Saviour King DVD Review

Hillsong’s 2007 album Saviour King was recorded in Sydney, Australia’s largest public arena, the Acer Arena, before a crowd of about 10,000 people. Hillsong is the church worship band for Hillsong Church in Sydney Australia, but they also record albums of their original songs and sometimes do worldwide tours. But they are very different from any other contemporary Christian music groups out there. I love the music produced by Casting Crowns, MercyMe, Phillips, Craig, and Dean, Chris Tomlin, Steven Curtis Chapman, Newsboys, and some others, but Hillsong certainly surpasses all in my personal opinion. I am usually not partial to live music, but there is just something about listening to a crowd of people gathered to sing in worship to the Lord, which is why I love Hillsong! They are NOT celebrities, not out to get attention, not to perform; in the words of worship leader Darlene Zschech, “not for the stuff, not for anything, but a hunger and a passion for more of God and to make Him known.”

So as the Saviour King Live DVD starts, you can hear the crowd, but at the strumming of a guitar to the opening song, Saviour King, a serene hush goes over the auditorium. From then on, you are just totally captivated, not at the power of the music, but the presence of God in the place.

Saviour King, written by Marty Sampson and Mia Fieldes, is a beautiful song, which both opens and ends the live performance of the video. During the intro version, a single candle is lit on stage, and continues to burn for the whole 94 minutes. (The intro is a special acoustic version that is not on the CD!) The words and the melody are stunningly beautiful; I remember the first time I heard it, I just closed my eyes and remained perfectly still, becoming unaware that my feet were still on the ground, that I was still on earth. “Let now the weak say I have strength / By the Spirit of power that raised Christ from the dead / Let now the poor stand and confess that my portion is Him / and I’m more than blessed.” There is just one line in the song that I do not believe is Scriptural, “Let now your church shine as Your bride…” (Scripture refers to the church as Christ’s body, but the New Jerusalem as His bride). All the same, I LOVE this song! The chorus just flows so naturally from one line to the next, so even if you are hearing it for the first time, you can almost sing along! “We love You, Lord / We worship You / You alone are God / You alone are good / You asked Your Son to carry this / The heavy cross / Our weight of sin / So I give my life / To honor this / The love of Christ / The Savior King.”

Throughout the DVD, in between every few songs, is audio of some of the Hillsong group sharing their insights and perspectives on worship and the Christian’s purpose.

I’m Not Ashamed, written by Paul Andrew and Dylan Thomas, starts out with a mellow intro, starts to build with an electric guitar and drums, then turns into an irresistible upbeat melody that makes you want to shout and lift your hands in the air. It is a “get up and dance” kind of song, a really a great start to the project. “You welcomed me in / With open arms / Into unending life! // I’m not ashamed of the gospel, Lord / You’re power, Your love / That saved my soul / Now I’m alive in You / I live in the risen Son!”

Break Free, written by Joel Houston, Scott Lighterwood, and Matt Crocker, follows I’m Not Ashamed perfectly. It is themed around how the wonder of salvation and God’s love amaze us and compel us to get up and dance to praise Him. “Would you believe me if I told you that / There is a love that makes a way and never holds you back / … / Who would have thought that God would give His one and only Son? / Taking a stand upon the cross to show His perfect love / So won’t you break free, break free, get up and dance in His love / won’t you break free, break free, get up and dance in His love, His love never-ending!”

Hosanna follows, started by a mellow keyboard, then going into a slow-rock style. It is an incredible song written by Brooke Fraser, just about the gathering of the church together to live in praise and adoration of the Lord. I especially love the bridge: “Heal my heart and make it clean / Open my eyes to the things unseen / Show me how to love like You, have loved me / Break my heart for what breaks Yours / Everything I am for Your kingdom’s cause / As I walk from earth in to eternity.”

Here In My Life, written by Mia Fieldes, is a slower song, and appropriately so. It is a reminiscence of how God saved us from our helpless, and what the cost was. “I remember how You found me / In the very same place / All my failing surely would have drowned me / But You made a way / … / I remember how You saved me / Through the eyes of your grace / And though the cost was Your beloved for me.”

You Are Faithful, written by Miriam Webster, is a confession of the goodness and faithfulness of God no matter our circumstances; the simple chorus is so powerful: “You are faithful / You are faithful / You are faithful / Your joy is my strength / … / Always You’re with me / Your hand will lead me / My trust is in You’re name.” The choir and piano moments really give the song definition.

In Your Freedom is a song written by Marty Sampson and Ray Badham, and is best described as powerful. “I search for You, God of strength / I bow to You in my brokenness / No other King could have so humbly come / to save my soul and heal my heart / I have nothing more than all You offer me / There is nothing else / That’s of worth to me // I love You Lord / You rescued me / You are all that I want / You’re all I need // I pray to You, God of peace / I rest in You, my cares relieved / … / In Your freedom I will live / I offer devotion.” Apparently, these two guys took previous song ideas, improved them, and made this song. When they presented it to the church, they were really blessed, and everyone said, “THAT’S what I wanted to say!!” Toward the end of the song, Darlene Zscech speaks to the congregation and says, “Take a moment church, and let’s offer devotion to God here. There’s really not much we can give to God, but what we can give Him is our Romans 12 understanding of worship, which is our LIVES!” This theme really resonates throughout the album.

To Know You’re Name is an incredible song written by Matt Crocker. It is pretty slow-paced, and though I really like Hillsong’s upbeat stuff, this is definitely one of my top favorites, and I often hum it to myself now (rather unsuccessfully, you can’t hum very well with a stuffy nose). It is about the purpose and the wonder of the Cross. When it gets to the chorus, worship leader Jad Gillies quiets and lets the congregation sing. It was really quite a moment. “I know You gave / The world Your only Son for us / To know Your name / To live within the Savior’s love / When He took my place / Knowing He’d be crucified / You loved, You loved a people undeserving.” What else needs to be said? “Arrested by Your truth and righteousness / Your grace has overwhelmed my brokenness / Convicted by Your Spirit, led by Your word / Your love will never fail.”

In the Mystery is a song written by Joel Houston, which on this video starts out with a really cool guitar part. This song ends the previous session of slow songs; listening to it, you almost feel like jumping, but as Joel says, “It really won’t work unless you can jump high because the song is too slow!” “In Your name, there is hope when all seems lost / There is freedom in the power of the cross / Let the world see / In Your name there is truth where logic fails / Understanding that makes sense of our days / You are worthy.” This song is about how we live both because of and in the love of Christ. The best part is definitely the Hallelujah chorus.

God of Ages, written by Ben Fielding (who plays that awesome red guitar) is another slightly upbeat song during which you just can’t help but smile to. It is such a simple song, but every time I hear it, I just want to tap my feet and play along with the guitar. I wish I could! “You are the God who lives / You are the God who heals / You are my hope / My everything / You brought salvation to us / Offered Your peace to the earth / You are my Lord / My everything.”

You Are My Strength is another song of confession and praise, for times good and bad. Reuben Morgan’s mellow voice, accompanied by an acoustic guitar, carries out these soothing lines, “You are my strength / Strength like no other / Reaches to me.” The song continues this pattern with The Lord being unfailing love, our hope, who lifts us up.

One Thing, written by Darlene Zschech and Marty Sampson, has an interesting story behind it. For a few years, Darlene had been approaching the Hillsong team and saying, “O.K., somebody needs to write a song about Psalm 27.” There were facets of the chapter in some songs that the band soon presented, but Darlene really wanted something that focused on the “One Thing” part of the passage. So after a while, Darlene decided, “O.K, I’m gonna have to write it.” It turned out to be quite hard, so one day she and Marty got together and worked on it, and so “One Thing” came to be. “One thing I desire / One thing I seek / To gaze upon Your beauty / And your majesty / … / Lord, Your name is higher than the heavens / Lord, Your name is higher than all created things / Higher than hope / Higher than dreams / The name of the Lord.”

Lord of Lords is an extraordinary song by Brooke Fraser; it sounds just like an ancient Celtic hymn. From the first strum of the guitar, my attention was totally focused. At the recording of this album, the congregation was unfamiliar with the song, so it was amazing watching them pick up the chorus so quickly. If you watch closely, you will see that Brooke has removed the shoes from her feet, and you know exactly why. “Now unto the Lamb who sits on the throne / Be glory and honor and praise / Call all the sinners to join in the song / Worship and praise Him, the Lord of Lords. // Spirit now living and dwelling within me / Keep my eyes fixed ever on Jesus’ face / Let not the things of this world ever sway me / I’ll run ’till I finish the race.”

You Saw Me is written by Reuben Morgan, Mia Fieldes. and Ben Fielding. It is once again a song of thanksgiving for what Jesus did on the Cross. “Your glory fills the heavens / Your glory fills the earth / Still You chose surrender / You gave Yourself for me // You saw me when You took the crown of thorns / And Your blood washed over me / And You loved me through the nails that You bore / And Your blood washes over me.”

But the best is left for last! In my personal opinion, the final version of Saviour King is the BEST on the whole video! Marty said that they ask God to give His breathe to every song they write, and ask Him to bless every project, but that he especially prayed this for Saviour King. To tell the truth, the “breathe of God” was exactly what I felt when I heard the song, moving me to tears.

The recurring theme of this album can be summed up in a word: freedom. The freedom now to worship the Lord in spirit and in truth. The freedom we have to dwell in the courts of the Lord, not by anything we’ve done, but because Jesus is now the Mediator between God and man. Now we can express our thanks by praising Him in our lives. “The love of Christ compels us…”

Also featured on the DVD are subtitles , songwriter blogs, and an audio commentary with Darlene Zschech, Joel Houston, and Phil Dooley, one of Hillsong’s youth pastors. These were very insightful and inspiring. They are also quite entertaining. The commentators point out, for instance, the part in slow motion where Joel swings his guitar into the air, Darlene’s messy hair, Joel attempts to prove he can count to 100 in German, Marty gets REALLY close to the microphone (Joel explains, “Well, you see, his eyes are shut a LOT, and he’s got to know where the microphone is– blink–), and Phil tests his high-pitched singing. The songwriter blog with Mia and Marty talking about the writing of Saviour King was hilarious (the Autralian accent makes it even more so)! Mia insists that she DIDN’T say Marty’s chorus idea wasn’t good, but that it just needed to be better. Marty also wants everyone to know that he does sometimes tell Mia her ideas are good, and doesn’t ALWAYS say they need more work. Haha. I think we can all identify there.

Watching the DVD really was a great experience, and a fortifying one at this time. It is so hard to pick favorites on this project, but I think that I can safely say that mine was Saviour King. I have heard many Hillsong songs over the years, although we only have one of their albums, but watching the DVD was infinitely better! To see so many people gathering together for the sole purpose of praising the Lord for His grace and love and being in His freedom, is totally uplifting. I thank the Lord for the people that made this DVD possible, and for those who made it possible for me to benefit from.

I have done my best (what a lenghty best) to communicate the depth of this video, but you really can only catch the depth of it if you watch it for yourself. I would call it a 10 star album!!

“One thing I have desired of the LORD,
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the LORD
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the LORD,
And to inquire in His temple.” (psalm 27:4)