Friday's Weekly Rap-Up - September 5, 2014 - "Self-Sufficiency" - Timothy Brindle

"Self-Sufficiency" - Timothy Brindle (Lyrics)



This past Sunday at Sojourn Heights we closed out our series through some selected Psalms. "Dust to Dust: Songs for Every Season" was a great time of rest and replenishment. The Psalms offer us songs and prayers for all seasons of life, teaching us how to pray, sing, grieve, praise, think and respond. The Psalms communicate truths of God's character. They display many of God's attributes, some that we are able to reflect as his people, and others that simply call us to thankfulness in our Creator.

As we closed our series, we examined Psalm 121, a song for hope. As noted in our sermon series companion guide, we must recognize that as humans, we constantly long for protection and safety. As we live in regular uncertainty, we "search for almost anything upon which we can find sure footing. It’s no wonder that most of the world’s best stories tell of rescue. The psalmist assures us that our true place of help, protection, and keeping is not found in anything created but only in the One who created."

On Sunday we recounted God's sufficiency, our own self-sufficiency, and Christ's sufficiency. We know that God is sufficient in himself, not needing us to complete his will. The Psalmist lifts his eyes up to the hills, knowing that he is not sufficient in himself, but is looking to the one who is. This is a declaration of the psalmist's recognition that God is all sufficient for all things. And, as we looked at Luke 22 in Jesus' prayer at the Mount of Olives, we saw that Christ finds his sufficiency in his Father, even in his impending death.

In discussing God's self-sufficiency this past week, I immediately thought of Timothy Brindle's "Self-Sufficiency", a song featured on Shai Linne's Attributes of God album. This is my favorite rap album, as the attributes of God are communicated so well and provide a medium for listeners to gain a theological foundation of God's character. (You can read more about Timothy Brindle in this Gospel Coalition article.)

Brindle packs a great deal into this song, revealing the triune nature of God, and giving examples of God's self-sufficiency and creation. In the song's third verse we are reminded of our sinful nature as humans, but then we are given a great reminder of God's redemptive power and our hope that we find in Christ. The Psalms are a collection of songs that give us a reminder of that power and hope. Brindle reminds us that, "By the Word of Life, we’re alive and we’re full; It’s renewing our minds—and reviving our soul!" Our Creator is sufficient in himself, and in that, we can surely find rest.