Sovereign Grace Music have served the church for over 30 years by
writing theologically rich and doctrinally sound songs with contemporary music.
In 2014 they released an album called “Prepare Him Room”. The title
makes it pretty obvious that the album is centered around the birth of Jesus.
The really short review would be that that album is excellent. I
only bought the album just before last Christmas (2015), but we listened to it
on repeat in the car for about a month, and this year we are enjoying it again.
There’s a great balance of traditional Christmas carols (such as O
Come All Ye Faithful, Hark The Herald Angels Sing, Joy To The World), some with
new arrangements and others with with additional lyrics, as well as some
wonderful new songs written specifically for this project.
One of the new songs, which is the favourite of our girls, is called
“Who would have dreamed”. It speaks of the how there was a promise of a coming
King, God’s Anointed One, but when He arrived, He was not what was expected.
The chorus goes like this:
“And who would have dreamed or ever
foreseen
That we could hold God in our hands?
The Giver of Life is born in the night
Revealing God’s glorious plan
To save the world”
Another of the new songs called “He who is Mighty” has some
wonderful lines in it, but I really like the way that is uses the start of
Mary’s song in Luke 1 to form the bridge section:
“Now my soul magnifies the Lord
I rejoice in the God Who saves
I will trust His unfailing love
I will sing His praises all my days”
Lastly let me quote some of my favourite lines from “Our God Made
Low”. It’s another of the new songs and the lyrics are very clever at capturing
the mind-blowing truth of the incarnation:
“In cattle stall they find a girl
Who holds the hope of all the world”
“As He sleeps upon the hay
He holds the moon and stars in place
Though born an infant He remains
The sovereign God of endless days”
Most of the songs on the album could be sung congregationally, whether you have a lone piano or a full band, which
I believe is a real blessing to the church. It means we can have fresh songs to
sing together that will encourage us to marvel at the awesome nature of the
incarnation.
And yet, at the same time, the album is great to have on in the car
or around the house in the lead up to Christmas.
I warmly recommend it to you. It will bless your heart by pointing
you to Jesus.
