Sparrow Records

Release Date: July 15^th 2022

Reviewed by: Jonathan Andre

Cody Carnes – Be Glad – Single (Amazon mp3/iTunes)

Track Listing:

1. Be Glad

Cody Carnes has been in and around the music industry for quite some time. Unveiling albums from 2017 onward, his release of his first two full-length albums The Darker the Night / The Brighter the Morning (2017) and Run to the Father (2020) have been able to bless anyone who has heard these albums over the years (myself included), with hit single songs from these two albums ranging from ‘Run to the Father’, ‘The Cross Has the Final Word’, ‘Til the End of Time’, ‘What Freedom Feels Like’ and ‘Cover the Earth’, to ‘Nothing Else’, ‘The Blessing’ (with Kari Jobe) and ‘Christ Be Magnified’, to name a few. Just recently, Cody also unveiled the singles ‘Too Good Not To Believe’, ‘Firm Foundation (He Won’t)’ and ‘Hope for the Ages’, and now in 2022, just this past Friday, Cody’s once again delivered music-wise, with a new single, ‘Be Glad’.

Whether ‘Be Glad’, alongside ‘Too Good Not to Believe’, ‘Firm Foundation’ and ‘Hope for the Ages’ are on Cody’s forthcoming live album or not, remains to be seen. Regardless, ‘Be Glad’ the song is just as emotive, powerful, and poignant as many of his other songs in the past; and as we hear from this 5 minute track (on the dot), Cody delivers this heartfelt theme of being glad in the sight of the Lord, and understanding and acknowledging that being glad before the Lord, in spite of all the things that tell us to be sad, mad, frustrated and even furious at the Lord; is indeed a choice. Yes, it’s easy to be glad in the Lord and to delight in the Lord when things are going well. When we know that the Lord has answered our prayers, when we know that we can count on our personal ‘genie’. But it really tests our faith and spirit when we’re asked and required to be glad before the Lord, in the moments of our life when everything is going wrong. ‘Be Glad’ is a great reminder, that we are glad before the Lord not because of what we know He can do for us in the future, or whether He’s answered prayers or not. But rather, we be glad before God, and rejoice, because of what He’s already done in our lives. For what He’s done in everyone’s life, 2000 years ago. Because while I firmly believe that He is capable of undertaking a plethora of things in our lives in the future, He doesn’t have to, for Him to still remain the Lord of Lords, the King of Kings, and the Almighty, worthy of our praise. We are glad before Him because of who He is in light of who we are. Because of what He’s done, in spite of what we continuously want to do and undertake on a daily basis. As we wrap our heads around that, then hopefully the song ‘Be Glad’ has served it’s purpose. Well done Cody for such a joyful and fun song. Maybe this song is indeed a reminder that we need a brand-new Cody Carnes album…soon?

‘…I love this song. It’s straight scripture the whole way through. I pray it helps find the reasons to BE GLAD when it can be so easy to find a reason to be sad, mad, frustrated or anything else. ‘Be Glad’ is a song straight from scripture and full of joy and praise. Psalm 118 says, This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and BE GLAD in it! There can be a lot of reasons to choose anything other than gladness. It’s easy to find a reason to be sad, angry, frustrated, or hopeless. But the Bible says we have a reason to BE GLAD today. Jesus has saved us and redeemed us. His mercies were brand new when you woke up this morning. So put on some gladness and worship the Lord today! I hope this song helps you do that…’

Score: 4.5/5

RIYL: Kari Jobe, Passion, Hillsong Worship, Maverick City Music, Elevation Worship