Song of the Week - Mighty to Save

For this installment of Song of the Week, I'm taking a look at another song from the upcoming Gospel Light Worship album, Prepare. This week's song is "Mighty to Save," on of the more popular worship songs around today. This is actually a re-post of the original SoW installment from November 2008.

We are including this song, not only because it is such a favorite with our congregation, but because it really resonates with the theme of the record - evangelism. In this case, the song echoes what someone might say to another when sharing the Gospel.

The title is based on one of my favorite verses, Zephaniah 3:17

The Lord your God is in your midst, He is Mighty to Save,
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
he will quiet you with His love
He will rejoice over you with singing.



The song was written in the year prior to the release of Hillsong's record of the same name in 2006, by Marty Sampson and Ben Fielding. I was also on Hillsong United's The I Heart Revolution live CD earlier this year.

The song starts with the now familiar arpeggio - A, B, C#, typically played with heavy delay. (Nigel Hendroff actually uses two separate delays.) This goes over the basic chord structure of the verses - D, A, F#m, E.

Everyone needs compassion, love that's never failing
let mercy fall on me.
Everyone needs forgiveness, the kind that's of a savoir
The hope of nations.

The song steps up in power in the chorus.

Savior, He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save, he is mighty to save...

My favorite part of the song is the bridge, which flows with unbridled joy:

Shine your light and let the whole world see
We're singing, for the glory of the risen king.

Instead of the usual performance video, here is an interesting video by the band, showing how the song is built.