Reviewing the Top 10 Praise and Worship Songs in 2022

It’s that time again—time for me to review and critique the most popular praise and worship songs sung in American churches today. The last time I did this was three years ago, in October of 2019, and the time before that was in October of 2016.

I’ve been asked why I do this so sparingly—why every three years and not every year? Or how about once every 6 months, since that’s how often Christian Copyright Licensing International (or CCLI) releases their Top 100 list? A big reason I don’t do this very often is because the charts don’t change much, even from year to year. Five of the top 10 songs that I reviewed three years ago are still in the top 10.

Why even do this at all? Because as I said in 2019, the Bible says, “Test everything; hold fast what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). In the gathering of the church, the doctrine in the songs we sing must be every bit as sound (no pun intended) as the doctrine in the preaching we listen to. Here I examine not only the theology in the lyrics of these songs but also the beliefs of the artists who sing them.

Also, we must consider if the song is suitable for corporate worship. Some songs might be fine to sing at home or in the car, but they don’t necessarily belong in church to be sung together unto our Lord. So with each song, I will include the title, which will link to a YouTube video of the song, and who wrote it; followed by good lyrics and questionable lyrics, and if the song should be sung in your church.

Here are the Top 10 most popular praise songs in 2022 according to CCLI:

1) “Goodness of God” written by Ben Fielding, Brian and Jenn Johnson, and Ed Cash
The song is credited to Bethel Church in Redding, CA. The version with Jenn Johnson singing the lead has over 70 million views on YouTube and climbing. Artist Ben Fielding is from Hillsong Australia, while Brian and Jenn Johnson are from Bethel. Both churches are heretical. Ed Cash is a renowned songwriter, whose credits include How Great is Our God by Chris Tomlin (who, surprisingly, has no songs on this list). Cash hasn’t done much since 2015, when it was revealed in Christianity Today that he was the leader of a cult. This is the troubled list of writers on this song.

Good Lyrics
I will admit, this is well-written song. The instrumentation is very simple and folksy, adding to its obvious appeal. The song begins, “I love You, Lord, for Your mercy never fails me. All my days, I’ve been held in Your hands. From the moment that I wake up until I lay my head, I will sing of the goodness of God.” The chorus goes, “And all my life you have been faithful. And all my life you have been so, so good. With every breath that I am able, I will sing of the goodness of God.”

Questionable Lyrics
Maybe not questionable, but the bridge is odd. It has that trademark Bethel feel to it, if you’re familiar with much of their music, and it doesn’t fit the rest of the song. The lyric goes, “Because your goodness is running after, it’s running after me,” and repeats that several times, also adding your goodness “keeps running after me.” Like I said, it’s odd.

Also, the bridge goes way up in vocal range, and it loses the humble simplicity the first couple of verses and the chorus had. It feels like it was written more to showcase Jenn Johnson’s vocals, and becomes less congregationally inclusive. But then the song settles down and returns to a laid back chorus.

Should the song be sung in your church?
No. As one theologian has said, “Hillsong is a prosperity movement for millennials,” and “The theology of Bethel Church actually detracts from the gospel of Jesus Christ.” They may have a worship song or two that hits all the right chords. But both Hillsong and Bethel are heretical in doctrine and practice. Hillsong has been plagued with sex abuse scandals since their founding, and Bethel had that horrible ordeal back in 2019 claiming they could raise a dead little girl back to life again. And again, Ed Cash is a cult leader. The troubling stories behind all these songwriters should be enough reason to pass over this one and find better songs.

2) “Build My Life” written by Brett Younker, Karl Martin, Kirby Kaple, Matt Redman, and Patt Barrett
The first time I heard this song, it was performed by Michael W. Smith, and there’s a version that also features Chris Tomlin. But regardless of how many names are on the song or how many people have recorded it, the original version belonged to Pat Barrett, former lead singer of the band Housefires based out of Atlanta.

Good Lyrics
All of the lyrics to this song are good. For the first verse, we sing: “Worthy of every song we could ever sing; worthy of all the praise we could ever bring; worthy of every breath we could ever breathe. We live for you.” The chorus goes, “Holy, there is no one like you; there is none beside you; open up my eyes in wonder.” My only disappointment is that the second verse is exactly the first verse. With that many names on this song, they couldn’t have written another verse?

Questionable Lyrics
None.

Should the song be sung in your church?
I wouldn’t, but it’s up to you. Housefires is part of the same movement that includes Hillsong and Bethel. Patt Barrett has a version of this song in which he sings with Bethel music’s Cory Asbury, and Bethel has released several of their own recordings of this song. As I said earlier, it’s one thing to sing a song like this in your car or play it as background music in your home—it’s something else to make it a congregational worship song in your church.

3) “Way Maker” written by Osinachi Kalu Okoro Egbu
The writer of this song is more known by the name Sinach, a Nigerian singer and worship leader formerly of Loveworld, a megachurch founded by prosperity preacher Chris Oyakhilome in Lagos, Nigeria. Oyakhilome has gone on to found LoveWorld USA, a Christian cable channel, in partnership with heretic Benny Hinn.

Good Lyrics
The chorus is the draw, and I admit it’s catchy: “You are way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper, light in the darkness, my God, that is who You are.” Aware of its catchiness, Sinach wrote the song so that you’ll sing that chorus over and over again.

Questionable Lyrics
There aren’t really any questionable lyrics. But the song is incredibly repetitive and spiritually immature. The four verses of Jesus Loves Me contain deeper theology than Way Maker. Also, if you’ve ever heard this song performed, the bridge tends to get really chaotic—the worship leader sings “Even when I don’t see it, you’re working,” and “You never stop, you never stop working,” over and over again, more like hollering the lines rather than singing. The way this song is written and performed is emotionally or feelings-driven rather than driven by truth. If truth was the basis for the song, it wouldn’t be so shallow.

All of that aside, knowing this song came out of prosperity theology, I’m unable to put out of my mind that the “way” the singer believes God is making is a way to earthly prosperity. It is difficult to enjoy this song as a listener, let alone a worshiper.

Should the song be sung in your church?
No. You must understand, Chris Oyakhilome and Benny Hinn are lying thieves and con artists, not to mention heretical in their theology. No one should have anything to do with any part of their contemptable ministries. If you think you can sing this song with a genuine heart of worship unto God, that is between you and the Lord. But I could not in good conscience sing this song in a congregational setting. If I was in a church that started singing this song, I couldn’t participate.

4) “Great Are You Lord” written by David Leonard, Jason Ingram, and Leslie Jordan
This song was written and recorded almost 10 years ago by the now defunct band All Sons and Daughters, made up of Leonard and Jordan. (Random fact: In 2012 while in Franklin, TN, I sat in on a writing session with All Sons and Daughters and threw out a line for the song they were working on, which they liked and began singing in their song. But I don’t remember what song it was. There’s a very remote possibility I’m a co-writer on this song.)

Good Lyrics
The very breath of God has been given to us who are created in His image. So I like the line, “It’s your breath in our lungs so we pour out our praise.” All Sons and Daughters like to sing those two-phrase repetitive choruses, so you get to sing, “It’s your breath in our lungs so we pour out our praise”—a lot. You sing it more often than “Great are you Lord.” The title of the song should have been, “It’s your breath in our lungs so we pour out our praise.”

Questionable Lyrics
None.

Should the song be sung in your church?
It’s up to you, but I wouldn’t. All Sons and Daughters ran in circles that included Hillsong and Bethel. The band broke up in 2018 after Leslie and her husband, Thomas, left the church in which All Sons and Daughters was formed (this isn’t gossip—they made all of this public online). Leonard and Jordan couldn’t come to an agreement on the future of the band. I wondered if the Jordans’ theology changed, and that’s why they left their church, unable to remain aligned with their doctrine. I recently discovered that Jordan went on to found a songwriting forum called “The Fold,” and the first quote on their website is from panentheist heretic and universalist Richard Rohr. God help us, it is so heartbreaking how bad the theology is among these folks.

5) “Graves Into Gardens” written by Brandon Lake, Chris Brown, Steven Furtick, and Tiffany Hudson
The song is attributed to Brandon Lake and performed by Elevation Worship, the worship band of Elevation Church in Charlotte, NC, pastored by Steven Furtick. If you’ve followed my ministry for very long, then you already know the warnings I’ve issued about Furtick and Elevation.

Good Lyrics
None. Okay, I’m kidding. The lyrics are okay, though I don’t really like them. If you sing this song, you will sing over and over again, “There’s nothing better than You.” That’s true, but it doesn’t need to be sung 20 times. That’s not an exaggeration. You will sing that line at least 20 times.

Questionable Lyrics
The first verse and chorus sound like a “Jesus is my boyfriend,” song, until you actually sing about the Lord God in the second verse. While I think the lyrics are okay for the most part, it’s all milk and no meat. That’s indicative of a lot of Furtick’s preaching—when he’s not being a heretic, he’s about a mile wide and a fraction of an inch deep. As an aside, the title “Graves into gardens” is a fraction of a line sung in the bridge. I don’t understand why that’s the title because it’s not even the main theme of the song.

Should the song be sung in your church?
No. For more about Steven Furtick’s heretical teaching, watch this 90-second video, and then this 90-second video. I did a longer video examining one of Furtick’s sermons about faith in this video.

6) “What a Beautiful Name” written by Ben Fielding and Brooke Ligertwood
Sung by Brooke Ligertwood, this is a wildly popular song. If you were to add up all the versions of this song on YouTube, it’s probably been viewed a billion times. It was first released in 2017 on Hillsong’s 25th live album Let There Be Light. The song was the Dove Award winning song of the year in 2017. There’s a version of the song that includes Michael W. Smith’s Agnus Dei, which is a nice generational touch, especially for fans of 90s Contemporary Christian Music (CCM).

Good Lyrics
What could be wrong with singing of the beauty of the name of Jesus? In the bridge of the song, we hear, “Death could not hold you, the veil tore before you, you silence the boast of sin and grave. The heavens are roaring, the praise of your glory, for you are raised to life again.”

Questionable Lyrics
I don’t understand what this means: “You didn’t want heaven without us; So Jesus, you brought heaven down.” This has an air of saying, “Heaven wouldn’t be heaven without us.” Heaven is heaven for one reason and one reason only—God is there. To say God didn’t want to dwell with Himself for all eternity (contrary to John 17:5) means heaven was lonely and incomplete until we arrived. Maybe you don’t interpret the phrase that way, but where in the Bible could you point to and say, “God didn’t want heaven without us”?

Should the song be sung in your church?
Setting aside that this is another tune from Hillsong, there are much better songs to pick from. It is frustrating how much of this list is associated with Hillsong, Bethel, and Elevation Churches, the big three in turning out catchy praise songs and heretical teaching. This is a pretty good barometer as to the state of American evangelicalism.

7) “Living Hope” written by Brian Johnson and Phil Wickham
This is the title-cut to Phil Wickham’s album released in March of 2018 with the promotion of the song meant to coincide with the Easter holiday.

Good Lyrics
The chorus goes, “Hallelujah, praise the One who set me free. Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me. You have broken every chain, there’s salvation in your name. Jesus Christ, my living hope.”

Questionable Lyrics
The first verse begins, “How great the chasm that lay between us. How high the mountain I could not climb. In desperation, I turned to heaven; and spoke Your name into the night. Then through the darkness, your loving-kindness tore through the shadows of my soul. The work is finished, the end is written. Jesus Christ, my living hope.” That’s not much of a coherent thought. It doesn’t even rhyme. Maybe I’m being nit-picky, but I found this song to be really bland. There are much better songs in CCLI’s top 100 than this one.

Should the song be sung in your church?
No. Though the song is primarily Phil Wickham’s, this is yet another Bethel Church release, having been included on their albums Victory and Living Hope. Co-writer Brian Johnson is a pastor at Bethel Church, the son of senior pastor Bill Johnson. These con-artists shut down their healing rooms during COVID, because they know they can’t actually heal anyone. They regularly employ gags like blowing gold dust out of the ventilation system and onto the congregation claiming it’s a manifestation of the Holy Spirit, or dumping feathers and saying they’re actual angels feathers. The problems with Bethel are vast.

8) “House of the Lord” written by Jonathan Smith and Phil Wickham
As another Phil Wickham song, then you’re surely not surprised to hear it was recorded in partnership with Bethel Church, who has done several versions of it as well as Wickham. The 53rd annual GMA Dove Awards was held last week, and this song had two nominations, including Song of the Year. Wickham won the Dove Award for Songwriter of the Year.

(By the way, just so you understand the state of the Dove Awards, a former and unrepentant Playboy bunny won a Dove Award this year. Various other queer affirming artists were nominated or won awards. There remains some sound popular Christian musicians—like Skillet, who was nominated for a few awards, and believe it or not the Gaither Vocal Band is still winning Dove Awards. But the overall state of CCM is really bad.)

Good Lyrics
The lyrics are okay and they rhyme. Again, it’s another Bethel tune, so it’s difficult for me to want to say anything good about it. Otherwise, the lyrics are fine, just not terribly deep.

Questionable Lyrics
None. But really, all the songs on this list sound exactly the same.

Should the song be sung in your church?
No. See the reason on song number 7.

9) “King of Kings” written by Scott and Brooke Ligertwood, and Jason Ingram
Another song from Hillsong. Scott Ligertwood is Brooke’s husband, who was known professionally as Brooke Fraser before they were married. Jason Ingram is son of the popular teacher Chip Ingram. Despite being the ninth most popular song on the CCLI list, this is not one of Hillsong’s more popular tunes as far as video plays go on YouTube.

Good Lyrics
It’s a great song, honestly. I’ve sung it in corporate worship before. The theology is even on the deep end for a Hillsong tune. The chorus is praising of our triune God: “Praise the Father, praise the Son, praise the Spirit, three in one, God of glory, Majesty, praise forever to the King of kings.” There’s talk about reconciling the lost and enduring suffering. It’s one of those songs that goes through the gospel story of Christ’s incarnation to His life to His death and in the bridge of the song His resurrection. Another line in the bridge sings about the church and the giving of the Spirit, the gospel truth, and our resurrection. It’s probably the most solid song I’ve ever heard from Hillsong, and without question the best song on this list.

Questionable Lyrics
None.

Should the song be sung in your church?
Corporately, it’s a great song. But you need to consider the warnings given above and decide if you can sing the song in your church with a clear conscience.

10) “Who You Say I Am” written by Ben Fielding and Reuben Morgan
This was the most popular worship song in the world when I did this review three years ago. The official video for Who You Say I Am has over 150 million views on YouTube alone. It was released in June, 2018 as the first single from Hillsong church’s 26th live album There Is More. As worship leaders with Hillsong, Fielding and Morgan are the same writing duo that brought us the chart-topping song Mighty to Save.

Good Lyrics
Overall, the lyrics are fine. “Who am I that the highest King would welcome me?” “While I was a slave to sin, Jesus died for me.” “I am chosen, not forsaken. I am who you say I am. You are for me, not against me. I am who you say I am.” “In my Father’s house, there’s a place for me; I’m a child of God.” And like any Hillsong tune, many of these lyrics are repeated over and over and over again.

Questionable Lyrics
If the song existed by itself, I would say there’s nothing questionable about it. But the mere fact that this song comes from Hillsong makes it questionable. When they sing, “I am who you say I am,” what exactly does that mean? Does the singer understand that only those who are followers of Christ are children of God, or are they singing that everyone is a child of God?

Joel Osteen of Lakewood Church in Houston invites his congregation to stand up and repeat this kind of creed before the preaching begins. They hold up a Bible and say, “This is my Bible: I am what it says I am, I have what it says I have, I can do what it says I can do.” I believe that, too. But Joel and I believe two different things when it comes to understanding “I am what it says I am.” The same is true of Hillsong. If you asked them to actually define their terms, you would get a heterodox answer, contrary to the sound teaching of God’s word.

Should the song be sung in your church?
Again, if you just wanted to sing this song in your car, that would be one thing. But singing it together in church is something else altogether. As we are told in 1 John 4:1, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”