(Photo :Love and the Outcome)

10 New Songs to Listen to When You Are Discouraged

 Wasn't it St. Augustine who said that he who sings prays twice?  In times when we feel the weight of the world on our shoulders; when the sound of fear hustles with our every passing thought; when worry has become our conversational partner in the wee hours of the morning, nothing cheers the heart more than to sing a worshipful song.  Singing to God through a well-articulated Scripturally-informed song lends to us words we cannot express when we are overwhelmed by discouragements.  But what are some of the best songs we can turn to when our hearts are broken?  So, here are 10 of my favorite songs I personally turn to whenever I am discouraged.   With the large plethora of songs being released each week, I have tried to restrict my canon to newer songs released within the last couple of years.  So here goes....

10. Christa Wells "This Thing is Not Gonna Break You" from Christa Wells' "Feed Your Soul" [VIDEO] 

Ask any Israelite living in Isaiah's time who the greatest threat would be?   Unanimously they would have answered in a single word the "Assyrians."  To many of the Israelites, the Assyrians were the personification of cruelty, hatred, fear and everything that could break them.  But fast forward to the 21^st Century A.D., other than the Biblical literates, few have heard of the word "Assyrians."  Thus, regardless of how gruesome your "Assyrian" could be, Christa Wells in this gorgeous ballad remind us it cannot break us.  But we often let the transient strip us of the eternal.  So, let this song help us put on our God-centered glasses and we'll see that our worries are not as destructive as they appear.  

9. Veronica Petrucci "No Fear" from Veronica Petrucci's "Made It Out Alive" [VIDEO]

Veronica Petrucci is the Darlene Zschech of the Spanish speaking world.  And she is about to make her mark on the English speaking market with her forthcoming Oct. 22 release "Made It Out Alive."  "No Fear" is the second cut off this new album.  Petrucci has the Jennifer Hudson powerhouse vocals that American Idol covets for.  And when she soars on this Babyface-styled R&B ballad, she is poised with so much faith in our mountain moving God.  If faith has an anthem, this is it.

8. Greater Vision "This is Mercy" from Greater Vision's "For All He's Done" [VIDEO]

Much of our discouragements come because we were mistreated.  We were unfairly dismissed.  We were never the victims of gossips and slanders.  But Greater Vision's "This is Mercy" reminds us that our experiences of betrayal pale in comparison to what Jesus went through on the Cross.  On the Cross hanging naked for all to see shame was epitomized.  On the Cross betrayal has never cast a larger shadow.  No one understands shame, injustice and pain better than Jesus.  Healing never comes until we pay a visit to the Savior on the Cross.

7. Matt Redman's "Never Once" from Matt Redman's "10,000 Reasons" [VIDEO] 

Suffering is sometimes used as God's brutal lesson to teach us about faith.  And as Redman describes in this worship anthem, "scars and struggles" are often the tuition cost.  But the marvel of it all is in our suffering we don't battle alone.  Jesus is mauled as we are bruised; Jesus is mocked as we are unfairly jolted; Jesus weeps as we are being hurt.   So, when Redman exclaims in the chorus with his dynamic high-reaching tenor: "Never once did we ever walk alone/Never once did He leave us on our own/You are faithful/O God You are Faithful," all we can say is, "thank you Jesus."

6. Tamela Mann "Take Me to the King" from Tamela Mann's "Best Days" [VIDEO] 

Running seems to be the reflex reaction whenever we are hurt.  Our legs feel the tingle to run as soon as we sense danger coming our way.  And the reason why God has given us this intuitive reaction is because He wants us to run towards Him.  Tamela Mann's "Take Me to the King" has given many fans a first class ticket to board the bullet train straight into God's throne room when this song spent countless of weeks on the no. 1 Gospel spot.   With the Godly presence of a younger Shirley Caesar, Tamela Mann sure knows the shortest route to Jesus on this soaring worship number without the detours of wasted notes and words.   

5.  Cheri Keaggy "Starting a New Year Today" from Cheri Keaggy's "So I Can Tell" [VIDEO] 

A slice of autobiography is woven into this reflective pop ballad.  Written exactly a year after her world crashed following her divorce, Keaggy recalls opening up her diary to pen her reflections.  Instead of being stymied in self pity and deprecation, Keaggy chooses to trust God for a new page, a new chapter, and a brand new start in life.  This song is such a great reminder that even after we have messed up, in Jesus Christ, there is always a fresh clean page to begin our tomorrows.

4.  Hillsong United "Oceans" from Hillsong United's "Zion" [VIDEO] 

On this cinematic drama of a ballad, Hillsong United have squeezed every drop of meaning out of the Biblical motif of "Oceans."  Listening to this well-crafted song we begin to journey with lead vocalist Taya Smith through every emotion we can experience through our encounter with the "oceans" of our lives.  From the bewilderment of its vastness to the intimation of its life-threatening currents to the triumphant victory over it as Jesus not only silences but encourages us to walk on its waves, this song brings us from fear to faith in a matter of minutes.

3.  Plumb "Need You Now" from Plumb's "Faster than a Bullet" [VIDEO]

Christa Wells makes her second entry on this list as one of the songwriters of Plumb's no.1 Christian song "Need You Now."  While many songs have caricatured pain as an emotion seldom expressed by high and holy elites, Plumb does not place any scaffolds when she deals with her aches.  Honest, immediate and emotionally raw, Plumb describes her need to hear that "still small voice" of God in this song.   By the time she reaches the bridge, her cry for God becomes so desperate that we can't help but shed buckets of tears with her as she moans:  "Though I walk/Though I walk through the shadows/And I, I am so afraid/Please stay, please stay right beside me/With every single step I take."

2.  Karen Peck and New River "Everybody's Going Through Something" from Karen Peck and New River's "Revival" [VIDEO]

To the Israelites, the desert wonderings was a nightmarish experience.  But to God, it was His honeymoon where he got His first dance with His bride.  Trials have a way of bringing us back to the dance floor where we get to dance with the Father when no one wants to dance with us.  Everybody, as Karen Peck and the New River sings, goes through something.  But they'll rather go through something with Jesus hand in hand on life's dance floor.  With lilting slow waltz-like melody, this song will get us dancing with Jesus with intimacy, warmth and love.  And with Him as our dance partner, suffering is sweetened and it seems less cold and harsh.  

1. Love and the Outcome "He is With Us" from Love and the Outcome's "Love and the Outcome"

Jesus knows we will suffer from premature spiritual Alzheimer's.   Thus, if you read Matthew's Gospel, right at His birth Jesus was given the name "Emmanuel" which means "God is with us."  By the end of the Gospel, just before Jesus bids farewell, He reminds us again, "Lo, I am with you to the end of the age."  Bookended throughout Jesus' ministry is the promise He is with us.  Just in case we forget again, Love and the Outcome reminds us again and again and again through one of this year's most catchy tunes:  "It might seem there's an ocean in between/But He's holding on to you and me/And He's never gonna leave, no/He is with us, He is with us/Always, always/He is with us, He is with us/Always."