Head Above Water - Reflection Questions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKF6ghfcQic

Avril Lavigne wrote this song about her years-long battle with Lyme disease. In an interview with Billboard, she says,  "I had accepted death and could feel my body shutting down. I felt like I was drowning. Like I was going under water and I just needed to come up for air. Like I was in a river being pulled in a current. Unable to breathe. Praying to God for Him to help me just keep my head above the water…I hope that my words in this song  bring you hope, faith, light, and strength and that you also are able to keep your head above the water.” See the interview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6UPtfVFDIU&t=113s

Questions for Reflection:

Compare the chorus of the song to Psalm 27:6. - “Now my head is lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the LORD.”

Have you or someone you’ve known ever had a near-death experience?

When you struggle, who helps to keep your head above water? Are you a helper to others who are struggling?

What is the difference between being hidden “under water” and being concealed by God “under her wings”?


Lyrics:
I gotta keep the calm before the storm
I don't want less, I don't want more
Must bar the windows and the doors
To keep me safe, to keep me warm
Yeah, my life is what I'm fighting for
Can't part the sea, can't reach the shore
And my voice becomes the driving force
I won't let this pull me overboard

CHORUS:
God, keep my head above water
Don't let me drown, it gets harder
I'll meet you there at the altar
As I fall down to my knees
Don't let me drown

So pull me up from down below
'Cause I'm underneath the undertow
Come dry me off and hold me close
I need you now, I need you most
And I can't see in the stormy weather
I can't seem to keep it all together
I can't swim the ocean like this forever,
And I can't breathe

God, keep my head above water
I lose my breath at the bottom
Come rescue me, I'll be waiting
I'm too young to fall asleep



Psalm 27:1-6
1 The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When evildoers assail me to devour my flesh-- my adversaries and foes-- they shall stumble and fall.
3 Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war rise up against me, yet I will be confident.
4 One thing I asked of the LORD; this I seek: to live in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple.
5 For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will set me high on a rock.
6 Now my head is lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the LORD.