Three-and-a-half years ago, the British folk-rock act Mumford & Sons released its third album, Wilder Mind, a work that veered from the group’s formerly optimistic musings about faith, hope, love, forgiveness and reconciliation.
Now the British folk quartet is back with a new single that sounds as if the group is slowly returning to those redemptive roots. “Guiding Light,” the lead single from the band’s forthcoming album, Delta, offers hope amid difficulty and encourages listeners to leave behind the darkness in favor of the light.
“Guiding Light” seems to speak from two different perspectives: Someone who is seeking God; and, perhaps, God responding (at least in one verse).
The seeker here is distraught as he describes symptoms of his physical and spiritual weariness: “All day permanent red/The glaze on my eyes.” But he’s caught off guard when he hears a voice. Apparently, God’s. And, apparently, a voice he hasn’t heard in a while: “When I heard your voice/The distance caught me by surprise again.”
That voice responds, “And I know you claim/That you’re alright.” Then it commands, “But fix your eyes on me/I guess I’m all you have/And I swear you’ll see the dawn again.” To heed God’s voice, the song implies, is to find what matters and to rediscover hope.
The narrator understands that there’s a lot at stake here: “Well I know I had it all on the line,” frontman Marcus Mumford sings. Then he adds, “But don’t just sit with folded hands and become blind.” It’s not clear whether he’s talking about himself or God in this line. But it does soon become clear that he has a hard time—at least sometimes—trusting that God is really there and that He really cares. “Don’t just slip away/In the night,” Mumford begs. “Don’t just hurl/Your words from on high.”
But if there are moments of mistrust, there’s also a recollection of a time in the past where the seeker felt closer to the Almighty. “Relate to my youth/Well, I’m still in awe of you,” we hear. And it seems there’s a longing to experience that kind of intimacy once again, to “discover some new truth/That was always wrapped around you.”
And what is that truth? It is the promise of guidance: “Even when there is no star in sight/You’ll always be my only guiding light.” And, even more importantly, the promise of a relationship with God that redirects us away from shame and shadows, toward the life God has for us: “If we come back and we’re broken/Unworthy and ashamed/Give us something to believe in/And you know we’ll go your way.”
Mumford & Sons isn’t the kind of band that typically comes right out and trumpets, “Hey everybody, this song is about God!” But even a cursory glance at these lyrics makes that connection apparent here.
Recorded at The Church Studios in London, “Guiding Light” brims with hope and perseverance as a weary seeker speaks to the only One who can draw him away from darkness and lead him into light … and life.
Kristin Smith joined the Plugged In team in 2017. Formerly a Spanish and English teacher, Kristin loves reading literature and eating authentic Mexican tacos. She and her husband, Eddy, love raising their children Judah and Selah. Kristin also has a deep affection for coffee, music, her dog (Cali) and cat (Aslan).
