Why 20/20? By Trip Lee

Type: blog By Trip Lee Posted Apr 12, 2008 49 Comments

Why 20/20?
Reflections on Psalm 63

For those who don’t know, my new album entitled 20/20 comes out soon.  It’ll be just over 2 years since ITOK when this new album will drop.  Feels like forever though!  Many people have asked me why 20/20?  What’s the significance of the title? Just to clarify, it has nothing to do with the fact that I’m 20 years old as some have guessed lol.  In this short blog I’ll try to briefly explain my reasoning behind the title.

One of my favorite passages in the Scriptures is Psalm 63.  There may be nothing else I guard against more in my life than an intellectualizing of my faith.  It’s so easy (especially for someone built like myself who loves to read and to teach) to turn my relationship with God into learning facts and doing what those facts tell me to do.  Biblical faith and love for God includes so much more than a mental assent, so much more than just agreeing with doctrines, and so much more than carrying out duties.  In my own fight against these tendencies, I reflect on passages where saints in the Bible express a deep, heartfelt, sincere satisfaction in God.  A sincere desire for and delight in the God of the Scriptures. I constantly plead with God to bring me to this point.  Psalm 63 is one of those passages that has impacted me the most.  Looking at the chapter these were some of my observations…

1. David yearns for God (vs. 1)
He doesn’t just seek Him simply because He was told He was supposed to.  But he actually desires Him.  He thirsts for Him and he yearns for Him like a man dying of thirst in the desert.  It’s not simply that He’ll take Him or leave Him.  He can’t live! He can’t go on without tasting fellowship with His God.  The first time I read this passage this really struck me.  Do I thirst for my God like that?  Do I feel as if I can’t go on without tasting of His goodness?
The question following for me was, how does man get to the point where he yearns for God in this way?  Well the text tells us.  THEY SEE HIM.

2. David has seen God for who He is (vs. 2)
David’s eyes have beheld the beauty of His great God!  None of us have ever seen something that was so incredibly beautiful yet never desired to gaze upon it again.  When we see something beautiful it captivates us and we long to take in its beauty again and again.  This is the case with David.  He has seen God and His great power and glory, and He can’t take His eyes off of Him.  He is blown away!
I now know, my thirst and desire for God depends on me gazing at His beauty in the Scriptures; beholding His great glory and taking it in.  Of course we need the Spirit to open our eyes so that we can gaze upon God with eyes of faith. We also must pray fervently and depend on Him as we open the Scriptures, pleading with the Father to show us Himself as we open His Word.  As the passage continues we find the result of seeing God for who He is….

3. He praises God with his lips (vs. 3)
4. He will bless God and lift his hands in His name (vs. 4)
5. He is satisfied with God (vs. 5)
6. He reflects on His goodness (vs. 6)
7. He sings for joy! (vs. 7)
8. His soul clings to Him (vs. 8)
9. He finds comfort in His protection (vs. 9, 10)
10. He rejoices in God (vs. 11)

My Prayer
May we come to the Scriptures not to learn more facts, or to learn wise phrases, or to find rules to follow, but to gaze upon God, and to learn to worship Him in the way He desires.  For those of us who have received sight and come to faith in Jesus Christv , our vision is still blurred by our upbringing, our cultures.  Who is this God?  What does He expect from me? How do I relate to Him?  The Word of God serves as our corrective lenses.  My prayer is that we will cling to the Word, see the Lord more clearly, desire Him more than anything else, and serve Him with all our hearts.  This is my goal with the new album.  I pray God the Holy Spirit works through it and brings men to know Him better.  I’m praying all the way up to and following the release on May 20th.  Please join me in that.

Much Love
Trip
P.S. Look for some preview tracks coming up very soon…

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Posted April 12th at 7:49 PM
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Comments

  • nick (Apr 12th, 08 at 11:33 PM) wat happened to represent that was like my favorite song. im just wondering its no big deal though. yeah thats about it for now so yeah i like what you dudes are doing it got me three years of my life that i spent nt enjoying church. but wat ya'll do inspired me and its insainly amazing. no lie
  • Daniel Miller (Apr 13th, 08 at 2:11 AM) I am very encouraged by your thoughts and views on Christianity. It is awesome to have an artist on my music player that I can listen to any time that I can enjoy as well as encourage me in growing in Christianity. I loved the tracks from If They Only Knew and I am seriously looking forward to 20/20, especially to see what messages I can get from some of these tracks and how I can grow in Christ. Lovin the Music from Kuwait.
    Daniel Miller
  • DJ DAVIS (Apr 13th, 08 at 7:55 PM) all i gotta say is that im ready to see God ina more clearer vision
  • Robert Porter (Apr 13th, 08 at 9:42 PM) The new Trip Lee album is going to minister to the believers as well as the none believers. Umm so you are 20 years old now. So that mean you made your first album at the age of 18. "If they only Knew"
    how God used you in your first album, we will now see with a 20/20 vision of your thirst and desire for God. When the album drops l know I will have a clear vision on Gods beauty in the Scriptures. Congrats on your second album
  • Tyrone (Apr 14th, 08 at 2:22 AM) Man i can't wait til this album drops for i can get a clear vision of your mind and grow even more!! I Listen to your album everyday man and it amazes me everytime Best Rapper's Alive are Reach Records because ya'll speak the Real of the Real May God Bless You All!!
  • SPOC (Apr 14th, 08 at 4:03 PM) It's refreshing to see a young brother seeking look beyond superficial christianity to live the profession of relationship not religion. We come from a culture that has a slight distrust of emotions and feelings. I use to pat myself on the back because I mentally grasped the concept of God and the scriptures, but now I find the greater blessing when I allow God's Spirit to influence every aspect of my being: body, soul, and spirit through His word.
  • Patrick Putman (Apr 14th, 08 at 8:21 PM) This speaks the truth, i thank you so much for you music and guidance, you've helped me in so many ways. You have the best lyrics I know, especially with all the verses from the bible. Oh and his new song "Superstar eyes off me" is so sick. We (everyone) really need to get our eyes on HIm.
  • Aaron Kronawetter (Apr 15th, 08 at 3:39 PM) I just want to thank you and all the members of reach. God has used your music to minister to my friends and me. It is really a blessing to all of us. I am really looking forward to the new album. Thank you and God bless
  • Jesse (Apr 15th, 08 at 4:33 PM) Just want to say thank you Trip for putting God above yourself like we all should and recognizing that your incredible gift as a rapper is just that...a gift. We all know that we gotta give our gifts back to God in the form of doing his will not ours, and when we do, the blessings will flow like the Mississippi--for everybody, including us

    Praise our Father forever, brothers and sisters in the Lord!
  • Sam Wilson aka Prodical Son (Apr 15th, 08 at 6:48 PM) To start...I just wanna say thank you for setting the standard for other young aspiring christian rappers like my little brother and I. You rapped at our church Sword of the Spirit two years ago. Even though i missed it, i was just happy to know you came. Im happy to know that someone like us and 116 ...actually cares about the youth wanting to know the word, and that you explain it in a way that anyone can grasp it. And like christ, you have inspired us to keep on pressing on when theres times we seem we cant make it.......We look forward to spreading this word with you soon...because theirs not much time left for anyone because no one knows the time or the day that Jesus will return......and its HIGH time we all come to discipleship...Thanks and hope to see you soon.
  • Cross eyes (Apr 16th, 08 at 2:29 PM) What up Trip,

    Great blog and great point. Just recently I have been blessed tremendously with feeling the Spirit of God moving in my heart. This has been a bad week for me but God is faithful and even though I backslid to doing some of the same sin that had me in bondage, God saw fit to keep the joy in my heart, and in loosing that battle a great lesson was learned. Now I can't stop thinking about how GOOD and FAITHFUL He is. Praise the Lord.

    As for you, keep up the good work. It is such a blessing to see soldiers as young as you on the front line. I will keep you and my other brothers in 1:16 in my prayers. God bless.

    And if you have the time, hit us up at ChristianBlog.com. God has given us some truly blessed and Spirit filled warriors over there. Once I got pass the denominational differences and put down my guard, I was truly blessed by some of the things the Spirit had revealed to God's people on that site.

    Crosseyes
  • sayo (Apr 17th, 08 at 1:04 PM) Thanks Trip, you have just helped me to realize my biggest struggle "intellectualizing my faith". Thats just waht i needed to hear. God bless you fam.
  • Gee (Apr 18th, 08 at 10:11 PM) WHUTITDU TRIP!!! YO DOGG WHEN I LISTEN TO YOUR LYRICS WHETHER ITS YOUR ALBUM OR YOU FEATURING ON ANOTHER ARTIST ALBUM YOU DIG DEEP INTO THE HEART OF THE FATHER. I INTRODUCE UNBELIEVERS TO THIS MUSIC AND THEIR EYES SEEM TO OPEN FOR THE FIRST TIME AND THEY WANT MORE....SO BRING IT 20/20 YA HEARD!!!!
  • Antha "REdNOTE" Rodgers (Apr 21st, 08 at 12:37 AM) REAL Talk,

    That very Psalm (Ps. 63) is my favorite aswell my doobie.

    And it's so funny that you, being who the public has come to know, do to your weighty content have encouraged not ONLY us but, yourself as well to intimately daily consummate with our KING.

    I speak of weighty content in the context of being adiquately and accurately educated, learned, and studied as it pertains to scripture.

    The funniness continues because once again the public has come to know Reach, CMR, and Lampmode as heavily and well learned camps when it comes to the TEXT. However, the kicker is that even in all your schooling and study GOD has shown HIMSELF to you to be far bigger than EVEN that.

    TRIP....that is so powerful for you to openly admit that. Because we who love the LORD hold His word as the highest authority and when we learn facts and truths regarding it, we idolize that knowledge without a specific intention of doing so. But, it happens!!!

    I honor Christ for just being alive and strong enough to pierce our hearts, schools of thought, and knowledge to bring us to a place where we see HIM clearly beyond what we may have accurately learned or thought of HIM.

    To know GOD in a 20/20 intimacy is the excellency of Knowledge that Paul speaks of in Philippians 3: 8 (AMPED Version)

    "8 Yes, furthermore, I count everything as loss compared to the possession of the priceless privilege (the overwhelming preciousness, the surpassing worth, and supreme advantage) of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and of progressively becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him [of perceiving and recognizing and understanding Him more fully and clearly]. For His sake I have lost everything and consider it all to be mere rubbish (refuse, dregs), in order that I may win (gain) Christ (the Anointed One),"

    I know this was a long reply but, your bold and passionate confession struck a cord in me because most in your position wouldn't admit what you just did.

    I'm proud of Christ for compelling you.

    And I eagerly rejoice in the daily unfolding of Christ' mind, image, and heart in and through you.

    Sincerely,


    Antha
    http://www.MySpace.com/REdNOTESite
  • courtney b. (Apr 21st, 08 at 8:26 AM) Thanx Trip . I feel what God is doing thru u is so awesome , so please dont stop doing what u r doing keep going....stay in tune with God !!!
  • Margarita (Apr 25th, 08 at 12:55 AM) Off-da chain.;] I thank God for using young people like us for HIs Glory!! Keepin' Reppin him Trip.;]

    Grace & Peace
  • Shekinah Smoke (Apr 30th, 08 at 6:47 AM) I cant wait for this jawn man. This is what we need RIGHT NOW. So many people, including Christian Rap Artists, have a lopsided view of who God is. This is gonna bang. God Bless you and your ministry.
  • Dawntoya (May 1st, 08 at 12:53 PM) Really encouraging Trip. I needed to read this today.
  • Sadah Hill (May 6th, 08 at 6:34 AM) Thank you Trip for giving the world the chance to know God through music . And thank you God for giving us Trip Lee . God is awesome and amazing .
  • Jay Hunt (May 11th, 08 at 9:50 PM) That was awesome bra! I touch and agree with your sincerity and passion for all of to see God with 20/20 vision, and may we be like David in psalm 27v4 when the scripture says "ONE THING have I desired of the Lord, and that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, TO BEHOLD the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in His temple". It is so in Jesus Name. I also ask God to greatly increase our Love for Jesus Christ, and our passion for the Truth, and our hunger and thirst and desparation for His prescence in prayer, fasting, and studying the Word. May we be more fervent, earnest, effectual, zealous, and determined to completely please our King Jesus, fulfilling the great commission. So be it.
  • Kisha (May 13th, 08 at 3:25 PM) This is good. I think you are so right when you say that when we see something beautiful we definitely want to cherish that forever.God is absolutely beautiful, not only throught the scriptures but also in the way that he walks with us and carries us through diverse trials and temptations, he keeps us and that definitely gives me a desire to always look at him...God Bless you, I am looking forward to the new album, I know it's going to be good, I bump you, Tdot, and lecrae all the time, my son loves you guys.
  • Charlie (May 20th, 08 at 12:35 PM) Man that was good. I just picked up the album on Itunes can't wait to hear it. Thank you for your music and inspiration to stay focused on God with 20/20 vision how can we not.
  • K'Ro (May 21st, 08 at 9:15 AM) i go to an all black school. its hard to just listen to any music here. u give me the ability to listen to good god music and they listen to it and they ask questions and i get to witness to them. thank you for making an impact on them. and on me u have helped me magerly.. Thanks
  • Oddie (May 25th, 08 at 9:01 PM) I just got your album from Fam Christian Stores...its hot...from start to finish you really excel in your gift...the song superstar really touched me due to the fact I'm a performer as well and many praise me and I dont like it...your lyrics take the words right out of my mouth....my favorite song is BEHOLD THE SPIRIT...the Holy Spirit is perhaps the most slept on topic in church and yet it is most needed in this time and age....

    God bless you Trip Lee...may you continue to serve our Lord and preaching to the lost
  • Your Name (May 26th, 08 at 9:22 PM) I have a question, I love this album, im just wondering if on Come Close Featuring Flame And Sho Baraka song if the n word is used. It sound like it is used. Some fo my youth heard it i just want to clearify this please get back to me. Thanks and God bless.
  • Hasues (May 27th, 08 at 7:16 PM) Just pick up your lastes cd.....nice work!!!! Stay focused and keep the KING first. I'll keep you and the rest of the 116 crew in my prayers.
  • Alicia Mikkelson (May 29th, 08 at 12:47 PM) It amazes me that you are able to take something that is so powerful-music- and express God. Music has been a battle for me for a long time, and you have made it that much easier to please God with the music I listen to. Thank God for your spiritual gifts and keep being an example. Every song captures something important that we need to hear as Chrisitians, and it doesn't matter how many times I hear the same song, something always relates, and am that more encouraged to know the Lord more. Thank you.
  • juice (May 30th, 08 at 2:51 PM) thanks bro for the music now i can listen to something while im driving with my windows down. u know how we do it over here in d-town!
  • juice (May 30th, 08 at 2:52 PM) thanks for the musik!
  • TabiJ (Jun 4th, 08 at 3:39 PM) Christian rap is so cool when you need some "crunk juice" :) I love it! I listen to worship music mainly though.
    I'm praying for you guys. Its easy to stay in church and receive the word of God but when you get outside the church and start preaching that's when hell gets a little perturbed, nevertheless, God is greater and lives in us. Keep reaching the world for Jesus. There are so many people who are in broken homes, people who have been violated, folks on the verge of committing suicide....they are desparately crying out for help....I know I was so lost in depression without hope.. thank God for Jesus Christ. Keep doin what you do... aw man I need a tissue (haha)

    TabiJ
  • Chris King (Jun 5th, 08 at 9:01 AM) Yeah you definitely put that out there on tracks like "Real Vision" and "Eyes Open". I'm loving the album...it replaced "Our World:Redeemed" in my cd player, lol!! Hopefully I won't wear this one out before Tdot's new one comes out!
  • L(O+S) Lyricist of Salvation (Jun 7th, 08 at 11:15 AM) I can see your growth. I can also tell on some of the tracks that you where experimenting with a new style. Job well done. I'm glad that the Spirit of God is growing up in you like it is. One day we'll do a track together If God sees fit. I can't wait until that day. Keep Repin' The only living God. See you in a Minute
  • Shemeca Cooper (Jun 9th, 08 at 6:31 PM) This album has truly been a blessing. Every time I listen to one of the artist's from 116, I thank God for the talent He has placed in all of you. I thank Him even more because He has called you all at a young age. I pray that God's will continue to go forth in your life, in JESUS name
  • Reina Thomas (Jul 2nd, 08 at 9:50 AM) I love every track and that means alot because there isn't alot of gospel rap that I really be feeling. Your music is truly blessed and I'm glad their are artist out there who rap for God and are reaching people. I'm glad that I don't have to give up rap completely thanks to you, along with the rest of 116.
  • drew (Jul 3rd, 08 at 12:41 AM) man the album is fire!!!i cant stop listening to who he is.cant wait for ya to come to dallas the 2nd!!!!!
  • Lay'Qa (Jul 9th, 08 at 9:05 PM) I was stopping pass yall website and i got mad encouraged from yall blogs. Im at the point right now were God is real live humbling me. This growth hurts sometimes but i love God so much ya dig? so killing my pride is way worth it. Sometimes i be balling when im all alone because this whole molding thing is real. I'm grateful at the same time that God wants to even use me because really im a nobody. Anyways thanks for all you do..stay faithful...
  • Brandon (Jul 10th, 08 at 1:51 PM) The 20/20 album is off the chain. I'm lovin every song. I bump it every time I get a chance to.
  • Kledo (Jul 30th, 08 at 4:44 PM) I love the album so much.it has shaken the Kingdom of darkness; it's based on the very truth of the Bible which is very scarce. Keep abiding in Him, yo!
  • eboriginal (Aug 4th, 08 at 12:55 AM) the album is blazzin! and the content has made GOD smile!!!!Soooo...when r u coming 2 columbia sc?
  • Your Name (Aug 4th, 08 at 7:54 PM) I am so amazed by God's grace and faithfulness. He shows his love through your words to the world. There are so many people that yall are seeking, that God is seeking through yall. I never thought I would ever get a chance to see you guys but God is good. I pray that your hearts keep yearing for his love.
  • BLAZZIN' (4 CHRIST) (Aug 19th, 08 at 10:34 AM) it's many a time that christians forget that they need to have a relationship with God, They hear Jesus and automatically think 'i know him' but although we know his name and know that he seeks worship from us we still can't fulfill his uppermost desires because of our distance from him, i heard a testimony about a man that encountered God, he was able to feel what was able to feel and experiance was God was feelin' in his heart and that's exactly wat we need to do, get so close to God that we can ask 'Master, wats on you heart, on your mind' so we can serve him and fulfill HIS desires just as he faithfully fulfills ours....x
  • BLAZZIN (4 CHRIST) (Aug 19th, 08 at 11:00 AM) many a time christians 4get that they need to have a relationship with Christ, they hear Jesus and they automatically think ' i know him' but although they know his name and we know that our mission is to glorify him among men n' spread his word but we lack a relationship with him, God also has certain desires in his heart just as we do. We need to be able to be so close to God that we can ask 'Master what do you desire, how exactly can serve you' therefore we are being faithfull unto Christ just as he is faithfull to us....X
  • Willy Stargell (Aug 27th, 08 at 12:06 AM) Some time ago, I was reading AW Towzer "Knowledge of the Holy" and he charged the reader that we have lost looking at God as being lofty and infinite. I believe that is a major problem in the Body. We don't look at Him as high and lifted up. There are times that I let the pressures of life let me lose focus on Him and look at the situation as if it it greater that He who has sent us. I pray that we start looking at God with "Loftiness".
  • Stu (Sep 1st, 08 at 3:18 PM) Thanks Trip, I've been thinking about this topic for awhile. I want to be like David and NEED God all the time every day. Recently, I've got together with some true believers and found out what true worship was like. It was amazing when we praised God for who He was and how He works! I want to learn more, but like you said I want to learn to worship God in the way he desires us to. It's nice to see people talking about stuff like this. Thanks man...Also thanks for your songs...I praise God for them!! I can read your lyrics over and over again and they are definitely inspired by the Holy Spirit! It's cool to see how you've grown in Christ since the last album. Gotta see 20/20! God bless!!
  • Zack (Nov 8th, 08 at 10:03 PM) Trip, 20/20 is outstanding!!! I love how you glorify God!!! Superstar, Who is Like Him, Who He Is are all instant classics!!! I got my friends to listen to your cd!!! They love your cd so much!!! Your cd helped my friend see God through different eyes!!! He listens to those three songs on his ipod while workin out!!! Yea, Superstar is the perfect song for that!!! God bless you Trip!!! Lil Wayne cannot even compare to your skillz!!! He doesnt rap for God, which means he raps for nothin!!! You, Lecrae, Tedashii, Sho all have a great God given talent!!! Christian rap is all I listen too!!! God Bless!!!
  • Zipporah (Jan 17th, 09 at 7:04 PM) ..man of God..
  • Louijes (Jan 19th, 09 at 5:58 PM) Hi! I'm Louijes. my english is not very well but i can learn and search the understunding of your letters. I says thank you for this message "why 20/20?". I love your Job i know that it's the grace of God in your life. Please can i have Trip Lee mail adress to correspond with him?
    Thank u God bless your ministry
  • Louijes (Jan 19th, 09 at 6:02 PM) Hi! I'm Louijes. my english is not very well but i can learn and search the understunding of your letters. I says thank you for this message "why 20/20?". I love your Job i know that it's the grace of God in your life. Please can i have Trip Lee mail adress to correspond with him?
    Thank u God bless your ministry
  • (Apr 9th, 09 at 3:36 PM) thankyou so much trip lee for singing and not only singing but living what you sing
    i love the album 20/20!!
    keep on growing in the Lord

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