Ever Your God

[ In the spring of 2022, I asked a group of exceptionally talented students to join me on my annual Easter: Stories and Songs tour. The show had been on a two-year COVID-induced hiatus, and I really wanted to introduce something new as we returned to the road.

Easter: Stories and Songs consists of 10 original songs and original readings that tell the story of the days leading up to Christ’s resurrection. The students joined us and performed five songs that chronicle the events of a few days in the story of Israel—the crossing of the Red Sea to the promise of their covenant with God. The songs foreshadow in theme and melody the greater liberation we celebrate in Easter: Stories & Songs.

I was floored as the students put flesh around the words and music. They truly brought these five songs to life. These songs performed by these very students will be the next five of the 52 Songs project. Milton Chamblee designed an alternative logo for the songs to set them apart within the project. I am so excited to share them with you! ]

Exodus: Act I, Song 5 – Ever Your God

God responds to Israel’s complaints in the desert not by defending himself, not by proving that He was who He said he was or that He would do what He said He’d do. They will learn all of that soon enough. No, God responds to their concern by assuring them of his presence. The journey will not be easy but he will be with them every step of the way.

Their march through the desert will be decades long, but they will never move beyond full dependence upon Him for their food, for their water, for their protection, for their life. That is by design. God freed them from bondage in Egypt not so that they would be independent, but so that they would become more and more dependent upon Him. God freed them to enter into a covenant relationship with Himself. The path from the Red Sea to the Promised Land runs through Mount Sinai. True freedom is found only through relationship with God.

Soon, they will find themselves at the foot of Sinai. Soon, they will enter into the covenant that will define not only who they are but whose they are. Soon, they will be gifted the Tabernacle as a physical manifestation of God’s presence with them.

No, God does not rebuke them for their doubt because He knows what they will soon learn. He saved them. He will sustain them. And best of all, he will remain with them, faithful to the very end.

Credits

Words & Music: Bill Wolf
Produced: Kyle Haas
Videography: Alyssa Shepherd

Vocals: Chloe McCarthy
Piano & Backing Vox: Keaton Stone
Acoustic & Backing Vox: Haley Mailhot
Electric & Backing Vox: Ben McDuffie
Drums: Drew Walburg
Bass: Jamey Gorman