I think Paul’s theology of Law and Gospel is helpful when we think of employing Scriptural imagery like “oceans” and “rivers” (and “fire,” for that matter) in our worship songs. The Reformers, picking up on this and taking cues from the way Paul uses this dialectic in other passages like Romans 3 and Galatians 2, labeled these two voices “Law” and “Gospel.” The Naked God This “Spirit” is “the surpassing glory” of “the ministry that brings righteousness” (2 Cor 3:9-10). This “letter” is “the ministry that brought death…engraved in letters on stone…the ministry that condemns men” (2 Cor 3:7-9). Paul has labeled this dialectic, this Scriptural understanding of the two ways God’s Word comes to us, the “letter” and the “Spirit.” He says, “the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Cor 3:6). Baptism itself is a gruesome murder scene (drowning the Old Adam in death) before it is freedom (resurrection in Christ’s life) (Rom 6). Noah’s flood was both condemnation and liberation. The imagery of water-changed-into-something is simultaneously a sign of blessing and future joy (think of Jesus turning the water into wine at Cana), and judgment of sin (think of Moses turning the water into blood). The same split Red Sea that heraled the redemption of Israel came crashing down, drowning Egypt in God’s holy condemnation. Water, over and over again, is used as a two-part sign. Scripture’s maritime themes are actually a wonderful illustration of the way God works in our lives. After talking about his downcast soul, the Psalmist exclaims: It reminds me of another Psalm that we often take out of context and put on it a positive spin when the Psalmist’s experience is anything but positive. You have overwhelmed me with all your waves. Psalm 88 shares a different perspective on what that experience is like: Elevation’s “Last Word,” Hillsong’s “Cornerstone,” even “Oceans” to a degree), but I’m referring here more specifically to the biblical pictures of waves crashing and bodies of water overwhelming and overtaking us. Now, we can grant that there are plenty of worship songs, recent and fairly recent, that have highlighted sea-storm imagery as a picture of suffering, uncertainty, and doubt (e.g. I was recently reading Psalm 88, and I was reminded, though, that the nautical imagery of Scripture is more broad than some of our worship songs may lead us to believe. There’s a kind of under-the-surface Trinitarianism haunting the song, whether or not the songwriters had that in mind. I hear hints of Jesus’ teaching in the Gospels and Revelation (“living water”), Hebrews’ language for God (“consuming fire”), and lots of pneumatology (“fire,” “burn,” “rain,” “flood”), baptismal language (“Immerse me”). I love the cross-pollination of biblical metaphors. The Bridge gets to the center of the aquatic theme: There are a couple of metaphors running through the song–prominent biblical imagery for the Holy Spirit: fire and rain. The title track alludes to the outpouring of the Spirit prophesied in Joel and bridges the connection to what happens in worship. “Oceans”-makers, Hillsong Worship, have another album out, OPEN HEAVEN / River Wild. ![]() ![]() It’s high tide for nautical themes in worship songs. ![]() Two Thirds of Our Globe (and worship songs, so it seems)
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