Behind The Music: “Only Your Blood Is Enough”

This is a continuation of the “Behind The Music” series here on worship. vintage21.com, where we explain the meaning behind the songs we write. We didn’t write this new song, but I thought we’d do a reason why we’ve chosen to sing it on Sundays with Vintage21 Church.

We first heard this song at the Advance 09 Conference by the band from Sojourn Church in Louisville, KY. It was written by Neil Robbins, who is both the producer of their latest album and the author of this song, which was adapted from “Psalm 51, Part 2” by Isaac Watts. Upon hearing, the chorus became stuck in my head, due both to the catchy melody and repetition at the song’s end. This is important to note, as we can make the mistake of choosing songs that have amazing lyrics but lack melody. God knew what he was doing in creating music – it stirs the soul and heart, and is fun to take part in. Otherwise, we’d read in scripture of people joyously gathering only to read aloud, and we’d be compelled by the Holy Spirit to do the same. While there’s merit to corporate readings, I’m not even going to entertain an argument that attempts to place that on a level of worship through song. So we’ll move on.

The lyrics to this song are similar to Watts’ original hymn on which it is based, “Psalm 51, Part 2”. In that hymn, Watts takes Psalm 51 author David’s original confession of sin and plea for cleansing from sin and adds the declaration that in Jesus’ blood alone are we made pure. While the Old Testament stands as God’s Word, this is a liberty possessed by followers of Christ, which comes with the hindsight of viewing all of scripture through the lens of Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of God’s promise of salvation. In “Only Your Blood”, Neil Robbins takes the original lyrics and adapts them into a modern song structure of verses, choruses, and a bridge. Both the structure of the lyrics and the music enhance both David’s and Watts’ original intent to confess, plead and declare. Robbins changes the order of Watts’ hymn, but in doing so creates a greater movement from confession (verse one) to pleading for mercy (verse 2) to declaration and praise (bridge, verse 3), all the while coming back to a chorus created on the foundation upon which we stand “For only your blood is enough to cover my sin”. It’s worth noting that Robbins’ verses are not confined to four sentence blocks of those topics, but actually move in a fluid progression that transcends verses. Additionally, the music grows in instrumentation and intensity, and with more voices added to the mix the song moves well from solemn confession to serious plea to joyful declaration. For anyone attempting to sing this song corporately, these changes should be given proper attention – the dynamics provided by Robbins’ production are not for mere musical value. After leading this song on several Sundays, the band I lead has had to work to capture the energy and lift in the third verse. It appears mainly to be vocal-related in the recording, but even in the instruments it feels as if there’s a lift.

The brilliance of this song is found in how easy and compelling it is to sing about the blood of Jesus. While this topic is often paired with solemn dirge-like hymns, in doing so we make the same mistake Christians make when stopping at the horrors of the Cross without moving onto the Resurrection. While it’s important that it is actual blood spilled, Jesus didn’t come to impress us with his painful sacrifice, but through it to bring us into the freedom and joy of communion with the triune God. Neil Robbins and the musicians and of Sojourn Church strike this balance well; both lyrically and musically giving proper weight to our sin and the costly sacrifice while landing on the side of joy we find ourselves in as a result and praise Jesus deserves. I’m hard-pressed to think of a song that does this quite so well as “Only Your Blood.”

Finally, this song provides an opportunity for worship leaders and pastors to address a majority of scripture in one song. In preparing an introduction to singing it the first time (which I recommend, with several Old Testament references that may be lost for those without a church background), I found myself in a great deal of prayer and writing in order to keep from preaching for ten minutes. There is a lifetime of depth in the words, contained in a song easy to sing. I can only pray new music in churches moves in this direction.