Review

This album is a must have for your collection. Not only that, it’s a must give. Give it away for Christmas, for New Year’s, for birthdays, or just because you love someone! Don Moen leads a smallish band in a live, intimate worship setting, with just a few dozen in attendance.

From the opening strains of the “Our Father” overture and into his composition from the Lord's prayer on to the final majestic tones of “Lord We’ve Come to Worship”, the worshipper is led through a magnificent worship set.

The cornerstone song is the title track, “I Will Sing”. Don’s piano intro is beautiful, and then he sings with a breathless honesty: “Lord, You seem so far away, a million miles or more, it feels today.” He goes on to lay his heart out to the Lord the way we often do in our closet, but rarely let on to corporately. The gist of it is that even though we can’t figure it out right now and don’t feel especially blessed… “I will sing, I will praise, even in my darkest hour, through the sorrow and the pain, I will sing…”

This is the kind of worship song that needs to be sung in our churches. It is a Davidic Psalm in nature. It helps us see that we don’t have to posture ourselves. The Lord knows where we are, and the congregation might as well share in it as well. If we confess our needs and hurts before each other, and pray about it, God is gracious to heal. This song brings that home so powerfully. My hunch is that churches all over the world will be playing this song soon.

Don wrote only two songs by himself. He teamed with Claire Cloninger to write four more and he teamed up with Tommy Coomes on another. The rest of the album is filled with songs penned by Tommy Walker, Lamont Hebert, Kevin Dukes and Marsha Skidmore, Wes Tuttle and Steve Kerkel. Because there are so many writers, the flow of the album is a little choppy, but it’s a joy to experience the various musical styles.

As a sidebar here, may I say that I used to be able to tell from a listen whether a song was Vineyard or Hosanna or Maranatha, or so on. That line seems to be blurring. I love “Sing for Joy” by Lamont Hebert. It’s not the first time this song’s been recorded, but it’s a great song! My wife got all excited when she heard it, saying “We used to sing that song in China (when she lived there as a missionary).” It’s good to have a happy wife!

At any rate, this album is first rate. It’s perfect for private devotions (the first time I got a chance to really listen to it I had a breakthrough such as I hadn’t had in a long time). It’s also great for just doing chores around the house, or to put on when friends come over to worship. Get it!

Review by John Ausmus