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Exegeting the Hymns 9 - Chain Breaker

7/24/2017

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Chain Breaker
w/m Jonathan Lindley Smith / Mia Fieldes / Zach Williams
If you’ve been walking the same old road for miles and milesIf you’ve been hearing the same old voice tell the same old lies
If you’re trying to fill the same old holes inside
There’s a better life, There’s a better life


If you’ve got pain, He’s a pain-taker
If you feel lost, He’s a way-maker
If you need freedom or saving
He’s a prison-shaking Savior
If you’ve got chains, He’s a chain breaker

We’ve all searched for the light of day in the dead of night
We’ve all found ourselves worn out from the same old fight
We’ve all run to things we know just ain’t right
But there’s a better life, There’s a better life

If you believe it
If you receive it
If you can feel it
Somebody testify

I must admit, this is a song that surprised me. I heard the song when it first came out and enjoyed the “southern rock” style and catchy melody, but for months, never gave it much of a thought as a congregational song. Then, in an attempt to include more top 10 songs in our repertoire, I saw this song sitting in the top 3 and figured it would be worth giving it a shot. I had low expectations, but when the band started playing in practice, and the singers started singing, it really clicked. It also connected with the congregation, and now is one of our favorite new songs in the set lists.
One of the most popular themes of today’s Christian songs is the life-changing work of God in our lives. Every true believer connects with that message because we all have sinned against God so grievously, and been saved from so much that it generates a strong desire to worship and glorify our merciful God. The song is simple, but so often are our feeble prayers of gratitude for God’s goodness.
If you’ve been walking the same old road for miles and miles, If you’ve been hearing the same old voice tell the same old lies. These lines remind me of Psalm 1 and the man who walks in the counsel of the ungodly, stands in the way of sinners, and sits in the seat of the scoffers. Before we are saved, we are children of the devil who listen to all kinds of lies from the evil one. Over and over, we listen to and follow bad advice that only leads us to despair. If you’re trying to fill the same old holes inside, there’s a better life, There’s a better life. As an unbeliever, there is an emptiness that the world’s “solutions” cannot fill, but when we find the Way, Truth and Life, everything changes.
If you’ve got pain, He’s a pain-taker. Only a Christian knows what it means to “Cast our cares on Him because He cares for us”. That is a joy the unbelieving world cannot experience. We will go through pain, but that pain makes us more like Christ and therefore, is for our good. We can have peace through the pain because we know and serve the “Pain-taker”. If you feel lost, He’s a way-maker. The steps of a righteous man are ordered by the Lord. Through His Word, He leads us as a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path.  
If you need freedom or saving, He’s a prison-shaking Savior. If you’ve got chains, He’s a chain breaker. This is speaking to the lost and tells of the state they are in. The unsaved are bound by chains, they are not free (their will is cursed and bent away from God), they need saving because they are in the prison of sin. Only Jesus can set a person free from this bondage.
We’ve all searched for the light of day in the dead of night. Even the lost scrounge around in the darkness trying to find “enlightenment”, but as Roman 1 makes clear, they wind up serving the creature rather than the creator. This is why there are so many false religions out there. This is why so many serve themselves and deny God. We’ve all found ourselves worn out from the same old fight. While the first line seems to be speaking to unbelievers, this line, seems to be speaking to believers who are tired from the spiritual battle we engage in everyday that can wear us out from time to time. We’ve all run to things we know just ain’t right, but there’s a better life, There’s a better life.  Both believers and unbelievers can relate to this line as we all make decisions that are led by the flesh, but only when we are filled (controlled) by the spirit will we do what’s right.
If you believe it, If you receive it, If you can feel it, Somebody testify. The final lines I want to look at are the lines in the bridge. The first two are objective. Faith is a gift of God. We believe, and we receive grace from God and that is something to testify to in our words and actions (Romans 10:9-10). My only problem is the line “If you can feel it”. Yes, there will be feelings that accompany our walk with the Lord, but those feelings aren’t always there. We don’t want to be faithful and give testimony to the work of the Lord only when we “feel it”. God is worthy of our praise on the mountains AND in the valleys. Granted, when we are “feeling it”, it is easier to testify of God’s work in our lives, so we should never miss that opportunity!

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    Author

    Bill Itzel has been a worship leader and singer/songwriter for over 30 years and is based in Westminster, MD.  His family tours and leads worship around the country.  Bill and his family attend Belcroft Bible Church in Bowie, MD.  This is a blog about congregational worship and the latest news in the The Itzel's ministry.

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  • Home
  • Tours
  • Promoter Page
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  • Projects
    • 2003 to Current >
      • Pilgrim's Song >
        • Leaving the City of Destruction
        • The Time Is Short
        • Evangelist
        • It Would Be Me
        • The Wicket Gate
        • Miracle
        • This Is Life
        • Apollyon's Challenge
        • I Will Go (Vanity Fair)
        • Walking with Hopeful
        • Champion of the People (View from the Spyglass)
        • Remember Me (River of Death)
        • Places
        • The Celestial City
      • Sweeter >
        • Christ Is Sweeter
        • With My Last Breath
        • I Have Seen The Lord (Job 42)
        • Oh My Soul
        • Sweet Are All Your Words To Me (Psalm 119)
        • Jesus Is Mine
        • By His Wounds (Isaiah 53)
        • All My Ways Are Known To You
        • O Lord, My Rock And My Redeemer
        • Finish Strong
      • Timeless - Hymns of Bill & Karen Itzel >
        • Give Thanks to the Lord Our God
        • Year's End
        • Sovereign Ruler of the Skies
      • 30 Live >
        • I Am A Christian
        • Mountain Climber
        • How Much More Glory
        • Mercy Rained Down
        • Step By Step
        • At The Cross (Love Ran Red)
        • He Is Risen, Hallelujah
        • Jesus Is Enough
        • There is Hope
        • Burn the Ships
        • Last Man Standing
        • This is Your Life
        • Dead Man Walking
        • Jerusalem
      • Gift of Faith >
        • You Amaze Me
        • I Got Saved
        • Gift of Faith
        • May The Peoples Praise You
        • Why Was I A Guest?
        • Lord, We Remember
        • A Mighty Fortress
        • His Love Runs Deep
        • Lord, Save Me From Me
        • Jesus, Thank You
        • Jerusalem
      • Hope >
        • Brethren We Have Met To Worship
        • Firm in the Faith
        • There is Hope (Siri's Song)
        • Lord, I Adore You
        • The Sovereign God of Love
        • The Solid Rock
        • He Will Hold Me Fast
        • Get To Work
        • Our Great God
        • At Calvary
        • I Will Sing of My Redeemer
        • Give Me Jesus
      • The Glorious Trial >
        • He is Risen Hallelujah
        • The Glorious Trial
        • Because You Love Me
        • Power of the Cross
        • How Firm a Foundation
        • Don't Be Afraid
        • Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence
        • A Light In The Dark
        • Band of Brothers
        • Grace Greater than our Sin
      • XXV >
        • All Hail The Power
        • How Long?
        • Truth Is The Way
      • Sovereign >
        • Come Thou Fount
        • Almighty
        • In Christ Alone
        • At The Cross
        • All I Have Is Christ
        • Come As You Are
        • Amazing Grace
        • Behold Our God
        • Whom Shall I Fear
        • Sovereign
        • It Is Well
      • The New Life >
        • Burn The Ships
        • Draw The Line
        • Slow Fade
        • Thank You God For Saving Me
        • Miraculum
        • Jekyll & Hyde
        • Blessed Be Your Name
        • Believe
        • It Is Finished
        • The Gift
      • I Am A Christian >
        • When You Forgive
        • Write My Hurts In The Sand
        • I Am A Christian
        • But for the Grace of God Go I
        • My God Is Bigger
        • Investing in Gold
        • Saving My Best for First
        • Roots
        • Don't Water Down The Gospel
        • Defenders of the Faith
      • Live It Up >
        • Power and Might
        • Psalm 100
        • Plastic People
      • Revolutionary War >
        • Revolutionary War
        • Rebelling Against the Weather
        • Chained to a Lie
        • Always Singing
      • UP >
        • Power and Might
        • Step by Step
        • Love The Lord
        • I'd Rather Have Jesus
        • Psalm 100
        • When I Survey
        • You are There
        • Names
        • Let Everything That Hath Breath
        • Weak
      • Throwback >
        • The Hard Way
        • Mercy Rained Down
        • Free
        • Sweet Sacrifice
      • Mountain Climber >
        • Mountain Climber
        • Fly Free
        • Cries of the Forgotten
        • Champion of the People
        • Hide Me in Your Hand
        • Look to the One
        • Can You Hear Me Now?
        • Great is Thy Faithfulness
      • Misfit Family Christmas >
        • Hark The Herald Angels Sing
        • Mary Did You Know?
        • Emmanuel
        • Island of Misfit Toys
        • Sharing
        • Love Was Born Christmas Night
      • Last Man Standing - 2008 >
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        • Minute Man
        • Think On These Things
        • Do Hard Things
        • Break The Chain
        • Roll Call of Faith
        • Beautiful Day
        • How Much More Glory
        • Great Expectations
        • You are There
      • Flawed - 2007 >
        • War Fatigue
        • My Burden
        • One of Those Days
        • Save Me From Myself
        • Create in Me a Clean Heart
        • An Inconvenient Truth
        • At World's End
        • I've Got No Problem With That
        • Jesus is Enough
        • Weak
        • Pray
      • Soldiers - 2006 >
        • This is Your Life
        • God is Still God
        • Soldier
        • Stand Up
        • Follow Me
        • Barbarians at the Gate
        • Forgotten
      • Guns Blazin' - 2005 >
        • Guns Blazin'
        • When the Rubber Meets the Road
        • Words of Love
      • It Takes a Family - 2004 >
        • A Closed Mouth Gathers No Foot
      • Return of the King - 2003 >
        • Return of the King
    • 1990 to 2002 >
      • Dedicated - 2002 >
        • The Last Days
      • Dead Man Walkin' - 2001 >
        • Dead Man Walkin'
      • Seasons - 2001 >
        • Blessed Be The Name
        • Another Year Is Dawning
      • The Test - 2000 >
        • This is Just a Test
      • 2 Natures >
        • 2 Natures
      • Beware of the Dogs >
        • Beware of the Dogs
        • The War
      • Praise Soup >
        • I Will Praise and Worship
        • It Mattered To This One
      • Play by Play >
        • This is my Son
      • Held For Ransom >
        • Politically Incorrect
      • Christmas
      • The Live Experience >
        • I Believe in You
        • Hero
      • Game Over >
        • How Much More Glory
        • The Lion's Coming Back
      • Family Values >
        • Where the Soul Never Dies
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