Bethel Music's latest project The Loft Sessions is a refreshing and authentic worship experience where community and creativity collide. Recorded live in a refurbished rustic loft, the Bethel Music team gathered friends and family for several nights of worship that set the stage for this ground-breaking recording. 

 

The Loft Sessions explores new territory for Bethel Music, merging an array of acoustic creativity with the modern melodies of original songs by Brian and Jenn Johnson, Jeremy Riddle and emerging artists Steffany Frizzell, Hunter Thompson and Matt Stinton. 

 

It's not your typical praise and worship album. It has a very warm musical style that will immediately soothe your soul and cause you to worship along with these ultra-talented worship leaders. It has a Gungor meets Mumford and Sons sonic feel to the album and I can't get enough of these anointed songs. 

 

If you like the praise and worship artists Hillsong UNITED, Matt Redman, Tim Hughes and Jesus Culture, then you can't go wrong with the Bethel Music worship team and you'll love The Loft Sessions. Every song on this album has quickly become a staple in my playlist of my favorite worship anthems. Every song is worshipful and catchy. For sure, this will be among my top worship albums of the year. My best description of this incredible album is to remember the first time you attended a worship event that really made the hair stand up on your neck and if you want to re-live that experience, then you need to get The Loft Sessions. 

 

"There are moments in worship where the power of God invades so strongly through the creative medium of music that a deep connection between us and our Heavenly Father is born," says Brian Johnson, who along with his wife Jenn are the senior worship pastors at Bethel Church and oversee the Bethel School of Worship. "Our desire is to pursue and capture these moments so that believers across the globe can enter into that experience and encounter Him." 

 

I had the great opportunity to interview Steffany Frizzell about her incredibly moving song, "You Know Me."

 

 

I don't know if you remember the last Bethel Live album, but in the song "God Of The Redeemed," at the very end of the live recording we sing "whoah oh oh" which was spontaneous worship from William Matthews. After that experience, I thought maybe that was the start of a song. I'd be at home worshipping by myself, and I'd sing that same way. 

 

There's something in this season of worship where "whoah's" are a groaning that words can't express that we read about in the Bible. I don't always have words, but this is my heart's cry to God. I felt that when he started singing it. Funny enough, that whole thing started and I was singing and worshipping in my living room with Blake Stratton, and we started singing those "whoah's" again. Tears were streaming down our faces, and I was still healing from my best friend dying, and this whole process of how many years it took for me and my friend to know each other the way we did. It took 12 or 13 years, and we had history with each other. God can bring people together in the Spirit, and they can feel like they've always know each other, but there's also something to be said for time and history with other people. 

 

I was talking to the Lord and it came out, and I started singing, "You have been, And You will be, You have seen, And You will see, You know when I rise and when I fall, When I come or go, You see it all," and that's how it came out. This declaration came from down in the depths of hurting but was also something hopeful. I feel comfort that God knows everything about me. I kept hearing Scripture in my head. The song literally came out of worship in my living room that day. I led worship in the school of ministry and this song kept coming out and people connected to it. I didn't know if this song was just a word for me, or if other people needed it. They decided to have me record it for the album.

 

 

Psalm 139:1-10: "O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether. You have hedged me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it. Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.  If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me."

 

 

God knows every detail of our lives. He knows every hair on our heads. He put every star in place. He knows our innermost parts. I had this vision of Creation, and thought of how God intricately created our universe. I would have loved to see God make everything. God made us for His pleasure and for His glory. I thought "You know me." It makes me cry just thinking about it. We were made for Him. 

 

Our pastor was talking about how "His delight was in the sons of man." God knows me way beyond how anyone could ever know me. It's this reminder that I am known by the God of all creation and He doesn't miss anything. He's heard every prayer, seen every tear. He knows the things I need that I don't have the words to ask for. I'm so glad we recorded this song. If people can take away anything from this song, I remember this encounter I had with the Lord where I had a vision where I saw this old motel room and there was this girl who was ashamed and sitting on this bed and covering her face. The doorknob turned and in walked the Lord, and I started crying. I heard Him saying to her, "you always know where to find Me." I don't ever remember not loving God, but I have these seasons where I need to lean into Him. I remember seeing this woman and He lifted her head and I saw that it was me. I was completely wrecked. He told me, "No matter where you go, I am coming after you." You can go anywhere and God will find you.

 

Asbury's Bible commentary: "David here lays down this great doctrine, That the God with whom we have to do has a perfect knowledge of us, and that all the motions and actions both of our inward and of our outward man are naked and open before Him. He speaks of it with admiration. "Thou hast such a knowledge of me as I have not of myself, nor can have. I cannot take notice of all my own thoughts, nor make such a judgment of myself as thou makest of me. It is such a knowledge as I cannot comprehend, much less describe. That thou knowest all things I am sure, but how I cannot tell." We cannot by searching find out how God searches and finds out us; nor do we know how we are known."

 

"You Know Me" stops me in my tracks as Steffany Frizzell slays me with her confessional and prayerful vocal style. God's thoughts and love for us are deep, such as cannot be known. We cannot think how many mercies we have received from Him. As the Lord knows us thoroughly, and we are strangers to ourselves, we should earnestly desire and pray to be searched and proved by His Word and Spirit. 

 

The lyrics: "You know when I rise and when I fall, When I come or go, You see it all, You hung the stars and You move the sea, And still You know me" have been resonating with me as I realize that Jesus commands us to trust God's Word completely no matter our circumstances or personal distractions or concerns. The bridge has an amazing reminder: "And nothing is hidden from Your sight, Wherever I go, You find me, And You know every detail of my life, And You are God and You don't miss a thing." 

 

We can't know everything and we are not in control, but trusting God gives us assurance that we don't have to be afraid.  God will be there to pick us up when we fall.

 

The challenge for me when I listen to this song is pick an area of my life that I've been trying to control and instead of thinking I have the answer, I can confess directly to God, "You memorize me," and put all of my hope and trust in Jesus. That biblical Truth comes right from Psalm 139 and there is great comfort in knowing Jesus and being known by Him in every detail of our lives. Amen to that!

 

(You can watch Steffany sing the song here.)