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God the Rock – “God Don’t Never Change”

God the Rock – “God Don’t Never Change”

God the Rock – “God Don’t Never Change”

This gospel blues classic was recorded by the legendary Blind Willie Johnson in 1929. No one else has ever claimed credit for the song, so it is assumed that he was the original composer and writer. Blind Willie was born around 1900 in Texas. He was not born blind, but was blinded when he was 7 years old in an unfortunate domestic incident when lye water was accidentally splashed into his eyes. He was largely unschooled, but he faithfully attended his Missionary Baptist church every Sunday as he grew up. He must have absorbed a lot of Scripture and details about the Faith, because all his songs show an extensive knowledge of the Bible.

His father gave him a homemade cigar box guitar when Willie was quite young, and he developed a reputation as a prodigious player of the slide guitar. He felt called as a young adult to be an evangelist and preacher, using his original songs as a way of spreading the Faith. Willie traveled throughout the South, singing and preaching, and was often homeless during his travels. His rough lifestyle took its toll on his body, and Willie died in his 40’s.

Blind Willie’s song “God Don’t Never Change” was largely ignored after it was recorded. Then, in the 1990’s, it was rediscovered and embraced as an outstanding example of early gospel blues, as well as a fascinating theological lesson. This song has since been covered by numerous guitarists and singers, and is now appreciated by a new generation of fans and musicians. Because of his humble background being raised in poverty, Willie is usually underestimated when it comes to the content of his songs. Though unschooled, Blind Willie decided in this song to, in a simple and direct way, tackle some important theological topics regarding the qualities of God.

God Don’t Never Change – YouTube

LYRICS

Refrain: Yes God, God don’t never change. He’s God, always will be God.

  1. God in the middle of the ocean, God in the middle of the sea. The help of the great Creator, Truly been a God to me. 

Refrain

2. God in creation, God when Adam fell. God way up in heaven. God way down in hell.

Refrain

3. Spoke to the mountain, said how great I Am. Want you to get up this mornin’, and skip around like a lamb.

Refrain

4. God in the time of sickness, God in the doctor too. In the time of the influenza, He truly was God to you.

Refrain

5. God in the pulpit. God way down at the door. He’s God in the amen corner, and God all over the floor.

Refrain

Willie alludes to scripture throughout this song, including:

a. Verse 2 = Psalm 139:7-8, “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 (Sheol), behold you are there.” (NKJV).

b. Verse 3 = Psalm 114:3-4“Judah became God’s sanctuary, Israel his dominion. The sea looked and fled, the Jordan turned back; the mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs.” (NIV).

Willie is singing here about something important concerning the nature of God. For one thing, he sings the fact that God is unchangeable, immovable, immutable. God is the Rock that can’t be budged or moved into changing His faithful character of justice and mercy. God is eternally solid and is the one stable element in the universe.

Ecclesiastes 3:14, “I know that everything God does will endure for ever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it.” 

Isaiah 26:4“Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal.” 

Psalm 102:27You remain the same, and your years will never end.” 

Malachi 3:6“I the Lord do not change.”

James 1:17“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” 

Blind Willie Johnson sings about two other eternal qualities of God in this song:

God knows everythingeven “the time of the influenza.” Willie here is referring to the devastating years of the Spanish flu during 1918-1920. Willie says that God is near us even in the time of sickness, and that God can even  be alive in the doctors caring for the victims. Willie suggests that God is still a God with us and for us, even during a plague. We could all stand to hear this during this time of covid. God knows when each of us is sick, and has promised his presence. “Great is our Lord and mighty in power; His understanding has no limit.” (Ps. 147:5).

God exists everywhere, even “all over the floor.” Willie was a faithful life-long member of the Baptist church, and he sees God being present everywhere during worship… in the pulpit, near the door, in the amen corner where the more verbal worshippers would congregate, and even on the floor. There is no place where God isn’t. His church is full of God, and so is the world. His presence is everywhere. “Am I only a God nearby, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? declares the Lord. Can anyone hide in secret places, so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth?” (Jeremiah 23:23-24).

In this one simple but profound song, Blind Willie Johnson declares that God is unchangeable, that He is everywhere, and that He knows everything. What a song. King David would have been proud.