"We may not outsing the angels / But at least we're gonna try"
Five years ago, Cory Asbury walked away from worship music, and he didn't do so quietly. He was the artist behind "Reckless Love," one of the most-streamed worship songs in history and a staple in churches across America. Even with that song behind him, he still walked away. He started, and nearly finished, a country album instead.
If you'd asked me a couple of years ago who was least likely to write a song daring us to out-sing the angels, I might have picked Asbury.
The story of how he came back starts with a mistake. Forrest Frank broke his back in a skateboarding accident and wrote a couple of songs about it from his hospital bed. The internet did what the internet does. Asbury joined in and posted a parody that landed badly with many people, including Frank, who called him out publicly. Asbury apologized quickly, and something unexpected happened. Instead of a feud, a friendship began.
A while later, something fascinating happened. Frank confronted Asbury about the five years he had spent running from his calling. That's the conversation Asbury said broke through to him.
Later, in October 2025, Asbury traveled to Waco, Texas, to hear Frank share his story at a service hosted by his home church. The pastor leading that service surprised Asbury by inviting him to lead a worship song, and the engagement he experienced left him undone, a reminder that God made him for this.
I think a story like this matters more than we usually give it credit for. The message and the messenger aren't separate things. A song about mortals daring to out-sing angels means something different coming from a guy who, twelve months earlier, wasn't seeking to sing to God at all. In reflecting on “Outsing the Angels,” Asbury said it plainly: "It's the childlike, almost foolish notion that we, mere mortals, could somehow contend with the very beings created for the sole purpose of worship. Honestly, it's preposterous." The context Asbury’s story that sits behind those words gives the song so much more weight.
And our worship does feel preposterous at times. Hebrews puts it this way, quoting the Psalms: "What is mankind that you are mindful of them, a son of man that you care for him? You made them a little lower than the angels." That gap has always existed. We were never the ones built for this kind of worship. Angels were made for nothing else. Isaiah saw them circling the throne, calling out day and night, never stopping, never tiring. Revelation shows the same scene. Creatures who don't rest from worship because worship is what they are.
That's who we're up against. Beings who never forget the lyrics, go flat, or get off-pitch. Many of us sing quietly so no one hears our joyful but far-from-beautiful noise.
Yet Asbury says, “at least we're gonna try.”
I don't think this is merely an Asbury problem. I think it's ours too. Everyone I know has a season when staying quiet feels safer than getting loud.
King David didn't think so. When the ark came back to Jerusalem, he danced in front of it with everything he had. His own wife watched from a window and despised him for it, calling it undignified. David told her he'd gladly become even more undignified than this in the Lord's eyes.
"And we might lose all our composure"
Composure was never the goal of our worship. God didn't ask David to dance well. He didn't ask Asbury to have his theology airtight before he opened his mouth again. He isn't asking you to have your voice in order before you try to sing.
Asbury sang his way back into his calling and an awareness of God's power and presence.
Maybe that's our next step too. What if God doesn't want us to sing well as much as he wants us to stop staying quiet? The Psalms invite us to let everything that has breath praise the Lord, not everything that has it together. Like the woman who poured out the perfume in the alabaster box, we are called to pour our hearts to God in worship.
Sure, we may not out-sing the angels. But we were never asked to do more than try.
Scott Savage is a pastor, author, and speaker who loves tacos, matcha, and sneakers. Scott's writing has impacted over eight million readers through trusted platforms such as the YouVersion Bible App, Air1 Radio, and Our Daily Bread. Whether speaking on a stage or writing on a page, he offers a steady, empathetic voice that reassures people they are seen, loved, and not beyond God's healing reach. He’s the author of Faith Behind The Song, a new devotional book published by K-Love Books. Subscribers from over fifty countries are excited to read his free newsletter every Tuesday morning. You can join that list today at ScottSavageLive.com.
