The Contenders

Disclaimer:

1. I am not a musical expert. The opinions I give are just my thoughts as a listener.
2. The passages and theological observations made are what run through my mind when I listen. I have not spoken to the author regarding his or her theological convictions.

Theological Comment(s): This song highlights the mercy of God experienced in the extension of His forgiveness to rebellious sinners. The first verse reminds me of Micah 7:9 where God illustrates the forgiveness He grants with the image of throwing our sins into the sea to be forgotten forever. The chorus is an echo of Lamentations 3:22-23. God’s forgiveness does not mean that He intellectually forgets since God knows everything. Rather, the emphasis is on how God does not count those sins against us on the basis of our forgiveness. The believer’s forgiveness is extended through Christ and His sacrificial and substitutionary death.

Musical Comment(s): The musical appreciation I have with this song is its catchy and relatively easy melody. The melody is simple can easily be learned in a congregational setting. I also appreciate the simplicity of the song. It is mostly guitar, piano, bass, and strings. The cello adds a nice dimension that isn’t common in many contemporary Christian circles. I do think the setup is simple enough for most churches to play.

Recommendations: This is definitely a song for congregational worship. Simple melody, simple chorus, and deeply devotional. Of course, this is just as good for personal and family worship. I wouldn’t necessarily categorize this as “study music” or “chill music” since it has a strong contemporary worship feel.

Lyrics

VERSE 1
What love could remember no wrongs we have done
Omniscient, all knowing, He counts not their sum
Thrown into a sea without bottom or shore
Our sins they are many, His mercy is more

CHORUS
Praise the Lord
His mercy is more
Stronger than darkness, new every morn
Our sins they are many, His mercy is more

VERSE 2
What patience would wait as we constantly roam
What Father, so tender, is calling us home
He welcomes the weakest, the vilest, the poor
Our sins they are many, His mercy is more

VERSE 3
What riches of kindness he lavished on us
His blood was the payment, His life was the cost
We stood ‘neath a debt we could never afford
Our sins they are many, His mercy is more