The Story Behind The Song: "Reveal Your Love," from Over The Grave: The Hymns Of Isaac Watts, Volume One

Jesse Eubanks shares the story behind his writing process for “Reveal Your Love,” possibly the most driving song on Over The Grave: The Hymns Of Isaac Watts, Volume One:

The deadline for submissions had come and gone for the Watts project, but I figured the real deadline wasn’t until they started recording. So I wrote two more songs and turned them in. About two weeks later, Niel told me they were looking for another song for a female to sing. Apparently, most of the submissions were geared towards male vocalists. Neil wanted something that could be sung by a female who could belt out the rock. He told me they thought “Reveal Your Love” might be a good fit. He began to adjust the arrangements and melody and put some of his signature tones on it and it became what it is today.

The original version was written on an acoustic guitar. In its demo form, it sounded more like “In the Shadow of the Glorious Cross”. Though the idea with the chorus was always that it would be explosive and big. Upon reading the lyrics, I wanted to write a chorus melody that needed to be sung in a strong full voice, something that would push people to really let go. This is a song of loud crying out – sackclothe and ashes and wailing. It is a song of desperate prayer:

Reveal your love and not your wrath alone
Let our experience prove the mercies of your throne
Our souls bowed down with heavy cares
Our flesh with pain oppressed
Our pain won’t give us rest
How long?

I responded to these lyrics because of two realities:

1. I struggle to understand the reality that God will pour out his wrath on people and also that he will judge humanity. While there some people in the world who have worked out these tensions, I am not among them. I am personally working through these issues through studying scripture, reading, prayer and having long conversations with trusted friends, trusting God regardless of my intellectual resolutions.

2. Regardless of whether I arrive at a place of full resolve or not on these issues does not change the fact that these are a part of God’s character. Scripture outlines these truths for us.  My own intellect and experiences cannot trump the truth of the Bible.

These lyrics reflect both the truth of God’s character and the tension of being on the receiving end of God’s actions. He is supremely good and perfect. And because of Christ, he hears our prayers when we ask for grace instead of wrath.

– Jesse Eubanks