Songs of Worship: Jireh

By Christine Barela

WARNING…..…the following passage is PG-13 due to potential violence.

Today, a father was found guilty of tying up his teenage son, placing him on a wood pile, knife pulled. What, you may be asking yourself? Has this father lost his mind?

This scene may seem to come from a horror movie, but my friend, it comes straight from the Bible. Genesis 22, in fact. Some of you may be thinking, oh yes, the Old Testament, where God pours his wrath down on his people because they continue to turn from him. But if you look further, the real story is that God showed incredible grace and mercy towards his people throughout the Old Testament and gave them multiple chances to turn from their sinful choices. When they repeatedly repented and followed God, He showered blessing and favor upon them. Like He does today. Sometimes, we may skim over all the numerous blessings he showered on the Israelites! Just like we may do in our own lives, focusing on the negative things and not all the blessings God has provided us. Do you find yourself doing that?

Before we dive into the worship song, “Jireh,” take a minute to click the link to listen or read the words to the song before I take you through the story of Abraham and where God provides!

Read Lyrics HERE.

Listen HERE.

Okay, so let’s look at the father and son situation. This story backs up to Genesis 12 when people are wicked and not following the Lord, and the Lord decides to do something about it and chooses Abram, an ordinary man, and tells Abram, “leave your country, your people, and your father’s household and go to the land I show you” and makes this promise to Abram:

 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you;

 I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.

 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you, I will curse;

 And all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

Wow! What a promise, and all Abram had to do was obey God! Sounds so easy, right? Well…..not exactly. Now, think for a moment: Abram and his wife, Saria, were living with their people, their family, their friends, their community, their church, their favorite restaurants, and Starbucks, and probably quite content. And certainly with the sense of safety living with a group of people they loved and trusted. Think about the ask that God had for Abram. Leave all you know, your family, your familiar places, your friends, your culture, and move across the country with your wife, nephew Lot, and all your possessions to a strange place where you do not know anyone. And quite possibly, not too friendly, and potential violence towards his family. Although that ask was huge, the next part about the promise to make him into a great nation when he was already 75 years old, and his wife Sarai was barren and 65 years old, now that was simply impossible. How could one even begin to believe that promise? But Abram did not question God and did as God instructed. Abram had faith and trust in God, even when it seemed impossible. Do you have or desire this kind of faith? I desire to have it, and we can!

At this point, you may be wondering what all this has to do with the worship song “Jireh.” Hang tight. I am getting there, but we need to fill in the gaps and recognize the power and timing of the Lord our God and how in His time He provides and not in our time. As well as he stands in the gaps for us when we make a decision contrary to what he wants for us. His will prevails, but we must have faith, obey, act, and trust like Abram.

Continuing with Abram who made some bad choices and took matters into his own hands because he was scared and doubted the depth and breadth of God’s promise, just as many of us may do. For instance, twice, he lied and told two kings that Sarai, his wife, was his sister. She was so beautiful he was afraid they would kill him and take her. Even though the Lord told him to go to these places and he would make Abram's descendants into a great nation, he still doubted the Lord would protect him, so he took matters into his own hands. Sound familiar? On two separate occasions, yes, he did it twice; two kings, at two different times, took Sarai into their palace. Only soon to learn that she was Abram’s wife and not his sister. The hand of God intervened, and the kings gladly gave Sarai back, along with many material items, which made Abram wealthier. Hmmmm…..Abram doubted but, God still intervened and not only protected Abram, but the Lord gave him much wealth. You see, God knew Abram’s heart; he really did love the Lord, but his human side showed up, and he became fearful and then acted on his limited worldly view instead of fully and completely trusting the Lord. The Lord knew his heart and showed mercy on Abram as he does with us every day. But if we are not looking for how God shows us grace and mercy, we may miss it.

As the story goes, Abram doubts, and God reminds. Abram doubts, and God reminds. And this goes on for 24 years. Well, Sarai was getting anxious and thinking they would never have descendants so God could bless, so Abram and Sarai took action to ensure they had descendants for God to bless. They decided to have Sarai's maidservant, Hagar, become with Abram’s child, whom they named Ishmael. Hmmmm…..not exactly God’s plan, but, well, close enough, right? They can help God, right? This is what he wants. Do you ever do this? Take pre-mature action on what God is calling you to do because it is taking too long?

Once again, God intervenes and protects Hagar and Ishmael from Abram disobeying him, again. (See Genesis 16)

Abram, now Abraham, 99 years old, and Saria, now Sarah, 89 years old, still did not have a child together. Jeesh, you have to wonder what in the world is going on.

Can you imagine with me for a moment, it was 24 years, 24 years after God spoke to Abraham and promised him a great nation. Wow! It is easy to see why Abraham took matters into his own hands. From the human perspective, it makes sense. But God’s perspective is not our perspective. We are confined to our limited understanding of how the universe works and not the infinite wisdom of our Lord. His ways are not our ways. Oh ya, He created everything. EVERYTHING. I forget that sometimes, do you? When I really stop to meditate on that, it is powerful and brings me much peace, faith, trust, and joy.

So, Abraham, 100 years old, and Sarah, 90 years old, finally had a son. Yay! They named him Isaac.

Finally, we get to the headlines of the father with his knife pulled over his teenage son tied on the wood pile. You see, God wanted to test Abraham and told him to take his only son, promised to him and Sarah, and sacrifice him as a burnt offering. Abraham did not flinch; he did not question; he immediately obeyed and set out the next morning to do just what the Lord commanded. Three days later, God showed him where to make his sacrifice. As Abraham and Isaac headed to the spot, Isaac asked his father where the lamb was for the burnt offering. Abraham told his son, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering.”

If you were Abraham, how would you feel? Could you carry out such a command? Well, we know God will not call us to do such a tragic act (thank goodness), but today, when God calls you to do something you think, what? No way! Not that! Not me! I am not capable! That's impossible! What will people think? I don’t have the skill set. I don’t have the time. Well, friend, if you do, you are not alone. I am right there with you. But I am learning to lean into His calling, and He is helping me take small steps, leading me to bigger steps to serve Him. One step at a time. Are you ready to take the small steps to listen to His calling? I promise if you do, you will soon be able to take the giant leap of faith when He calls you. And boy, that is living life to the full as promised in John 10:10.

So, together, let’s be more like Abraham and obey God’s voice in our life!

As you may know, the story has a great ending. God provided a lamb, and Abraham did not have to offer his only son, Isaac, as a burnt offering to the Lord. From that day forward, the Lord reminded and promised Abraham that he would have descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore, and all his offspring on the earth will be blessed. (Genesis 22:15).

Meditating on all God called Abraham to do and all the good and bad choices he made, the worship song “Jireh” is hinged on this promise in Genesis 22:14 where Abraham called the place “The Lord Will Provide.” With such a dramatic story, all the twists and turns, and bad choices and unbelief that Abraham had, God still provided! Just like He will still provide for us. Even when we mix good and bad choices, have unbelief, and lack of trust, God knows our hearts and will provide for us. We must intentionally focus our eyes and hearts on the Lord and our daily happenings. He is present with us as He was with Abraham and Sarah.

The lyrics “Jireh, you are enough” means the Lord provides and He is all-sufficient in our life. If we lean in and lean on Him for everything, I mean everything, we will be content in every circumstance. Thus, living life to the full as promised in John 10:10 is the inner joy that only He can provide. “How do I get that?” You may ask. Let me encourage you to get in His Word every day for at least 5-10 minutes until it becomes a habit. And be attentive to your daily life looking and seeking God at every turn.

Lord, thank you for helping us believe to our core that you are enough and that you are all sufficient and that we are enough. We thank you in advance for helping us find at least five to ten minutes to lean into you every day to listen, act, and obey so that we may experience the words of the worship song, “Jireh.” In Your Holy and Precious Name, Amen.

Additional information on the song:

The worship song Jireh by Chandler Moore, Steven Furtick, Chris Brown, and Naomi Raine was written with no real intent. Once the artists started brainstorming the words and how they felt, the words identified right from the Old Testament, Genesis 11-22 with truth that transforms us no matter what stage of life or walk with God that we are in.

Here is powerful information of how the song took the real meaning of God the Provider. (Taken directly from the website 20 The Countdown Magazine, April 22, 2022):

“We are loving the “new to our chart” song, Jireh, from Maverick City Music. But what many people don’t realize is that just 4 days before Chandler Moore helped record the song his apartment caught fire.

He lost…everything. Yet, the hand of God was on his life and he wasn’t home when the fire took place.

Just four days later, he walked in to record Jireh with literally the clothes on his back. In doing so, the song took on a whole new meaning.

With lyrics like, “Jireh you are enough” and “I will be content in every circumstance”, the song quickly became his testimony.

We don’t know about you, but the story behind this song makes us listen to it differently. We’re reminded that in our own lives, no matter what we are walking through, God is enough. “

I encourage you to listen to the lyrics and to study and read Genesis 11-22 to learn how God is our provider and all-sufficient.