CCM Radio Edition.
February 23, 2016. Today we’ll be taking a look at “Trust in You” by Lauren Daigle which currently sits at #15 on the 20theCountdownMagazine.
I first heard this song a couple of weeks ago while on my morning commute. Lauren Daigle has a wonderful voice with a unique sound. It’s beautiful. The problem here is with the lyric and what is being conveyed by it (both intentionally and, I think, unintentionally). In a musical industry promoted and pushed by the Word of Faith (WoF), Prosperity, and Presence heresy houses… there is at least in some sense a realization that the theology “doesn’t work”. I wish they’d repent of their false theology, but they keep pushing it. But what happens when all of the “decree and declare” and “sun stand still prayers” yield no results? What happens when we do everything we can to “bring down strongholds” only to lose a loved one to cancer, or drug overdose? One should reexamine their doctrine, return to the Word of God to see if what you are being told is Scriptural. This song almost seems to go there… but it doesn’t. It goes back to the proof texts of WoF and re-declares them in an odd way. When I hear this song, all I hear is “God, when you let me down and don’t keep your promises… I forgive you”. Maybe it’s my sinful nature that prevents me from hearing the overall message of this song in any other way. I’m open to the idea that I’m being overly dismissive of this song. Let’s take a look at it.
Lauren Daigle VEVO
Lyrics (via KLove)
Letting go of every single dream
I lay each one down at Your feet
Every moment of my wondering
Never changes what You seeI’ve tried to win this war I confess
My hands are weary I need Your rest
Mighty Warrior King of the fight
No matter what I face You’re by my side(chorus)
When You don’t move the mountains
I’m needing You to move
When You don’t part the waters
I wish I could walk through
When You don’t give the answers
As I cry out to You
I will trust, I will trust
I will trust in YouTruth is You know what tomorrow brings
There’s not a day ahead You have not seen
So in all things be my life and breath
I want what You want Lord and nothing less(chorus)
When You don’t move the mountains
I’m needing You to move
When You don’t part the waters
I wish I could walk through
When You don’t give the answers
As I cry out to You
I will trust, I will trust
I will trust in You
I will trust in You(bridge)
You are my strength and comfort
You are my steady hand
You are my firm foundation
The Rock on which I stand
Your ways are always higher
Your plans are always good
There’s not a place where I’ll go
You’ve not already stood(chorus)
When You don’t move the mountains
I’m needing You to move
When You don’t part the waters
I wish I could walk through
When You don’t give the answers
As I cry out to You
I will trust, I will trust
I will trust in You
I will trust in You
I will trust in You
I will trust in YouPublishing: © 2014 CentricSongs (SESAC) / Sony/ATV Timber Publishing (SESAC) / Word Music & Pocket Full of Rocks Publishing (ASCAP)
Writer(s): Words and Music by Lauren Daigle, Paul Mabury and Michael Farren
Discussion
We’re going to assume the “You” in this song to be the God of the Bible. I mention this because it isn’t clearly stated in the song, and that’s bad. The Name that is above All Names should be proclaimed in every Christian song.
Okay, so if you don’t see where I’m hearing “God, I forgive you’ it’s in the repetitive I will trust in You as it falls immediately after all of the expressions of disappointment. The Bridge is the best part of the entire song. These are all good confessions of Who God is. But the theology being expressed in the verses and chorus make me question whether or not Jesus Christ (the Rock) is the firm foundation of her faith. Let’s work through the disappointments listed:
- When you don’t move the mountains I’m needing you to move. There is an expectation that with enough faith God will move the mountains in our lives. This is somewhat pulled from the account in Matthew 17:14-21, but what is the context? Should we contextualize the demoniac or the mountain as anything we decide we need to have happen? I don’t think we should do that. WoF theology twists this passage to present faith as a magic lamp that if we rub right we’ll get the Holy Spirit genie to come out and grant us wishes. Is that what Lauren is after here? Not directly, but the focus here is one of disappointment that something she’s prayed for God to remove yet remains.
- When You don’t part the waters I wish I could walk through. Again we have an expectation of something happening that is loosely connected to the parting of the Red Sea, but not clearly defined. The parting of the Red Sea points to water baptism, to salvation in Jesus’ Name. WoF (of the Prosperity variety) teachers often continue to contextualize the parting of the Red Sea into some sort of present-day spiritual warfare thingy in our everyday lives. Is there something blocking your healing/promotion/prosperity? Well, it must be your Red Sea moment… God will part the waters if you have enough faith. The problem with such contextualizing is that it actually minimizes the Red Sea and falsely elevates our everyday trials and tribulations that we should expect because God’s Word tells us to expect them. James 1:2-4 (ESV) “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
- When You don’t give the answers As I cry out to You. There is an expectation that we should be receiving direct revelation from God. That we should be hearing God speak to us either audibly or via some deep impression in our “spirit” when we pray. The notion that prayer should be a two-way street isn’t taught in scripture. Yes God can speak in any way He chooses, but that’s not to say that is the role or purpose for prayer. And God did speak regarding prayer and we have His Words in Written form. Consult the Word of God directly and know it is God who breathed out those words.
So that’s the overall problem I have with the song. It is what rings loudest when I hear the song play on the radio. The singer is disappointed by her theology, but pushes on to declare she will Trust in Him. It comes across to me as an “I forgive you”. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I’ll confess I’ve been hurt by the failure of WoF theology and asked questions only to have the WoF thrown back in my face pointing to my lack of faith or lack of trust as the reason why something did or didn’t happen.
Verse 1. Modern-day evangelicalism is overly obsessed with our own dreams. It’s a real problem. Thankfully, she’s talking about letting go of the dreams… that’s a good start. But then she’s talking about laying them down at God’s feet? Oh, so it’s a sacrifice thing… like something you’re offering to God. Are we trying to eisegete Abraham’s offering of Isaac… because God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac… and that was to foreshadow God sacrificing His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Don’t eisegete any of that, please. We let go of our dreams not to appease God or to make Him favorable to us or our situation, we let go of our dreams because they are sinful, they come from our sinful hearts. The lyrics provided on KLove talk about her “wonderings”, but I can’t help but wonder if the word being sung or intended here is “wanderings”. As sinful creatures we are prone to wander, being lead astray by our own fleshly, sinful desires. That is why we need repentance and the forgiveness of sin regularly. When it is our faith and doctrine that starts to wander, we’re in danger of shipwrecking our faith and damning ourselves. That is why we need the Preached Word of God, we need to grow in knowledge and wisdom of the Word of God, that our faith might increase.
Pre-Chorus. There is that will of ours, striving to merit righteousness in some way. It is a good thing that she is confessing this as sin. I wish the metaphor of the Rest found in Christ were teased out a bit more. Yes, we find rest in Christ Jesus, but WoF treats it as a momentary reprieve or a stop at the charging station so that we can get back out there and do more good works… that’s not the picture of entering God’s rest. The picture of entering God’s rest is one of entering the Promised Land by faith in Christ Jesus. Yes, the LORD is a Mighty Warrior King, but He isn’t at our side, He’s out front. He has fought the battle, He has won the war on our behalf. He threw down the walls of Jericho. He killed Goliath while we all stood at a distance, condemned in our unbelief.
Chorus. We’ve already worked through this as my main issue with the song. I will add one more thing to this discussion. Faith isn’t a thing that we have apart from Christ. It’s not an effort of the will that can be prompted and urged or exercised through sheer will or zeal. Faith has to be anchored in Christ Jesus, otherwise it’s just belief, and can be tossed about by winds of doctrine. WoF heresy teaches folks to place their faith on what they declare or on promises that are nowhere given in Scripture. That’s not faith.
Bridge. This is the best part of the song. These are good confessions of Who God is. These are reasons to trust in Him, but not for the kinds of things that WoF theology promotes… the sorts of signs and wonders that led to the disappointment of the singer in the first place.
Verse 2. Her second verse seems like a throw-back to her song “First“. We still have some confessions of the Sovereignty and Omniscience of God. There’s even a continuation of the thought from the first verse of letting go of our own dreams or plans. That’s good.
Conclusion
I struggle with this song. There’s so much missing here, there’s no clear Gospel message. The focus of the song is the singer working through disappointment and committing herself to trusting in Him. I just want to tell Lauren, “let’s look in the Word for encouragement and understanding of the trials of this life”. Because the song doesn’t stand on its own, it isn’t approved. My first inclination is to disapprove the song based on the sense of the song being some sort of forgiving God for not doing something kind of message. My children sometimes do this to me, my daughter especially. She’ll do it in the middle of being scolded for one thing while asking for something else she knows she can’t have. /sigh. So, it’s our sinful human nature at work. So, since I cannot objectively disapprove of this song, it will remain in the middle-ground, and I encourage the reader/listener to exercise Biblical discernment.
Romans 16:24-27 (ESV) Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.
In Christ Jesus,
Jorge
Faithful Stewardship 
RIGHT ON!!! I thought I was the only one thinking this! When I first heard this song, it didn’t bother me, and Lauren’s voice is definitely blessed. BUT when I finally stopped to truly analyze this ‘brain worm’ and specifically what she was saying, it became very disturbing. To me she’s saying, “God, I asked you to move this mountain, but since you didn’t, I guess my only other option is to be a “good Christian” and continuing to “trust” you. And this is what bothers me most. God does not teach us to ask Him to move the mountain, instead He teaches us to SPEAK DIRECTLY to it, and COMMAND it to move! Ugh. Sorry. Hope I’m not coming off too judgmental, but besides being annoyingly catchy, this song is to me, dangerous to the body of Christ. Ok, I’m done ranting. Thank you so much Jorge for sharing your thoughts on this. Good to know I’m not alone in my critique. God bless.
if looking at just verses 1 and 2 I can see what you are thinking but when you get to verse 3 and the bridge I see that this song is a journey. so what I’m saying is that I don’t agree with the conclusion or the response to the article. I’m not wanting to get into a debate with anyone I just want to put in my 2 cents worth. I have had this debate in an ongoing Bible study in the past with people and showed them hymns out of hymn books that are traditional favorites but they couldn’t come up with a good response. I think people just get too caught up in the Idea that if there isn’t a verse quoted then it’s not Biblical. just take a moment and look at the lyrics and it is easy to see that it’s a journey. I know I’m repeating myself. good day and be blessed
“It’s a journey” brings absolutely no clarity to the song. There is nothing particularly Christian about referring to life “as a journey”. There was even a mildly successful 80s band called “Journey”. The standard being applied to these DiM posts isn’t whether or not somebody might get something out of the song; rather, it is about examining the lyrical content to see if the Gospel is being conveyed. This song falls into the middle category, meaning that someone with solid theology might be able to put a good construction on the vague lyrics such that they can find meaningful encouragement. It also means that someone without solid, biblical theology is free to make the song mean whatever he wants it to mean.
You summarized the problem with vague songs very well when you said “someone with solid theology might be able to put a good construction on the vague lyrics such that they can find meaningful encouragement. It also means that someone without solid, biblical theology is free to make the song mean whatever he wants it to mean.” The problem is that these artists aren’t only singing to those with solid theology, so there’s a very large risk of someone being led astray with these vague lyrics
First of all, having led a part-time Christian band from the mid 70’s – mid 90’s and a church Praise Team since then (yeah – I’m old) , I have recently become concerned about the content and message of much of today’s CCM. This site and blog has become a valuable resource, and I appreciate the in-depth evaluations. One of the reasons I accepted this song for our church was that I believe it expresses the idea that sometimes what we want or pray for isn’t what our loving Heavenly Father knows is best for us. The one complaint I did receive from the congregation was from someone who thought you could literally “move mountains” if you just had enough faith, and she thought this song refuted that. So I’ve used this song as a counter to the “name it and claim it” message. To me the bridge confirms that the singer is not disappointed but understands that God’s ways are always higher and His plans are always good.
As long as you provide the proper limits to the song, as you’ve done, I can see it being helpful in the way that you are using it. May I encourage you to seek out other songs that more clearly teach sound doctrine concerning prayer and trusting in Christ? –Jorge
Thank you for your reply. More than ever I am endeavoring to make sure that the words we sing reflect the whole truth as presented in the Bible. Since people in our congregation will remember the words they sing far longer than the words they hear spoken in a message, all of us choosing and leading the music in our churches have a big responsibility.
Sorry, didn’t your entire thought, which I am sure is theological sound. When grieving over the lost of a love one, one I shared life with for 35 years, one does not look at correctness. But the sound of empathy, which resonates every time I hear it. There are times, when God doesn’t answer. In reality, He has answered on the cross. But hearing the song, enables me to stay the course until I can look back and see He was there with me all the time.
Your brother in Christ,
Sorry, didn’t read your entire thought, which I am sure is theological sound. When grieving over the lost of a love one, one I shared life with for 35 years, one does not look at correctness. But the sound of empathy, which resonates every time I hear this song. There are times, when God doesn’t answer. In reality, He has answered on the cross. But hearing the song, enables me to stay the course until I can look back and see He was there with me all the time.
Your brother in Christ,
I’m sorry for your loss. I pray the LORD grant you peace.
In Christ,
Jorge
I think that when I’ve sung this song I have looked at the words, “When you don’t…” from MY view. With my view I, in my mind, I understand that I see things “my way” and God has a different view (sort of like the Upper Story and the Lower Story). I ask Him for things (not just physical things) and when He doesn’t answer yes, but answers no or wait, I trust Him to give what’s best. I still can ask because Holy Spirit intercedes.
(Romans 8:26 “In the same way the Spirit also joins to help in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with unspoken groanings.”)
It’s not like I’m going to ask rightly every time. (God knows what is best and I only have a limited view and still live with sin “present”).
The reason I got to this site is I was looking for clarification, or at least others’ ideas on whether
“There’s not a place where I’ll go You’ve not already stood” is scriptural. (Is Lauren just being “general” or using something like when I say “I’ll fly right down there” and don’t literally mean fly, but mean get there swiftly?)
The other part of the song that I really am not sure what it means is, “So let all things be my life and breath”. Any ideas? Thank you.
Thank you so much for taking the time to comment, and I apologize for how long it has taken me to respond. If you take the approach of parsing out individual lines/phrases of the song to work out rescue mechanics for them, you’re probably going to be able to find a way to rescue most disparate lines except for outright heretical phrases, which are few in the pop evangelical industry. The problem is that when the song is taken as a whole, the messaging as a unit is primarily mystical rather than Biblical. That last line you asked about is nonsensical, it doesn’t complete a thought, which is an indicator of mysticism. The focus of the song is the singer rather than the Savior. We still ask God for things in our prayers, and do remember that the Holy Spirit is a Person of the Trinity and is God as Christ is God and the Father is God, yet there are not 3 Gods but One God (borrowing a bit from Athanasius). I hope this helps. The LORD be with you.