"We pour out our miseries God just hears a melody beautiful the mess we are the honest cries of breaking hearts are better than a Hallelujah. " - Chapin Hartford and Sarah Hart.
There's a new song by Amy Grant that I love. It reminds me of vintage Amy Grant, the kind of song she'd sing when she was a teenager. She didn't write it though. It was written by two women, Chapin Hartford and Sarah Hart. In concerts she has stated that she feels privileged to be able to sing it. I've read that Amy loved the lyrics and that they ministered to her following the death of a friend. She reportedly said: "The song is just so poignant and redemptive. In the lyric, there is no religious code or lingo going on and the message is true, it's good news. I love every scenario it's painting." (reference: Songfacts)
At first I was a bit taken aback because it seemed the writers were presuming what God thinks. Then I remembered that we have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16).
I was also wondering about the subjects dealt within the song because it seemed counter to what we hear all the time, that we should praise God and sing during the crises and troubles. Doesn't Psalm 22:3 say that God inhabits the praises of His people? 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says "In everything give thanks." And I do believe that. I think that we should claim our victories and acknowledge His grace and mercy and healing even when we don't see it.
But in Psalm 142, David said he pours out his complaints to The Lord and he tells Him his troubles. He also acknowledges that God alone is his refuge but he does cry out. I'm also reminded of 2 Corinthians 4:8 where Paul acknowledges "trouble on every side" and being perplexed and distressed, etc. The key is that they were not defeated.
What this song says to me is that God is waiting for us to come to the end of ourselves. He loves our cries that are without some vain religious prescription, our acknowledgement that we cannot do anything to save ourselves. He welcomes our complete dependence on him. He is waiting to be gracious. That is why these cries are better than a Hallelujah sometimes. The Hallelujahs may be empty and vain, and of course, they can also be sincere and anointed. But a genuine cry for help is an opening for The Holy Spirit to minister and work in us to bring us to a place of trust and sincerity. We then can have the confidence spoken of in 2 Corinthians 3 because we realize our sufficiency is not of ourselves or but of Christ.
Here are the lyrics:
God loves a lullaby
In a mothers tears in the dead of night
Better than a Hallelujah sometimes.
God loves the drunkards cry,
The soldiers plea not to let him die
Better than a Hallelujah sometimes.
We pour out our miseries
God just hears a melody
Beautiful the mess we are
The honest cries of breaking hearts
Are better than a Hallelujah.
The woman holding on for life,
The dying man giving up the fight
Are better than a Hallelujah sometimes
The tears of shame for what's been done,
The silence when the words won't come
Are better than a Hallelujah sometimes.
Better than a church bell ringing,
Better than a choir singing out, singing out.
Better than a Hallelujah sometimes.
God loves the drunkards cry,
The soldiers plea not to let him die
Better than a Hallelujah sometimes.
We pour out our miseries
God just hears a melody
Beautiful the mess we are
The honest cries of breaking hearts
Are better than a Hallelujah.
The woman holding on for life,
The dying man giving up the fight
Are better than a Hallelujah sometimes
The tears of shame for what's been done,
The silence when the words won't come
Are better than a Hallelujah sometimes.
Better than a church bell ringing,
Better than a choir singing out, singing out.