What is your favorite song? Do you have a favorite song when it comes to praising the Lord? Have you ever wondered where that song came from?
The Lord has blessed us with music that we are able to give back to Him in praise. There are examples throughout scripture of believers singing in joy, heartache, victory, thanksgiving, wonder, and adoration. There are even times that the Lord tells us to sing praise to Him, so it’s no surprise that songs have been written and sung about His greatness and love for generation upon generation.
The Lord has blessed Rivertree with pastors who are gifted in composing songs so that we can praise Him together with one voice, and they work hard to honor the Lord with their gifts.
For months, Josh and Allen sought the Lord in writing a song that was specifically for us as a congregation to join in worship together. They had noticed the songs our church loves to sing are those in which the verses inform us of what the Word says; with bold, exclamatory choruses, proclaiming a simple truth.
They gave this request to the Lord, and one night, Josh woke up needing to write. “I just couldn’t stop,” he told us. He wrote and wrote, but what he wrote was not music. It was not a rhythm, a note, or a cadence. It was the truth of the Gospel. It was “Biblical theology- front to back,” from Genesis to Revelation.
This writing became the beautiful and informative lyrics that would make up the verses of the song. What was missing, was the bold, exclamatory chorus that proclaimed a simple truth. It took an outside set of eyes at a songwriters convention to notice the personal and intimate reaction to the Gospel, typed plainly at the bottom of the page: How could I not be moved?
The information on the page led to the good and right reaction to what Christ has done for us. Josh’s heart had been shaken, stirred, moved. It’s a chorus we can sing over and over. How could we not be moved? Knowing who God is, how we need Him, and what He has done for us should regularly move our hearts. If it doesn’t, we either don’t understand or something is in the way. Allen put it this way, “It’s a wonderful question. It’s worthy of asking every Sunday.”
We have been singing this song at Rivertree, and it was written specifically for our congregation to sing together, but we also hope this song reaches beyond our local body for the glory of our God. Josh told us that, “You can be writing a song for a specific community, but if it’s the gospel, it’s for everybody.”
How Could We Not Be Moved will be released August 18 on YouTube, Spotify, and iTunes, and we want everyone to have access to it. This song has already blessed many of us at Rivertree, and we hope it will continue to bless our congregation as well as people beyond our walls: not for our glory, but for His. We hope people will use this song to sing of God’s glory and give praise, and that what He has done will move them to love Him and those around us even more deeply.
Please come back to our website August 18 for the release of How Could We Not Be Moved. Chord charts, links, verses, and other resources will be made available so that other believers and churches can freely worship the Lord with this song if they so choose. Thank you, Rivertree for your love and fellowship in sharing the gospel and our lives together.