What "He Is" means
The song is a catalog of names, but that description undersells what Schultz is doing. A catalog of names for God is already a loaded theological act because in the Hebrew tradition, names are not labels. They are descriptions of nature and behavior. When the song lists the ways Jesus is, it is not producing a decorative inventory. It is making accumulated claims about who this person is across every domain of human need and experience. He is the healer, the redeemer, the anchor, the way. Each name lands in a different part of what the worshiper carries into the room. Some will hear healer and carry a specific body or specific diagnosis into that word. Some will hear redeemer and carry a history they are still unpacking. The song's structural intelligence is that it does not narrow. It keeps opening. The breadth of the naming allows people to find their point of entry and stay there for a moment before the song moves them to the next name. This is not a song about general religious sentiment. It is a song about a specific person who meets every specific need, and the cumulative effect of the names is to build a portrait wide enough to hold whatever any individual in the room is carrying that day. By the time the song has moved through its full range, the worshiper has been given a survey of the divine character that is both doctrinally grounded and personally accessible.
What this song does in a room
It slows people down. In a room that has just moved through a high-energy opener, "He Is" can function as the moment when the congregation stops performing worship and starts inhabiting it. The tempo at 72 BPM creates space, space for the words to land, space for the person sitting in the third row holding something heavy to find their name in the list. The song tends to produce quiet engagement rather than exuberant display, and that is not a failure. It is the appropriate response to the theological weight of what is being declared. You will often see closed eyes, open hands, and heads bowed during this one, not because the room is passive but because the room is paying attention. The simple melodic structure means the congregation does not have to navigate a complex musical landscape. The song takes the complexity out of the music so there is room for the complexity in the listener. That is a pastoral choice embedded in the composition, and leading it well means honoring the space the song creates rather than filling it with unnecessary musical movement or verbal commentary.
What this song is saying about God
The song is making the claim that God is not a category. He is a person, and as a person he is present and responsive across the entire range of human experience. The "He Is" framing is present tense. Not he was in a historical sense, and not he will be in a future promise only. The present tense of the title is doing real work. This is who he is right now, in this moment, to the person singing. That distinction matters for the room because worship can sometimes slip into a historical recitation mode, celebrating what God did without connecting it to who he is to the person right now. "He Is" resists that drift. It keeps pulling the worshiper back into the present encounter. The names are not theological categories to be memorized. They are entry points into relationship with someone who is actively being those things for the person who needs them. The song is less of a doctrinal statement and more of an introduction, a moment of being reminded that the one you are addressing is already present and already engaged.
Scriptural backbone
The naming tradition has its roots in Exodus 3:14, where God responds to Moses with "I AM WHO I AM," the self-defining present-tense declaration that Jesus echoes throughout John's gospel. In John 11:25, Jesus says, "I am the resurrection and the life." In John 14:6, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life." In John 10:11, "I am the good shepherd." These I Am statements are the scriptural architecture underneath Schultz's "He Is" catalog. Hebrews 13:8 sharpens the present-tense claim: "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." The song is essentially a congregational response to that verse: yes, and here is what that sameness looks like for us right now. Psalm 46:1 provides another layer: "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." The names are not abstract. They are descriptions of real help arriving in real moments, and pointing the room to these texts before or after the song gives the congregation a place to stand when they need the names again outside of Sunday.
How to use it in a service
This song earns its place as a response song, not an opener. It works best after something has been named, either in scripture reading, spoken word, or a sermon, and the room needs a moment to respond to what they have heard. It is also a strong choice for a mid-service moment after high-energy worship has created openness and the service needs to settle into something quieter and more personal. In a series on the names of God or on the I Am statements of Jesus, it functions almost as a congregational creed, a sung response to the teaching that is happening week by week. For healing-focused services or prayer-over-the-sick moments, the healer naming gives it specific pastoral usefulness. It is not an ideal opener because the room needs to have already done some arriving before they can inhabit the slow pace and the naming structure. Give the congregation something to respond to first, then let the song be the response. Its power is in the sequence, not in isolation.
Things to watch for as the worship leader
The pacing is the primary thing. At 72 BPM, slower leaders will let it drag into something that feels funereal rather than contemplative. Keep the internal sense of forward motion even as you hold the slow tempo. The other watch-point is the transition between names. There can be a tendency to mechanically march through the list without giving each name a moment of weight. You do not need to stop and pause after every name, but your phrasing as a vocalist should communicate that each name is a declaration, not a syllable in a sequence. Think of it the way a good reader reads a list in scripture: each item has its own weight and its own breath before the next one. If you are speaking words before or after the song, resist the temptation to over-explain. The song does its own pastoral work. Your role is to create the conditions for the room to receive what the song offers, not to interpret it for them before they have had a chance to experience it themselves.
A note for the team behind you (techs, vocalists, band)
The arrangement depends on what is underneath. Keys: lean into a sustaining pad rather than rhythmic chording. The space in this song is the point, and busy right-hand piano work fills the space that the listener needs to process the names. If you have a warm organ sound available, this is a moment to consider it over a brighter electric piano tone. Guitarists: light fingerpicking or a very clean, gentle strumming pattern sits better here than a full strummed dynamic. Consider whether the electric guitar needs to be present at all, or whether acoustic alone is the right texture. Drums: brushes or rods if the room and style warrant it. If you are playing with a full kit, keep the kick very soft and let the hi-hat or ride carry the time feel. This is not a song that needs to be pushed. Vocalists: your job is blend and warmth. The congregation is hearing their own voice reflected in yours, so any strained quality or performance register creates distance. FOH: keep the room mix balanced across all frequency ranges and resist pushing the top end trying to create clarity. The warmth of the song's texture is part of its pastoral function, and a thin or bright mix works against what the song is trying to do in the room.