The Blessing – God and Chris Brown, Cody Carnes, Kari Jobe and Steven Furtick

 

This one involved a lot of teamwork, across many centuries, and was refreshed by another team of musicians several millennia later. The scene was the Desert of Sinai (see satellite image here), and the one who initiated “The Blessing” was God, of course. He is the source of all blessings, is He not? He wanted to lift His people into a trust relationship with Himself, as they were preparing to enter a land some 3,500 years ago, underscoring His deliverance of this people from bondage and into a covenant that He had already extended to them. Blessing, His presence, His favor, and a peace that He was set to guarantee them. And so, Moses was directed to convey the message to his brother Aaron and Aaron’s sons, who had the blessed task of reporting this happy news to the masses. Corollaries to this covenant would be narrated orally unto generation-upon-generation in the succeeding 1,500 years, with one overarching message: God and the blessings of His presence are still with you. What four 21^st Century musical artists did in 2020 was to repeat this, with a musical style that emphasizes this message’s recurring nature. Imagine singing with all those generations who’ve already been blessed by Him, and spur on all those generations who will be blessed by Him in the future!

 

Yes, that’s right. If you notice, when you hear or sing ‘The Blessing’, that there is an awful lot of repetition in its words, you’re right. It’s just a phenomenon that speaks of the history of the words that Chris Brown, Cody Carnes, Kari Jobe, and Steven Furtick drew upon during the song’s development session. It was during a Thursday when the four were trying to hear what God was saying to them, and from what you and I can see in the lyrics, they heard Him over and over again through their bibles. God communicated something unique in the initial Sinai Desert blessing (Numbers 6:24-26). This benediction’s promise for the people of a thousand generations (Exodus 20:6 [God] and Deuteronomy 7:9 [Moses]) – that’s at least 20,000 years, approximately, wow! – and its transmission to this people’s descendants via so many other testifiers (like David, Solomon, Paul, and other anonymous writers in numerous books of the bible), really makes credible another emphasized point in the lyrics: the omnipresence of the great I AM and His indwelling Spirit (indicated in various scriptures – see link below to discussion of the song’s lyrics), in people and therefore in the writings they’ve contributed to the holy scriptures. From what Chris, Cody, Kari, and Steven have said, the Thursday writing session and the premier of the song a mere three days later in a church in Ballantyne, North Carolina just showed how much people in our world are thirsting for encouragement, direct from God Himself through their own bibles. Chris calls the song ‘relentless’ in its delivery of the message. It’s as if the four writers captured a vision of something in their North Carolina studio, and tried to imagine God’s voice carrying the tune throughout the 175 generations (3,500 years) since it was first hummed in His great heart. Do you think He’ll ever tire of telling us ‘I love you’?

 

God’s pledge was for ‘1,000 generations’, so it’s fair to say that you and I will be gone a pretty long time when that pledge is fully matured, assuming He meant literally 20,000 years when He first spoke those words. Will He allow you and me to someday appreciate His love nature completely, as He continues to draw people to Himself across the years yet to come? Only He can answer that, though He’s promised us we will see Him in all His glory. How many believers will His forbearance in all that projected time allow Him to receive unto Himself? Another unknown, at least to us here and now. No covenant ever made has come close to the one He’s pledged. I’m not a math major, but it would be eye-popping to discover what the final numbers are at the end of all this. Ready to meet the One who’s counting up the data?! Make sure you are in His Excel sheet.   

 

Song story is here: https://www.thechristianbeat.org/kari-jobe-cody-carnes-and-elevation-worship-release-the-blessing-live/

 

See here for discussion of the song’s lyrics: https://www.thebereantest.com/elevation-worship-feat-cody-carnes-kari-jobe-the-blessing

 

See here for information on the Sinai Desert-Peninsula: Sinai Peninsula - Wikipedia

 

See here for information on Mount Sinai: Mount Sinai (Bible) - Wikipedia

 

Public Domain status of the satellite view of Sinai Peninsula: The image is in the public domain in the United States because it was solely created by NASA. NASA copyright policy states that "NASA material is not protected by copyright unless noted". (See Template:PD-USGov, NASA copyright policy page or JPL Image Use Policy.)

No Sweeter Name – Kari Jobe

Music minister. Either of those words would be OK with Kari Jobe, but together they give her a mission. She might seem a bit like a youngster, so how could she advise or minister to anyone, you might wonder. After all, she was just 23 years old when she wrote “No Sweeter Name” in 2004. The truth is, she had been ‘minister’-ing through music for many years already, and by the time she’d graduated from college and became a professional, she’d known for over a decade what her calling was. This Jobe was in touch with her job, even before she attended school. Most children might think chocolate (see picture) is the sweetest creation, but Kari might have said something else.

Kari Jobe’s early life made an indelible mark on her.  She began singing in the church in Texas where her family took her when she saw just three years old. Perhaps her mother and father had spotted something special in their daughter, for Kari says she recalls worship music in their house that seemed to spawn her desire for praise. And, apparently the music was not mere words in the Jobe house. Its lyrics seemed to match what people they knew needed most, not surprising for a young girl whose father was a minister. You could imagine him spending lots of time with hurting people, exposing his family to their troubles, and to their cures too. Kari was taking a leading role in music ministry by high school-age, and her college study also steered her toward something she knew she’d wanted since the age of 10.  The words to “No Sweeter Name” are a reflection in 2004 of her already two-decade old experience.   She wanted to help broken people discover the therapy that she’d seen Jesus Christ use to mend others. It’s the psychology and pastoral studies degree she’d acquired in college being put into action.

Kari admits she likes being in touch with her emotions in music. There’s no mystery what emotion she’s driving at with “No Sweeter Name” – it’s love. But, that’s probably not enough to tell it all. Her aim seems to be imprinting Him on worshippers, to communicate that He’s everything. According to Jobe, He’s Life, Light, Hope, Truth, and not just one way, but the Way. Devotion, dependence on Him. It’s the life she seems to have lived since childhood, the experience He’s imprinted on her. She’s just trying to pass it on.

See these sites for information about the composer:

http://www.crosswalk.com/culture/music/new-artist-spotlight-kari-jobe-11605124.html?ps=0

http://www.newreleasetuesday.com/artistdetail.php?artist_id=1210

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kari_Jobe

http://karijobe.com/