This is one of those newer Christian songs that just cuts you deep to the core and waters your faith. Matt Maher does a great job with this song. He conveys God’s Gospel message, loud and clear: that we cannot save ourselves and that we need Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. This ought to be an anthem of Christian life, day in and day out.
Matt said the following about this song: “The Church gets together every week, and we worship, and we remember the Gospel, and we remember the Old and New Testaments, and we sing songs. Even the new songs that we write and sing, they come out of this legacy of these old songs. The song ‘Lord, I Need You’ comes out of and is influenced and inspired by that hymn ‘Lord, Every Hour I Need Thee.’”
He continues: “I think that C.S. Lewis said it best – he wrote a book called ‘The Four Loves’ – and he said: ‘There’s a type of love that you never mature out of’ and he called it ‘Need Love.’ It is basically the love that you have for God that comes out of the point of your need and it’s not something that you’re ever really going to grow out of.”
He concluded: “And I think that’s uncomfortable for a lot of us. We live in a time and age where we want to be self-sufficient and self-reliant and determined. And so all of a sudden we hear this message on church on Sunday that someone says: ‘You have to admit that you need God.’ That is kind of uncomfortable for us. But I have found so much reassurance and so much hope in knowing that in every hour and every moment that I need Him, He is ready to meet my needs. And He will never leave me nor forsake me. And I think that’s worth something to sing into.”
The lyrics for verse 1 are:
“Lord I come, I confess. Bowing here, I find my rest. Without You, I fall apart. You're the One that guides my heart.”
Matt reverently opens his song with the imagery of bowing prostrate before God – just as we bow in our hearts at each Divine Worship Service in our church. Without God, we are a chaotic mess. It is only in God that we can find true peace and rest.
“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28 NIV)
The lyrics for the chorus are:
“Lord, I need You, oh, I need You. Every hour, I need You. My one defense, my righteousness. Oh God, how I need You.”
This is where we can definitely see the influence of the old hymn that Matt mentioned earlier. Apart from God, we are helpless and defenseless against the attacks of Satan, the world, and our own sinful flesh. Apart from God, we have no righteousness. Apart from God, we can bear no fruit for His Kingdom.
“[Jesus said,] I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5 ESV)
The lyrics of verse 2 are:
“Where sin runs deep, Your grace is more. Where grace is found is where You are. And where You are, Lord, I am free. Holiness is Christ in me.”
This chorus is not only catchy, but it is chalk full of the Gospel message of Jesus Christ. For starters, no matter how deep or how much you have sinned, the grace and mercy found only in Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection for the atonement of ALL those sins is deeper and greater.
God’s grace, mercy, forgiveness, and love is proven to us by the cross that Jesus was crucified on for us and in our place. We are the ones that deserve to be crucified. But He loves us too much to let that happen to us. All He requires is belief in Jesus as your Lord and Savior and a penitent heart – which go hand-in-hand together.
Jesus Christ is our only defense against evil and our only way to righteousness and salvation – eternal life – in heaven with Him.
“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.” (1 Peter 3:18 ESV)
The lyrics for the bridge are:
“So teach my song to rise to You, when temptation comes my way. And when I cannot stand, I'll fall on You. Jesus, You're my hope and stay.”
Matt asks God in his song for the way of escape whenever facing the temptations of this life and to keep his eyes fixed on Jesus. This is a great reminder for us all. Temptations will come. Sometimes, you will fail. You can resist the temptations through God’s Word and prayer. And when you fail – and fail you will – you can trust that Jesus will forgive you for that too. Thanks be to God!
“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV)
Soli Deo Gloria!
Philip Frank
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