TIS: Wretch 32 ft. Josh Kumra – Don’t Go
Grime/Hip Hop is a world of contradictions, and Wretch 32 is no exception to this. In this song we see the transformation of Mr 32 from a London taxi’s only competition [almost as big, slick, quick, black, and upper London] to a wreck of a man, desperate to keep hold of some new love.
It’s the refrain, sung by Josh Kumra, that catches my attention in this song, however:
“I don’t know where you come from, but you’re everywhere I go.”
It has the sound almost of a Psalm, particularly Psalm 139:
Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
Psalm 139:7-8
The difference between the song and the Psalm is found in its object; for Wretch and his pal, this is some lady he cannot be without, but whom he fears may leave at any moment; for David (who wrote the Psalm), it is the God from whom he cannot escape.
Wretch’s fears may prove true. The chorus again cries out;
“I don’t know why you chose me … don’t go.”
In the face of being loved, perhaps it is natural to ask why. Perhaps some people (fond of their mirrors) feel no such need to ask, or perhaps they just pretend that is the case. And when we ask why, we are sure to soon find a whole host of reasons why not.
If they knew this about me, they would not love me. They would indeed ‘go’.
The relief for David is that God already knew everything about him before he was even formed in his mother’s womb. Every day of his life lay before God prior to him taking his first breath.
And God still chose him.
And God still loves him
The ‘why’ may be the biggest mystery of all, yet it is most certainly not because of anything David had done to earn God’s love. God loved him and chose him before he could do anything.
Paul writes in Romans 8:38-39 that ‘nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Jesus’. This is because that love doesn’t depend on us and our changing moods. It doesn’t depend on the world around us. It doesn’t depend on anyone else’s opinion.
It depends on God.
The unchanging and eternal One.
God chose to die to save me. I don’t know why he chose me. I know he will not go. I know that wherever I run, he will be there.
God offers this love to you. I don’t know why, except that he loves you.
The song labels this girl as ‘everything [he] needs’, yet she is temporary at best. She will either leave of her own accord, or she will one day fade away, as will anything else we could set our hopes on. The one thing, the one love, that will remain is Jesus.
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(You can catch the previous ‘Truth in Sound’ here.)