TIS: Tinie Tempah Ft. Eric Turner – Written in the Stars

A wise philosopher once sang the telling lyrics “I am so smart! I am so smart! S – M – R – T!”. This irony-laden self aggrandising statement would not seem out of place in Tinie Tempah’s recent effort, ‘Written in the Stars’.

Whilst Mr. Tempah tells us of his struggle, Erik Turner treats us to the following refrain:

Oh! Written in the stars / a million miles away / a message to the main / seasons come and go / but I will never change / and I’m on my way.

According to Tempah and Turner, their identity, their greatness, is written in the heavens above. It’s a message for everyone to know them, unchanging and awaited as they are. It was this (and not the catchy, hypnotic rhythmic delivery of Tempah) that instantly grabbed my attention when I first heard it in the car. In the chorus of this song, we have a clear picture of the human condition:

“I am great. I will be greater.”

It’s the kind of thought that is prevalent through much of the hip hop and grime that fills the charts today (and the exceptions are where the brilliant music lies), but it’s also the kind of thought that society drowns in: We are entitled. We are better than that group of people. We should be the focus.

In this three and a half minute chart topper, we have statements that can only be true of God being proclaimed about the self. Yet we know it’s a nonsense. It doesn’t matter how much you say you are awesome – you still have no control over the whirlwind of a world that spins around you. Solomon spoke of this in Ecclesiastes:

If the clouds are full of rain,
they empty themselves on the earth,
and if a tree falls to the south or to the north,
in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.

Ecclesiastes 11:3

Who has it in their power even to add but an extra hour onto their life, let alone to orchestrate the happenings of the world around them?

It makes no sense to attach these statements of power and timelessness to ourselves when we know in our hearts that they are false. How much better to trust in the One to whom these words can be applied truthfully.

The glory of God is written in the stars: “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” Psalm 19:1,

God is unchanging: “Jesus is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Hebrews 13:8

Jesus is returning: “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!”

God is great.

We are small.

Stop trying to trade places.

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You can catch the previous Truth in Sound here.

For more thoughts on the greatness of God and the smallness of man, check out the podcasts of the ‘Small‘ series recently preached at Firwood Church.