Join the Triumph is the sophomore release from Seattle- based Citizens & Saints, and it was one of my top 10 worship albums of 2014. In 2013 they released their debut album as Citizens, which included the hit song "Made Alive." That eponymous album was one of my top 10 worship albums of 2013.

I really enjoy the exciting musical vibe of the new album, and the melodies and lyrics are all catchy and biblical. It is loaded with great rock beats, catchy melodies and solid lyrics reflecting unashamed faith in Jesus. Everything we do and everything we have needs to come from the place of who we are in Jesus. 

There's safety and security in the knowledge of our Savior and Redeemer. This album proclaims that Truth in every single song, especially in the singles, "You Brought Me Back to Life" and "The Mighty Hand of God." I had the chance to speak with Zach Bolen about "The Mighty Hand of God."
    
Please tell me the personal story behind this song.

In hindsight, I realize now that one of the things that spurred on this song, along with the other original songs on the record, was that they were written during the time that the Pastor of Mars Hill and we members were going through a lot of tough times. These songs spoke to what we were going through, or they were a call to what I thought we should be focused on. 

The songs "You Have Searched Me" and "Father You Are All We Need" were because we needed some contemplative songs. We had been banging the drum of celebration for a long time, but I felt that there had been some fatigue when we gathered together corporately because we were forgetting about other ways God has given us to express our love, adoration and even our lament. 

This song was unique in particular. As we were going through everything at our church, I was going through 1st Peter 5 and seeing the passage "Therefore humble yourselves under the Mighty Hand of God." I was so struck by that because the imagery at first to me was one of force. Then I started thinking about God's character and how many times we say "God's hand will provide." But it's not a super explicit characteristic of God that's described a whole lot throughout the Bible. The majority of the time that it's used in the Old Testament, it's used for judgment. 

The one thing that's really unique is if you just focus on that, like taking something out of context that a celebrity or athlete does, or a pastor does, if you take it out of context, you may think that God is a God of wrath. The truth is that God is a wonderful God of love. He's a Shepherd. That's what we see throughout the Bible, is that God's hand is constantly shepherding us, guiding us, holding us and securing us. With the New Covenant, we see with God's hands that He puts us in a place of saying "you are Mine, I delight in you, I love you, and there's nothing that can alter this standing that you have with Me" as referenced in Romans 8.

Which Bible verses connect to the message of the song?

1 Peter 5:6-7 (NKJV): Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

Romans 8:38-39 (NIV): "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Hebrews 13:5 (NKJV): Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."

What is the takeaway message?

First and foremost, the song is about humbling ourselves before the mighty hand of God because we need to see who we are before Him and that we are nothing without God, and that we are not God. We need God to come and show us who we truly need and who we really are. 

Secondly, we aren't meant to look at God's hand just as a very forceful hand. Rather than dealing with our sins as we deserved, he dealt with our sins through Jesus. It's crazy when you think about how we deserved that penalty, but the way we deserved to be dealt with is how God dealt with His Son. All the force we see inflicted and put on Jesus was instead of us, and we received His incredible hand of grace. 

He pulls us in as His children, and He doesn't wait to clean us up, doesn't wait until we have our best clothes on, but He adopts us as His sons and daughters. When you get that imagery in your head, this idea of God's hand really comes to life-- from the most practical ways like sustenance and provision and food, all the way up to our souls and God caring for them continually and shepherding us. That's what this song is meant to depict.

From a theological standpoint, Jesus is the revelation of God. He is God in flesh. When you think of the Hand of God, it is easier for us as humans to relate to Jesus. Passages like Hebrews 2, and really a lot of the Book of Hebrews, deal with how Jesus dealt with what we deal with, and He is a High Priest who made Himself nothing and experienced everything we experience, apart from sin. 

Because Jesus is an exact imprint of God, the same hand that created the Earth was nailed to the Cross. The same hand that crafted and molded the depth of the seas and the mountains, crafted and molded us. That's such a humbling thought. That really makes that 1st Peter passage come to life for me. Humble yourselves under the Mighty Hand of God. The Mighty Hand of God created everything, and created us. It opens my eyes and makes me want to worship God. 

We use the imagery of having too much on our plates, and for God He has everything balanced in His hand, like the old children's hymn, "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands." Every minute detail that this entire humanity has experienced, God has known, and He is in control of His people, comforting and shepherding them.

Lyrics:
The mighty hand of God that made the heavens and the earth
Was held by nails upon the cross to bear the sinner's curse
The mighty hand of God undoes the wretched work of sin
Restores our lost and dying souls to victory in Him

He will never let us go, the grip of God will hold
He will never let us go, the grip of God will hold
He will never let us go

The mighty hand of God remains
His faithfulness is sure
To hold our lives within His grasp
In Christ we are secure
Even though our hearts are prone to wander
We could never run beyond His reach
Nothing in the world could separate us
From the love of Christ our King

The song has such a contemporary sound, and the message is inspirational for followers of Jesus regardless of your musical preference. The energy and excitement of this album is infectious. You won't be able to help wanting to dance and sing along with this exciting new song of praise. I'm both challenged and entertained by this song and album, and I love hearing Scripture proclaimed in fresh and exciting ways. Every song is emotionally stirring and rooted in the Truth of God's Word. 

This song excites me as a worshiper to sing directly to Jesus, and it is one of my favorite songs of the year. Music is a window into people's souls, and once you've been grabbed by the musical hook of this song, there is a range of emotions in the lyrics: reverence, awe and celebration. When you read the Psalms, you see that same range of emotions, crying out to God for help and also celebrating and revering Him and His goodness.

This song is an amazing picture of the grace of God. As Christians, we all have a reason to reflect on God's Holy and Perfect sacrifice of His Son Jesus. He died for us so that through Him we might know God's righteousness. We can't earn grace, and we can't do anything to gain life other than accept Jesus. What if we lived as though we believe the sincere words of this song? Jesus loves us so much He came down and took our punishment so that we can be with Him forever.

I can't get enough of the Biblical truth of the song, and I love when artists take God's Word from the Bible and turn it into a great and catchy song filled with truth. I sing this song to God with all of my heart and know that "No height, no depth could ever separate us, from the power of His great love!" The timeless passage, Romans 8:28-29, has application for us today when we question whether God can really love us after all of our mistakes. As this song proclaims, "Even though our hearts are prone to wander, We could never run beyond His reach, Nothing in the world could separate us, From the love of Christ our King." Amen to that!

(Watch the lyric video here.)