Ruins

Maverick City Music's “Ruins,” with Joe L Barnes and Nate Moore, starts in a scene of loss. “I look around and all I see, burning buildings, barren trees, hopelessness is starting to wreak havoc.” The singer says he can't see the depth of the trouble but the Son of man does, and he adds an image of hope: God has “planted seeds among the ashes.”

The chorus is built on contrasts. “You rebuild, You restore all that's broken from the ruins. You redeem, You return all that's stolen from Your children, that's what You do.” The second verse speaks to the singer's own heart: “be still my anxious heart, all that's gone is never lost, Emmanuel is here and He is faithful.” He decides to keep singing “from these rubbled rocks.” The bridge repeats the exchange, “You raise beauty from ashes, You turn sorrow to gladness,” and the song ends on the line “the blood is still the blood.”

Beauty for ashes and gladness for mourning are Isaiah 61:3. Restoring what was stolen matches Joel 2:25, and rebuilding the ruins is Isaiah 58:12.