Our God Is With Us [Storytellers]

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“Our God Is With Us” was written for “The Word” project to cover the theme of God’s constant presence throughout the Old Testament.

“The Word” is a project by North Side Worship telling the grand narrative of the Bible.  It is available at North Side (May 3, 2015) and iTunes (May 5, 2015).

Many of the songs on this project had a definite event or time period that they were covering.  Unless our night of worship was going to span over 4 hours, there were significant parts of the Old Testament and the New Testament that needed to be summarized.  When approaching the Old Testament, we were not going to be able to write an individual song about Joseph, Joshua, David, etc.  We needed something to summarize this section but also serve to unify them.

That thought was “Our God Is With Us.”

Song Info

  1. If you have ever sat in a class with me, you know that the phrase “God with us” is something that I think is one of the most critical phrases in the Bible.  At every stage, that phrase is used to distinguish the greatest promise given to God’s people.  In an attempt to bring many stories and lives together, we focused on this covenantal phrase.
  2. While God’s presence is implied through much of the narrative, it is also very explicit in certain portions.  We used Deut. 31:8 and Isa. 41:10 to be the rallying phrases for the chorus.
  3. Verse 1 focuses on the suffering Joseph endured and yet God’s promise over and over was that he was with him (Gen. 39:2; Gen. 39:21; Gen. 39:23; etc.).
  4. Verse 2 focuses on three individuals who were all overwhelmed by the task ahead and yet God’s promise to Moses (Ex. 3:12), Joshua (Josh. 1:5, 9), and Gideon (Judg. 6:12) was the same – God is with you.
  5. Verse 3 focuses on David as he walked through the shadow of death.  There was only one thing that could comfort him (Ps. 23:4).
  6. In attempt to show that these were different individual stories, we had a different man sing lead on each of those verses.
  7. We also switched intentionally between the singular and plural words which is what you normally shy away from in a song.  But in this case, we wanted an individual to be sharing his story, and then the community of faith say in the plural, “our God is with us” (which is also why the vocals all come together on those phrases and hold out on the others).
  8. The bridge focuses on some OT passages that reassure the people of God concerning God’s promise (Gen. 28:15; Deut. 1:30-31; 31:6; 31:8; Josh. 1:9; Isa. 41:10-13; 1 Chron. 28:20; Ps. 73:23-26; Jer. 31; Ps. 91; Hag. 1:13).
  9. We wrote the song in 3/4 to make it drive on these declarations.  It also intentionally mirrors the 3/4 of the New Testament song “What a Savior.”
  10. This song was one of the first that we sang as a congregation and has been one that is special for our church family to sing out.

The greatest promise of God is the presence of God.

What about salvation?  What about conversion?  The only way we can know the presence of God is through Christ’s sacrifice, so I still think that statement works.

I want to know God’s nearness more than I want to obtain his blessings.

Chord Chart: Our God Is With Us – C

Lyrics

VERSE 1
When evil overtakes my way
When those I love seek to betray
When I’m forgotten and dismayed
Our God is with us
VERSE 2
When the task is far too great
In times of fear I hesitate
And when there seems to be no way
Our God is with us
CHORUS
How could I fear or be dismayed
You never leave never forsake
Our only hope, our only trust
Our God is with us
VERSE 3
When I walk this valley’s steps
Covered by shadows of death
No evil shall I ever dread
Our God is with us
Our God is with us
BRIDGE
You go before, You go behind
You never once have left our side
For every step along the way, You’ve carried us
You go before, You go behind
You never once have left our side
And this one promise is enough, it is enough

OUR GOD IS WITH US LYRIC

Track Listing

  1. Let There Be (Creation)
  2. How We’ve Fallen (The Fall)
  3. No One Like Our God (Exodus)
  4. The Ten Commandments (Law)
  5. Our God Is With Us (Covenant)
  6. Enter His Gates (Psalms)
  7. Return to Me (Prophets)
  8. How Long O LORD (Exile)
  9. Fear Not (Incarnation)
  10. Amazed (Jesus’ Ministry)
  11. What a Savior (Passion Week)
  12. Come Holy Spirit (Pentecost)
  13. Day By Day (Church)
  14. You Alone Are God (Trinity)
  15. Your Word (Epistles)
  16. Faithful and True (Revelation)

“The Word” is a project by North Side Worship telling the grand narrative of the Bible.  It is available at North Side (May 3, 2015) and iTunes (May 5, 2015).