Biblical interpretation and worship come in many forms, and many times, because interpretation is Spirit-led, theological exegesis comes by way of song. The 20th century intellectual giant, W.E.B. DuBois, when talking about the enslaved Africans on the plantations, said this,
“The things evidently borrowed from the surrounding world undergo characteristic change when they enter the mouth of the slave. Especially is this true of Bible phrases. […] the wheels of Ezekiel are turned every way in the mystic dreaming of the slave, till he says: “There’s a little wheel a-turnin’ in-a-my heart. […] Through all the sorrow of the Sorrow Songs there breathes a hope—a faith in the ultimate justice of things. The minor cadences of despair change often to triumph and calm confidence. The Soul of Black Folks “The Sorrow Songs”
From the standpoint of human oppression, Christ Jesus’s death and resurrection should be divorced from all theologies of glory which in turn only see the atonement as something of divine sin management. Rather, as God entering into solidarity with all of those who are suffering on the underside of human history and working to obliterate death, sin, the enemy, and empire at the raising of God’s Son. The Sorrow Song, “Ride On King Jesus” is a praise song, giving Jesus the glory for revealing God’s holy immovability, the refusal of allowing sin to reign (1st Corinthians 15:58, NRSV).
