O Church, Arise – Keith Getty and Stuart Townend

 

What we might imagine in the form of armor, like that once worn by mounted troops in the French army (see the picture here), is what Keith Getty and Stuart Townend want Christians to think about as a metaphor for life in a spiritual struggle – one for which God has provided tools for the battle. Once you have this armor in place, you and your compatriots can say “O Church, Arise”, because then you are fully equipped for whatever comes your way. It was 2005, and Keith and Stuart had been at contemporary songwriting for some time, especially along themes meant to lift the church and remember what scripture says about its history and mission. There’s no better place to start than with what an apostle, a one-time staunch opponent of Christianity, had to say on the subject of spiritual battle.

 

Keith and Stuart needed no other circumstance or reason to write a new song in 2005, except that there was a sense that Christians needed a new injection of courage to wage the ongoing struggle with the forces of evil. And that was why they read what Paul had to say to some believers in a place called Ephesus a long time ago. What they read in Paul’s 11 verses (6:10-20) is packed with punch about how to defend oneself, and so these two songwriters took the words composed some 20 centuries earlier to construct their own musical version of this apostle’s directives. The ‘shield of faith’, ‘belt of truth’, and ‘sword’ (of truth) are part of the lyrical ‘armor’ that Keith and Stuart sing to stir others to exploit.  It’s clear that that the enemy is a ‘captor’, armed with ‘devil’s lies’, and that this is ‘war’ with ‘battle(s)’ to be fought against the forces of ‘darkness’. But lest those on the side of God misunderstand and engage in the battles the same way that the enemy does, Getty and Townend make it clear that the Christian’s mode of attack is with the unconventional. Love is our ‘battle cry’. Love is used multiple times in conjunction with ‘grace’ and ‘mercy’, for they are synonymous with the approach of our ‘captain’ – Christ. He modeled for His disciples in the few short years of His mission on earth how to behave, even unto death. It’s His ‘cross where love and mercy meet’, which initially gives Satan and his accomplices pride, but then he lies ‘crushed beneath His feet’ when the ‘Conqueror’ arises and ‘emerges’ from the sepulcher, giving all of us a reason to join in a ‘vic’try march’. Keith and Stuart conclude their four-verse hymn with a callout to the Spirit to strengthen those of us who are still here, with the help of aged believers and memories of those who’ve already gone on before us – the ‘saints of old’. We are not alone. Keith and Stuart also say that the following inspired much of their lyrics: 2 Corinthians 12:9, Isaiah 61:1-3, and Revelation 5:9-10.

 

And, as long as we stay connected to Him through a church of strong believers, we shall never be alone. No one aims to go be with God alone in the Afterlife. Read some more of Paul’s letters, and see if you discover some regular theme in how he concludes them. Paul must have thought that church was really crucial in the life and steadfastness of others whom he called brothers and sisters. A ‘holy kiss’ was one way that Paul often told his contemporaries to regard one another (Romans, 1 + 2 Corinthians, and 1 Thessalonians), and that’s one way to look at what Keith and Stuart have written in ‘O Church, Arise’. You sing what their poetry coaxes from deep inside your mind and spirit – the truths of where our faith is rooted, and the direction in which we are all headed. They have us sing ‘we’ no less than six times, and so we’re all aimed in the direction of His eternal embrace, and we’re already walking arm-in-arm with each other and in His Spirit. That’s church.

 

Read about the song’s meaning according to one of the composers/authors here: O Church Arise Lyrics - Stuart Townend

Read about the composers/authors here: O Church, Arise | Hymnary.org

Read about one of the composers here: Stuart Townend (musician) - Wikipedia

Read about one of the composers here: Keith Getty - Wikipedia

See here for how the song’s lyrics compare to scripture: Is 'O Church Arise' Biblical? | The Berean Test

 

See here for information about the image: Géricault - Portrait de carabinier - Louvre - Cuirass - Wikipedia. Artist Théodore Géricault (1791–1824)… The author died in 1824, so this work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or fewer. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1930.