Provident Label Group

Release Date: July 29th 2022

Reviewed by: Joshua Andre

Matthew West– How Good Of God (Single) (Amazon mp3/iTunes)

Track Listing:

1. How Good Of God

Over the past few years, I reckon one of the artists who has inspired me and impacted me immensely, is CCM artist Matthew West. Known for his singles “The Motions”, “More”, “You Are Everything”, “My Own Little World”, “History”, “Only Grace”, “The God Who Stays”, “Forgiveness”, “What If”, “Truth Be Told”, “Hello My Name Is”, “Day One”, “All In” and “Broken Things” to name a few; Matthew has also won and been nominated for Grammy Awards and Dove Awards. He’s also the host of The Matthew West Podcast; and he’s been reminding us all, time and time again over the years, about the power of a story. Since 2010, Matthew has been writing songs about his listeners and the stories they’ve been going through. The result has been a career that has been improving exponentially by the album. I’ve blogged about Matthew here, while Jon has also reviewed Matthew’s 2020 album Brand New. We’ve also voiced our opinions about Matthew’s latest singles “What If” (with Lathan Warlick) and “Truth Be Told” (with Carly Pearce). Matthew has also released his Christmas album We Need Christmas last year; while Matthew released brand new singles this year that we’ve reviewed: “Me On Your Mind”, “Wonderful Life”, “Before You Ask Her”, and a new rendition of “Me On Your Mind”- a collaboration with CCM/country rising star Anne Wilson. But now it’s time for Matthew to release something new in 2022. Matthew recently dropped his latest original melody, the hymn like powerful mid-tempo ballad “How Good Of God”. And boy, is this inspiring melody another one of the year’s best songs so far- and another hit for Matthew as well!

I love the music video for “How Good of God” so much! We put a message on social media and a bunch of families showed up with their kids to be the stars of this video. I wanted the video to be full of life. I had a vision of what vacation Bible school was like when I was a kid. I had such a blast hanging out and teaching these kids the songs, and then we performed for the parents like a school recital. To me, it’s such a special thing to see all these kids singing about the goodness of God.

One day during the height of the pandemic my wife noticed a piece of paper on the nightstand next to my daughter’s bed. She had written a list of everything that was going wrong in our world at the time. My wife showed the list to me, and it broke our hearts to think that our little girl is going to bed with so much bad news on her mind. So, the next day we decided we would sit down together as a family and make a different kind of list. We took turns talking about something good in our lives, something we are thankful for, something that brings us joy. The craziest thing happened! That list we made was much longer than the list of troubles. That experience inspired me to sit down and write ‘How Good of God’.

Presumably from an unnamed album set to be released sometime this year, “How Good Of God” is pure CCM pop (and at times a bit cheesy lyrically!), but the lyrical genius from Matthew and his song writing prowess make this track… not one of Matthew’s best CCM songs recently (because that will always be “Me On Your Mind”!); but still pretty close. With the track being a declaration of thanks and celebrating the goodness of God, reminding us all that He is worthy of our praise and adoration; “How Good Of God” highlights just how good God is and just how much He loves us. As Matthew and passionately and eloquently reiterates the eternal truth that ‘…my sins have been forgiven and my wrongs have been erased, and I’ve learned what’s so amazing about amazing grace, yeah, this life I live is proof that every prayer I prayed was heard, Lord, ain’t it just like You to give me more than I deserve…’; we are presented with a comforting and sobering track- a track that is simple yet equally profound in its concept- that Jesus is good to us and that He loves each one of us immensely.

With a new album releasing possibly sometime this year (or maybe next year?) (right now comprising of 5 new songs already, and counting!), Matthew West remains to be one of today’s most inspiring and relatable artists. And his timeless songs are proof of this impact and influence; while “How Good Of God” is a timely, powerful, and joyous melody to hear about God’s goodness. Well done, Matthew, I can’t wait to hear what God has in store for you next! Are you all a fan of Matthew West yet? No? Well then listen to this song and the rest of his discography! I guarantee it you’ll be a fan by then!

Score: 4.5/5

RIYL: Maddie & Tae, Micah Tyler, Sanctus Real, for KING & COUNTRY, Carly Pearce, Lady A, Florida Georgia Line, Sidewalk Prophets