You Fight On

I just finished a great book that came out a few years ago, called “Why Men Hate Going to Church“. The author makes the point that in order to reach the world, you’ve got to reach men. And in order to reach men, there are some things to consider about men – what they like/don’t like, what inspires them, who they ARE (not necessarily who they should be).

Its a very thought-provoking book, and he makes some points about worship and singing that are interesting. Some worship leaders might even be offended by what he had to say about the types of songs we sing. We’re all trying to connect with God, and help the church to connect with God. He makes the point that some of these songs we sing have lyrics that are so intimate, so feminine… and his point is just that we can get off balance.

I do think that the Psalms should be a great foundational reference point. And they have such a balance of the masculine and feminine sides of worship. They have messages of depth and delight, connection and intimacy (“My soul pants for you” Ps 42, “My heart and flesh cry out for the living God” Ps 84, “He restores my soul” Ps 23, “All my inmost being praise…” Ps 103). But they also have messages of the battle, of conquest, risk, danger, strength, and victory (“He trains my hands for battle” Ps 18, “He will trample down our enemies” Ps 108, “You give us victory” Ps 44, “flashing arrows, shields, swords, weapons of war” Ps 76). The Psalms have lyrics that chronicle all God has done, his creation, our history, the great cosmic struggle of which we are a part.

I have noticed in my role as a worship director interacting with church leaders through the years that we need the intimate, emotional moments of connection in our worship services. But we also need to sing songs about the battle, about going and doing something – changing the world. There are some great old songs with this masculine bend (“Soldiers of Christ Arise”, “Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus”, “Rise Up O Men of God”). I’ve tried to write songs to serve that purpose as well – like “Great Among the Nations,” “For All Generations”, “By Faith”, “Every Knee Will Bow”, and others.

We had a time of singing with just the brothers at the recent International Leadership Conference. It was great. One of the songs we sang was an old song called “You Fight On”. I had written new lyrics for the verses a while back when we did a worship series on godly relationships (that’s a topic we need more songs about, by the way). I had several ask me to get a copy of the new lyrics and so I promised to post them. It’s a really simple song, but one the church loves to sing, particularly the bro’s. (Hey, guys are simple, right?). “You say a prayer, you sing a song, and you fight on…”

YOU FIGHT ON (w/new lyrics)

You fight on, you fight on
You fight on, you fight on
Put your hand in God’s hand
And you fight on, you fight on

If you feel your hope is gone
And if this world has done you wrong
You say a prayer, you sing a song
And you fight on, you fight on…

Need a friend to stand next to
We’ll fight together, me and you
And two by two, we can be strong
And you fight on, you fight on…

God will hear you when you call
He’ll always lift you if you fall
His love we’re depending on
And you fight on, you fight on…

(chorus)
G D / G C
G D / G C
G D/F# / emin D
G C / G

(verse)
G D / G C (repeating)

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