Here Be Lions is a Nashville-based American band started in 2017 by pastor, worship leader, and songwriter Dustin Smith. Though grammatically incorrect in the English language, this three-word name is a literal translation of the Latin phrase “hic sunt leones”. Ancient explorers used this phrase to mark unknown and dangerous territories, warning others to avoid them. However, Here Be Lions uses it in the context of God’s Kingdom. Specifically, to advance the Kingdom of God in places unfamiliar to them.
They released two albums, including:
You are viewing: Who Wrote I Speak Jesus
- Only A Holy God (2018)
- I Speak Jesus (2019)
- Still God, Still Good (2021)
In 2021, Charity Gayle covered and popularized their song I Speak Jesus. However, I’m reviewing the original version released by Here Be Lions in 2019.
Lyrics can be found at https://genius.com/Here-be-lions-i-speak-jesus-lyrics.
Note to new users: This is a different kind of review site! Read About the Berean Test and Evaluation Criteria prior to reading this review.
1. What message does the song communicate?
Here Be Lions tells others about the holy name of Jesus, proclaiming Him as the source of internal peace, broken chains, fear, and healing.
While I personally believe that this song communicates spreading the Gospel (confirmed in Bridge), it has the potential to teach positive confession, that declaring through faith will cause things to happen. In this case, declaring things like peace, broken chains, and anxiety in Jesus’ name will make it so.
Score: 8/10
2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?
All the lyrics line up with Scripture.
[Verse 1]
Lines 1-3: Here Be Lions preaches Jesus to others (Matthew 28:18-20), including internal peace found in Him (John 14:27, John 16:29-33, Romans 5:1, Ephesians 2:14-15, and Colossians 3:15).
Line 4: Essentially repeats line 1.
[Verse 2]
Line 1: Repeats Verse 1, line 1.
Line 2: Here Be Lions won’t stop until addiction ceases.
Line 3: That is, hope and freedom found in Jesus (Matthew 11:28-30, Romans 5:1-8, Romans 8:24-39, Romans 15:13, 1 Corinthians 15:54-58, and 1 Peter 1:3-6).
Line 4: Repeats Verse 1, line 4.
[Chorus]
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Line 1: There is power in the name of Jesus (Mark 16:17, Luke 10:17, Acts 3:6, Acts 3:12-16, Acts 4:30, Romans 10:13, and Philippians 2:9-11).
Lines 2 and 3: This is so, because He is the Great Physician (Matthew 9:12, Mark 2:17, and Luke 5:31) who grants eternal life through faith (John 3:15-16, John 3:36, John 6:40, John 11:25-26, and 1 Timothy 1:15-16).
Line 4: See Verse 2, line 2.
Line 5: Jesus is the light that sends darkness away (Psalm 107:10-16, Luke 1:79, John 1:1-13, John 12:46, Ephesians 5:8, Colossians 1:13, and 1 Peter 2:9).
Line 6: This speaks of Christ’s judgment (Deuteronomy 4:21-24 and Hebrews 12:29).
Side Note: Its next iterations repeat this a second time.
[Verse 3]
Line 1: Repeats Verse 1, line 1.
Line 2: That is, for us to lean on Jesus instead of holding onto fear (Genesis 15:1, Joshua 1:9, Deuteronomy 31:6, 1 Chronicles 28:20, Psalm 23:4, Psalm 27:1, Psalm 34:4, Psalm 56:3-4, Psalm 94:19, Psalm 115:11, Psalm 118:6, Isaiah 35:4, Isaiah 41:10-13, Isaiah 43:1, Isaiah 54:4, John 14:25-27, Romans 8:15, Romans 8:38-39, 2 Timothy 1:7, Hebrews 13:5-6, 1 Peter 3:13-14, 1 Peter 5:6-7, and 1 John 4:18) and anxiety (Psalm 37:5, Psalm 55:22, Matthew 11:28-30, Philippians 4:6, and 1 Peter 5:7).
Line 3: Similar to Verse 2, line 2.
Line 4: Repeats Verse 1, line 4.
[Bridge]
Line 1: Equivalent of Jesus’ shouting it from the rooftops (Matthew 10:27).
Line 2: See Chorus, line 5.
Line 3: Here Be Lions wants their family saved.
Line 4: The name of Jesus is set apart from us (Mark 1:24, Luke 4:34, Acts 3:14, Acts 4:27-30, 1 John 2:20, Hebrews 7:26, and Revelation 4:8).
Line 5-12: Repeats lines 1-4.
[Verse 4]
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Lines 1-4: Repeats Verse 1, lines 1-4.
Score: 10/10
3. How would an outsider interpret the song?
Unbelievers will conclude that Christians are declaring Jesus over all sorts of things, that there’s power in His name, and that He “burns”. The jury’s out on whether this declaration is “forced faith” or merely telling others, much less this concept of “burning”.
Score: 6/10
4. What does this song glorify?
While it glorifies God that Here Be Lions spreads the good news about Jesus to others, its potential to teach positive confession somewhat mars it.
Score: 8/10
Closing Comments
Here Be Lions’ I Speak Jesus is good with a potential issue. While I conclude that they preach Jesus to others, alongside His benefits of internal peace, removed darkness, and courage, it could possibly teach positive confession, the questionable theology that invoking Jesus’ name causes Him to respond positively to us, especially new Christians and unbelievers.
This potential issue is prevalent throughout this song. Thus, I can only recommend it for corporate worship if the worship leader explains it beforehand.
Final Score: 8.5/10
Artist Info
Track: I Speak Jesus (listen to the song)
Artist: Here Be Lions
Album: I Speak Jesus
Genre: Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)
Release Year: 2019
Duration: 5:12
Agree? Disagree? Don’t be shy or have a cow! Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.
Updates
07/12/2022 – I managed to forget Verse 3! Thanks to Brett Rocker for discovering my mistake.
Source: https://t-tees.com
Category: WHO
