I don’t lIke songs about war, especially ones meant to pump us up and send us into battle thinking we’re invincible. That isn’t realistic, no matter how strong our army is or how smart our generals are. In war, people die, whether as combatants or as collateral damage — an arrogant way of saying, innocent bystanders.
It’s also a myth that some higher power cares more about one group of people than another, and gives them victory over their enemies, no matter what. Those people may, in fact, win in battle, but at what cost? How many casualties were innocent victims? How many of their war dead had been told that “God is on our side”?
Furthermore, there’s no promise of reward for martyrs in any heaven, whether one with gold roads and big houses, or one with threescore and twelve young lovers to make death more attractive. There’s just pain, death, more pain, and all the senseless destruction that comes with letting our high and mighty lords lead us.
The psalmist finally sings, “I would have lost heart, unless I had believed / That I would see the goodness of the Lord / In the land of the living.” So this praise singer really did expect to get paid with favors here, not in the land of the dead. But I guess it’s the same way with other war tunes, like “Dixie” and “Over There.”