My Top 10 Favorite Worship Songs on the CCLI Top 100 (Part 2)

Hey, I’m back! I know, it took me way too long to get to Part 2 of My Top 10 Favorite Worship Songs on the CCLI Top 100. But hey, better late than never. At least I got it in before the end of the year. (If you missed Part 1, you can find it here.) Thank you to all who sent me e-mails encouraging me to finish up this list. I already knew which five songs made up the second half of the list, but it’s writing everything else that takes so much time.

The title of each song is a link to a video of the song so you can listen to it. I give credit to the writers and mention the song’s exact placement on the CCLI Top 100 (as of the end of 2022). In addition to these five songs, I’ve also listed eight honorable mentions, which I’ll get to right before my number one pick. Here are my top five:

5) “Yet Not I But Through Christ in Me” written by Jonny Robinson, Michael Farren, and Rich Thompson
Placement on the CCLI chart: #37

This is perhaps the newest song of any on my list. It was recorded in 2018 by City Alight, a music ministry from Sydney, Australia that’s not Hillsong. Their desire is “to write songs with biblically rich lyrics and simple melodies for the Christian church to sing.” About this song, one writer said, “It’s a beautifully crafted song which celebrates Jesus as our ultimate provision and highlights our continual dependence on Him.”

Why It’s Great
I was introduced to this song through my church, and I’ve played the piano part several times in our worship. It’s one of those driving kinds of songs that builds in intensity, not just in the music but also in the lyrics. This is a song that is easily relatable no matter where you might be in your journey of faith.

We start by singing about the redemption we’ve been given in Christ: “He is my joy, my righteousness, and freedom.” As we continue walking with Him, sometimes “the night is dark,” but we must be reminded, “I am not forsaken… I labor on in weakness and rejoicing… To this I hold, my Shepherd will defend me… No fate I dread, I know I am forgiven. The future sure, the price it has been paid.” All has been won, and “I shall overcome, yet not I, but through Christ in me.”

The journey continues: “With every breath, I long to follow Jesus. For He has said that He will bring me home.” At the conclusion of the song, we sing, “When the race is complete, still my lips shall repeat, ‘Yet not I, but through Christ in me.'”

My Favorite Part
The lyrics highlight different trials or successes in our journey of faith, all the while repeating, “Yet not I, but through Christ in me.” That’s something I need to be reminded of constantly. Even when I’ve accomplished something great, it’s not because I did anything, “but through Christ in me.” As 1 Corinthians 1:31 says, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

4) “Behold Our God” written by Jonathan, Meghan, and Ryan Baird, and Stephen Altrogge
Placement on the CCLI chart: #89

Behold Our God comes out of Sovereign Grace worship. Johnathan, Meghan, and Ryan Baird are siblings. John and Stephen began writing the song while on a songwriting retreat, and then Meghan and Ryan helped fill in some missing parts. Writer Stephen Altrogge said they started with Isaiah 40:12-14, which says:

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord, or what man shows Him His counsel? Whom did He consult, and who made Him understand? Who taught Him the path of justice, and taught Him of knowledge, and showed Him the way of understanding?

It’s easy to see how this inspired the lyrics: “Who has held the ocean in His hand? Who has numbered every grain of sand?” And, “Who has given counsel to the Lord? Who can question any of His words?” Jonathan wanted to start low on the chorus and build up to a big finish. So “Behold our God” is sung lower in the register, and the chorus finishes declaring, “Nothing can compare, come let us adore Him!”

Why It’s Great
Any one of the verses stand solidly on their own. In fact, you could mix them up in the song and not know what order they’re supposed to be in. I like that about it—just simple truths summarizing the amazing character and work of God, almost like catechism set to music. Every verse asks questions, and then the chorus answers: “Behold our God.”

My Favorite Part
Even in asking questions with every verse, the message of the gospel still gets in there: “Who has felt the nails upon His hands bearing all the guilt of sinful man? God eternal, humbled to the grave. Jesus, Savior, risen now to reign.”

If I have any criticism, it’s with the bridge: “You will reign forever (let Your glory fill the earth).” And then we sing that 8 times. I think there could have been more to the bridge than that. A good structure is there—fill it in with some more lyrics. That aside, it’s still a great song.

3) “He Will Hold Me Fast” written by Ada Ruth Habershon and Matthew Merker
Placement on the CCLI chart: #92

The lyrics were written over a hundred years ago by Ada Ruth Habershon (1861-1918). Though Habershon’s circles included Charles Spurgeon and D.L. Moody, Habershon’s work did not endure among the most well-known hymns of that time. Even this song, He Will Hold Me Fast, remained obscure until the past decade.

In the dawn of the 1900s, evangelist R.A. Torrey and musician Charles Alexander met a young pianist named Robert Harkness and led him to the Lord. Harkness then become part of their evangelism team. In 1906 while in Toronto, Canada, Harkness met a young convert who expressed fear that he would not be able to hold on to his faith. Harkness wrote to Ada Ruth Habershon in England, looking for guidance as to how he could help the young man.

Habershon responded to Harkness with the poem He Will Hold Me Fast, to which Harkness composed a melody. The finished song was published in 1907 to be sung in their evangelistic gatherings. It quickly became a favorite, but then it fell out of regular use around the mid twentieth century.

About 10 years ago, Matt Merker, a worship leader at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington D.C., came across a copy of the hymn when he was going through a season of doubt and uncertainty. He was reminded of a sermon on Jude 20-25 about how we must hold fast to Jesus, but He has an even stronger hold on us. Finding this song about the same time ministered to him deeply. Merker combined Habershon’s four stanzas into two, and wrote an additional third stanza about the return of Christ, accompanied by a new melody.

The song was introduced to CHBC in 2013, and it has been growing in popularity ever since. For the life of me, I don’t get why it’s only #92 on the CCLI Top 100. But surely this song and Behold Our God will only go up from here.

Why It’s Great
The opening line of the song sets the theme: “When I fear my faith will fail, Christ will hold me fast.” But the song is not just about knowing Christ will keep us close though we doubt our ability to believe. It’s about relying upon Christ for everything, knowing that He loves us and cares for us: “Those He saves are His delight, Christ will hold me fast. Precious in His holy sight, He will hold me fast.”

My Favorite Part
It’s difficult to keep my eyes dry when we get to that last verse: “For my life He bled and died, Christ will hold me fast. Justice has been satisfied, He will hold me fast. Raised with Him to endless life, He will hold me fast. Till our faith is turned to sight, when He comes at last!”

Knowing the truth of the gospel is at the foundation of having assurance in my salvation. Jesus left His throne in heaven, He lived on this earth, He suffered and died—He gave His life for me! That sacrifice will not be in vain. He will not let me stray from Him, “though I take my life into my hands continually” (Psalm 119:109). “Bought by Him at such a cost, He will hold me fast.”

Something else I love about this hymn is the reference to “me,” as in “He will hold me fast.” So many corporate worship songs use collective pronouns like us and our and we. But worship is also meant to be a deeply personal thing. David used personal singular pronouns when he wrote his songs, like, “The Lord is my shepherd.” We need corporate songs, but those personal reminders are deeply important as well: “He will hold me fast.”

2) “How Great Thou Art” written by Stuart Wesley Keene Hine
Placement on the CCLI chart: #24

Yes, this is the classic hymn, not yet in the public domain. “How Great Thou Art” was first published by English missionary Stuart K. Hine in 1949, having translated a Swedish hymn entitled O Store Gud written in 1885 by Carl Boberg. He originally wrote his poem O Store Gud (meaning O Great God) with nine verses, and borrowed the music from and old Swedish folk tune.

Legend has it that years later, at the end of World War II, Boberg’s poem was adapted to the tune Horst Wessel Lied, the music for Die Fahne Hoch (German for “Raise the Flag”) which was the anthem of the Nazi party. According to the legend, someone wanted to redeem the tune and transform the anthem of one of the most murderous regimes in history into a song that instead praised Christ in anticipation of His coming kingdom. However, I’ve never been able to substantiate the legend. If you listen to Horst Wessel Lied, it’s close to How Great Thou Art, but not exact. Perhaps someone at some point blended O Store Gud with Horst Wessel Lied, but it’s not the version of the song we sing in English.

We are able to trace the original Swedish tune Boberg published his poem to, and it’s almost exactly the melody we still sing to this day. Hine translated three of Boberg’s verses into English and wrote one of his own: the line that begins, “When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation.” The hymn was popularized by the Billy Graham crusades in the mid to late 1900s, as sung by George Beverly Shea.

Why It’s Great
Do I really need to explain why this song is great? This is another one of those classic hymns that highlight important elements of the gospel story. We start off singing about “the worlds Thy hands have made” (or in some iterations, the “works Thy hands have made”). In the second verse, we remember that God sent His Son to die for us: “He bled and died to take away my sin.” And at the end, we anticipate His triumphant return: “When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation, and take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.”

My Favorite Part
That chorus is just so catchy: “Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee. How great Thou art, how great Thou art.” When we sing it at church, I’ll go the rest of the day with this song in my head, and perhaps even into the start of my week. I’m singing it in my head right now!

Honorable Mentions
Before getting to my number one song, I want to mention a few songs in the Top 100 that I really like, but they didn’t make my Top 10. Here they are in ascending order…

“10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)” by Matt Redman (#13 on the chart)
I know that Matt Redman runs with Bethel and Hillsong, and he wrote the forward to a book by Steven Furtick, who is a heretic. But I must confess, I cannot help but love Matt Redman songs. I want to believe Matt Redman has orthodox beliefs but bad discernment and ended up in the wrong circles. Because of his associations, I would not push anyone to sing his songs in corporate worship. But I’m still able to worship with them.

“Blessed Be Your Name” by Matt Redman (#33 on the chart)
Not long after Steven Curtis Chapman’s daughter was killed in a tragic accident, my wife and I (we were only dating at the time) went to go see him in concert in Springfield, MO. This was the song he opened with—not one of his own, but the famous song by Matt Redman. Chapman said this was the song he and his wife had been singing in the days after their loss. We as the audience sang it together. There was not a dry eye in the place. With a line like, “You give and take away, my heart will choose to say, Lord, blessed be your name,” I will always love this song.

“Jesus Paid it All” by Elvina M. Hall (#49 on the chart)
This is the classic hymn, not yet in the public domain. The chorus you’re surely familiar with: “Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe, sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow.” There’s no enthralling backstory to this song. Hall wrote it in an afternoon of deep contemplation. The church organist, John Grape, added the music, and the rest is history. About a decade ago, Alex Nifong of Passion City Church in Atlanta added a bridge commonly heard in many modern renditions of the song: “Oh praise the one who paid my debt and raised this life up from the dead.”

“You Are My King (Amazing Love)” by Billy J. Foote (#67 on the chart)
My only disappointment with this song is that there’s not a second verse. You sing the first verse twice, which makes the song unnecessarily repetitive. (With all the people adding choruses and bridges to classic hymns, why isn’t anyone writing extra verses to one-verse songs?) Nonetheless, it’s very catchy and a wonderful worship chorus. How can you help but sing, “Amazing love, how can it be, that you my King should die for me?”

“Come Now is the Time to Worship” by Brian Doerksen (#79 on the chart)
When I led a traveling worship band, this was the song we often started with, a simple and recognizable verse and chorus inviting the saints into worship. Brian Doerksen is a Mennonite (I was baptized in a Mennonite church) and only the second Canadian to ever win a Dove Award.

“Agnus Dei” by Michael W. Smith (#81 on the chart)
Latin for Lamb of God, Agnus Dei is another song made up of a single verse and chorus, but what a powerful chorus. It was recorded in 1990 for Smitty’s Go West Young Man album, the same record that contained chart-topping hits such as Place in This World and For You. All of the aforementioned songs are mostly forgotten, unless you’re a Michael W. Smith fan. But Agnus Dei continues to be sung in churches all around the world. I mentioned in a previous article that there’s a version of What a Beautiful Name by Brooke Ligertwood that also contains Agnus Dei, a nice throwback to an era of contemporary Christian music that has become a distant memory.

“You Are My All in All” by Dennis Jernigan (#94 on the chart)
The song begins, “You are my strength when I am weak, you are the treasure that I seek, you are my all in all.” The chorus goes, “Jesus, Lamb of God, worthy is Your name.” Dennis Jernigan has shared that he struggled with homosexual thoughts due to abuse he suffered as a child. But he has by no means bought into the “Gay Christian” or Side B movements, and he has taught that no one is born gay. “Your circumstances, your sins, your wounds, etc., may all be different than mine,” he says, “but the answer is still the same—Jesus.” You can read his testimony here. He and his wife of nearly 40 years have raised 9 children.

“I Love You Lord” written by Laurie Klein (#98 on the chart)
The song goes like this: “I love you, Lord, and I lift my voice, to worship you, O my soul, rejoice. Take joy, my King, in what you hear. May it be a sweet, sweet sound in your ear.” That’s it. That’s the whole song. Such a simple chorus and a heartfelt song of praise. Apparently it is still sung and published with such regularity that it still breaks the Top 100. The chorus was written by a stay-at-home mom singing in worship to God one morning before her children awoke and the day began.

And now, my number 1 favorite…

1) “In Christ Alone (My Hope is Found)” written by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend
Placement on the CCLI chart: #15

I’ve heard it said that In Christ Alone is the Amazing Grace of our generation. Personally, I believe the song is better than Amazing Grace. So much of the gospel story is contained in these lyrics unlike any other song being written at the turn of the millennium.

First composed in 2001, the writing of the song began with Irishman Keith Getty, who was already concerned about the poor quality of worship songs he was hearing sung in churches. One morning in a church in Belfast, he heard for the first time a song called How Deep the Father’s Love for Us by Steward Townend (see the previous half of this list for the story behind that song). Getty thought, “Now there’s the kind of song I would like to write.”

Getty and Townend got together for a chat, and Getty introduced him to the melody of what would become In Christ Alone. Townend loved the enduring quality of the tune. He thought music like this needed lyrics about Christ’s birth, life, death, and resurrection. This fit wonderfully with Getty’s desire to write more songs that helped people understand the Christian faith.

Writing the lyrics, Townend said, came rather easy. The more he wrote, the more excited and even emotional he became about the song. He sent the lyrics to Getty who read the very first line: “My hope is found in Christ alone.” Right away, Getty wanted to make a change. He thought it would sound better saying, “In Christ alone my hope is found.” Townend was resistant to the change because it didn’t fit the scheme he had in his head. But he says today Getty’s change was a stroke of genius.

The first recording of the song was not high-end quality. Nonetheless, the song spoke for itself (or rather sang for itself). In Christ Alone spread across Ireland and the United Kingdom, and by 2005 a BBC survey called In Christ Alone the ninth best-loved hymn of all time in the U.K. It would not break into the top of the CCLI charts in America until 2008. Now it can be heard sung all over the world, this beautiful hymn that tells the story of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In Christ Alone is a signature song that has helped usher in a new movement of hymnody for a new millennium.

Why It’s Great
What is not to love about this song? Getty and Townend accomplished what they both wanted to achieve, writing a hymn that told the story of Jesus. The first verse begins simply expressing awe in all that we find in Christ alone: “He is my light, my strength, my song. This cornerstone, this solid ground firm through the fiercest drought and storm.” The next three verses go through His incarnation and life, His death and resurrection, and the life we now live anticipating His eventual return.

The song is timeless and universal. Generations before ours could have sung this song and been just as in love with it as we are today. You could sing it at Christmas with the line, “In Christ alone who took on flesh, fullness of God in helpless babe.” Or you could sing it at Easter with the line, “Then bursting forth in glorious day, up from the grave He rose again.”

You could sing it when you are hurting, with the line, “What heights of love, what depths of peace, when fears are stilled, when strivings cease. My comforter, my all in all, here in the love of Christ I stand.” You could sing it as a declaration of your personal faith, with the line, “For I am His and He is mine, bought with the precious blood of Christ.” From children to adults, there is something in this song for everyone because the gospel is for everyone.

My Favorite Part
In the second half of the second verse, we sing this line: “Till on that cross as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied, for every sin on Him was laid. Here in the death of Christ I live.” Expressed there is the biblical doctrine of penal substitutionary atonement—that by His death on the cross, Jesus took upon Himself the wrath of God that we deserved as a substitute for us (as read in Isaiah 53:5-6, Romans 3:23-26, and other places).

Perhaps you’re aware of some of the controversy surrounding this line. The Presbyterian Church U.S.A., when they published their new hymnal and wanted to include the song In Christ Alone, they didn’t like this line. They wanted to change “the wrath of God was satisfied” to “the love of God was magnified.” Getty and Townend rejected the change. As a result, the song was left out of the heretical gay-affirming denomination’s hymnal. Getty and Townend remained committed to being doctrinally sound even if it cost them.

Because of the controversy of this doctrine of the atonement, that’s the verse that’s most often left out of some recordings, like when Owl City and Lauren Daigle did their covers. But it’s personally one of my favorite lines in the whole song. I am a sinner deserving of God’s wrath. But Jesus took the wrath of God upon Himself for my sake. All who believe in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life.

“No power of hell, no scheme of man can ever pluck me from His hand. Till He returns or calls me home, here in the power of Christ I’ll stand.”