13TH ANNUAL WE LOVE CHRISTIAN MUSIC AWARDS: Voting Starts Monday 12/2 | Tickets On Sale - Live Ceremony 4/8
BEHIND THE SONG WITH KEVIN DAVIS
#1221 - "What He Says About You" by Unspoken
Lead vocalist Chad Mattson shares the heartfelt story behind the band's new song
 


BEHIND THE SONG WITH KEVIN DAVIS, #1221 -
Posted: July 10, 2024 | By: KevinDavis_NRT
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Unspoken's album, The Reason, which features the standout songs "Reason," "You've Always Been," and "Help is on the Way," was my Top Album of 2019. Returning with new music for the first time in four years, Unspoken released a five-song EP inspired by the book of Psalms last year, God Help Me, which features five songs, including "God Help Me."

The songs on God Help Me celebrate God's sovereignty, professing that God is the ultimate Ruler over our lives. I love how this song expresses the truth of our earthly challenges. This song has resonated with me as I realize that Jesus commands us to trust God completely, no matter our circumstances or personal distractions or concerns.

It's refreshing how, in this age of lyrical ambiguity, there is no question that this band is sold out for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Returning with "What He Says About You," Unspoken offers a great example of how you can write and sing lyrics unashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and reach the lost with transparent confessions of faith. Every thought and lyric in this song is rooted in Scripture, which I admire. I had the chance to speak with Unspoken's lead vocalist, Chad Mattson, about "What He Says About You."

 


Please tell me the personal story behind this song.

There are a million voices vying for our attention--social media, news, culture, peers, not to mention the voices in our heads. It's a struggle to hear the truth among the lies. We wrote this song with our daughters in mind, wanting to remind them that there's only one voice that really matters: the voice of Jesus. Paul states in 1 Corinthians 4:3-4, "It matters very little how I might be evaluated by you or by any human authority. I don't even trust my own judgment on this point. My conscience is clear, but that doesn't prove I'm right. It is the Lord himself who will examine me and decide."

I don't know what voices you're hearing today, but the word of God always brings us back to reality in truth. You are loved, chosen, and treasured. That is the truth. Don't give power to the lies you may tell yourself or that are spoken over you because truly, the only thing that matters is what He says about you.

Which Bible verses connect to the message of the song?

Psalm 139:14 (NIV): "I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well."
 
Psalm 139:17-18 (NKJV): "How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You."

Ephesians 2:10 (NLT): "For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago."

Romans 8:31 (NIV): "What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?"
 
John 1:12 (NIV): "Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God."
 
1 John 3:1 (NLT): "See how very much our Father loves us, for He calls us His children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don't recognize that we are God's children because they don't know Him."

Romans 8:11 (VOICE): "If the Spirit of the One who resurrected Jesus from the dead lives inside of you, then you can be sure that He who raised Him will cast the light of life into your mortal bodies through the life-giving power of the Spirit residing in you."
 
John 8:36 (NIV): "So, if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."
  
John 1:12 (NIV): "Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God." 
 
2 Corinthians 5:20 (NIV): "I am an ambassador for Christ."

1 Peter 2:9 (NIV): "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."

What is the takeaway message?

The world will tell us it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks about us--it only matters what we think about ourselves. Paul shows us in the Bible that we can't even trust our own feelings. Only through trusting what God says about us can we have true freedom from the lies that others tell us and the lies we tell ourselves. And what does God tell us? As we place our faith in the finished work of Christ, the Father sees us and says, "You are my beloved child in whom I am well pleased."

Lyrics

You had a light
Till somebody stole it
The words that they said cut you like a knife
They called you a name you started to own it
You hear the echoes in the dead of night

Tired of the cheap shots 
Comin at you nonstop
Leavin' marks on your heart 
Like a tattoo
Drowning on the inside
Reaching for a lifeline
Let these be the words that you hold onto 

You are loved
Chosen
Long before the day you were born
You are held
Forgiven
Treasured more than you'll ever know
When the lies get loud
Let the truth ring out
Till the only thing you're listening to
Is what he says about you

And If the hands 
That gave you a heartbeat 
Are the same hands that painted the stars 
Then child of the one true God 
Tell me how could you not
Believe that you're a work of art

The only thing that matters
Is what he says about you


Closing Thoughts

God is love. We love because He first loved us. Have joy and worship loudly about the love of God in your life. His grace takes away anxiety, guilt, and shame. Know that being His is enough.

"What He Says About You" is a daily prayer, asking God to come and change our hearts and lives. Only Jesus can give us our identity. What a powerful expression of what it means to accept that God never leaves or forsakes us. He's all we need. I sing this song to God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength.

You can rest upon the wise words in Romans 8:31: "If our God is for us, who can stand against us?" Nothing can separate us from His love. For the Son has risen, and sin and death are conquered. 

God pours out His mercy despite what we've done. And there's nothing we can do except trust in His son, Jesus. We can't earn heaven--it's only through complete surrender to Jesus and putting our hope in Him that we can be saved. He wants to give us life and never let us go. That's something worth singing about.

This song reminds us of the kind of heart we should have as people valued by God and as Christians who can communicate our value to others. For me, songs such as "What He Says About You" provide opportunities for God to whisper to me my identity. It's not found in what I do or don't but in who I am and, more importantly, to whom I belong. 

We can all celebrate the truth behind this song. We're fearfully, wonderfully, and perfectly made, singing to God with all our hearts: "When the lies get loud/Let the truth ring out/Till the only thing you're listening to is what He says about you." Amen to that.

NRT lead contributor Kevin Davis is a long-time Christian music fan and an avid collector. He credits the message of Christian music for leading him to Christ. He lives in Pennsylvania with his wife and three daughters.

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13TH ANNUAL WE LOVE CHRISTIAN MUSIC AWARDS: Voting Starts Monday 12/2 | Tickets On Sale - Live Ceremony 4/8

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