Cry Out

All Nations Music and David Wilford recorded “Cry Out” as a call-and-response worship piece for prayer. The first line looks back at deliverance, “You snatched me out of a horrible pit,” and then the group begins repeating “cry out, cry out, cry out.” A short line, “Make me cry,” shows that the singer does not want to be silent in the presence of God.

The backing voices carry the main message in parentheses. “We know that You hear us (when we do cry), make our request known (when we cry out), Your answer by fire (when we cry out), Your glory is sure (when we cry out).” The leader instructs the congregation to join in with “both hands together” and repeats the phrases with a rising intensity. Because the lyrics are brief, the performance depends on the room taking up the response. It is meant for gatherings of prayer or revival, where loud and honest prayer is welcome and the answer is expected to come from God, not from the people.

Being lifted out of the pit is Psalm 40:1-2. The Lord hearing the righteous when they cry is Psalm 34:17, and the answer by fire is 1 Kings 18:38.