Maverick City Music feat. Joe L Barnes & Naomi Raine
2 songs checked against the passages they lean on. Each one was graded on its own, against what that song does with the text.
How the 2 checks landed
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This is a count, not a verdict. We grade songs, one at a time, against what each one does with the text. A tally of those checks describes a catalogue. It is not a judgment of the people who wrote or sang it, and no number here puts anyone on or off The List. Most drift is craft pressure, not deception. Read the proofs, not the arithmetic.
The songs
NOT A QUOTE
“Promises”
Maverick City Music feat. Joe L Barnes & Naomi Raine
Sing it. It quotes nothing, and what it says of God is true. Read Joshua 23:14 through 16 alongside it, because Joshua's version of the same words names the promises and comes with a warning attached.✓ Never says it is quoting. No chapter, no verse, no translation named, nothing framed as scripture
⚠ The word "promises" is never filled in, and the song's central thesis is about God's record without naming what is on it. Joshua names his: the good promises about the land
NOT A QUOTE
“Promises”
Maverick City Music feat. Joe L Barnes & Naomi Raine
Sing it. Nothing is presented as scripture, and what it says of God, scripture says first. Just know which promises you mean when you sing the word, because the song leaves that blank for the singer to fill.✓ Anchors its promise language in covenant history, opening with the God of Abraham, which is where scripture itself grounds God's promise-keeping (the publisher's catalog lists Hebrews 6:13-20)
⚠ The word "promises" is never filled in. The verse's confidence is tied to what God actually said, and the song leaves that content to the singer