Sometimes the best songs are the ones that keep it simple, honest and pure. These three words best describe UPPERROOM’s awe-inspiring ballad, “Give Me Jesus,” led by Abbie Gamboa. With a subtle nod to the beloved hymn of the same name, UPPERROOM’s original rights our perspective and aligns are desires with God’s desires in the first two verses:
"I don’t want anything but You
You’re more than every dream come true
All of the things I thought I wanted
Don’t come close to knowing You
Now that I’m Yours and You are mine
Our love is the secret that I find
I’ll spend forever in the pleasure
I’ve found looking in Your eyes"
The Dallas-based group merges the timeless refrain of the old hymn with modern language to form a new version that’s simultaneously fresh and familiar on “Give Me Jesus,” which showcases Gamboa’s heartfelt voice void of fancy vocal runs and, instead, full of an unpretentious, profound longing for more of Jesus and everything He is. Upon first listen, even the greatest of cynics will be brought to their knees thanks to the purity heard and felt in Gamboa’s easy delivery.
Gamboa, a key songwriter and worship leader for UPPERROOM who recently released her debut full-length solo project titled “pure,” helms the piano-led offering of surrender with an unabashed pursuit of Jesus. With poetic lyrics flowing like that of a love song, the sparsely produced, bare-bones track is a personal declaration that beautifully embodies the first half of what Jesus calls “the greatest commandment” affirmed in Mark 12:30: “…Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.”
In addition to the original live rendition and the studio rendering, now playing on Air1, Gamboa also recently recorded a buzzworthy version of the refreshed hymn with Jenn Johnson.
UPPERROOM is more than just a worship collective. The music they release is an overflow of the daily prayer room they facilitate, as well as weekly church services they host in multiple locations across Texas.
