the majesty of God and crying out for His Presence throughout this incredible worship experience. The truly unstoppable love of Jesus is beautifully expressed in these compelling songs. The Lord calls us to have joy in Him regardless of our circumstances, which these songs celebrate. Our true joy comes from our relationship with Jesus. One of the lessons I've seen about life is that we shouldn't wait to fix ourselves before we step out in faith. We need to fully trust God. The faith statement found in the lyrics: "Your promise still stands, great is Your faithfulness, faithfulness, I'm still in Your hands. This is my confidence, You never failed me yet," has been resonating with me as I realize that Jesus commands us to trust God completely no matter our circumstances or personal distractions or concerns.
For many years now, going back to Give Me Faith, the ministry of Elevation Worship has been a way to put Scripture into the minds, and hearts, and mouths of believers everywhere, in a fresh and creative way. That allows listeners to be edified and to be drawn to the presence of the Lord, and to call out and desire to be in His presence. This song helps set my mind on Christ, to let the distractions of the day melt away, and instead focus on worshiping the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The song reminds me of the beautiful passage in Ephesians 2, which talks about how God has torn down the middle wall of separation and we can boldly approach the Throne of grace.
Songs are an inheritance to share in victory together. God's Word doesn't return void, and He wants us to have victory. I am thrilled to feature the message behind this song, which has quickly become one of my favorite songs ever. So many people can relate to the message, and the song convicts me to know in my heart the biblical truth from Jeremiah in Lamentations 3:22-23: God's mercy is new each day, and it is not based on our performance or what we can do for God. He pours out His mercy despite what we've done, and there's nothing we can do except trust in His Son Jesus. We can't earn Heaven; it's only through complete surrender to Jesus and putting all of our hope in Him that we can be saved. As a follower of Jesus, you'll want to join in and sing out: "I've seen You move, You move the mountains, and I believe I'll see You do it again. You made a way where there was no way, and I believe I'll see You do it again." Amen to that!
Watch the band lead the song below.
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.
NEW!BEHIND THE SONG
#1236 - Brandon Heath
Transforming wounds into stories of redemption in this powerful song
ADVERTISEMENT
NEW!NRT EDITORIAL
Skillet
We explores some of the band's best songs outside their hits
NEW!NRT LISTS
Jordan Merritt
A real conversation around the artist's new track, "Human"
NEW!HEARTSPEAK
Jordan Feliz
The artist's must-listen-to songs about faith, family, and redemption
NEW!AN NRT EXCLUSIVE
Rock Meets Worship
Seven gritty cover songs of popular worship music and hymns