Consider the following lyric and passage from the Bible
"I done been through a whole lot trial tribulation but I know God Satan wanna put me in a bowtie Pray that the Holy Water never go dry" (Duckworth, 2015)
James 1:2-5: 2Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
God tells us in the Bible that we will face trials that test our faith but also to call to him in times of need. Kendrick Lamar's verse reflects the passage in James. He has faced many trials... the devil wants to take a hold of him... so he is reaching out to God, asking him to provide wisdom in his time of desperation: "Pray that the Holy Water never go dry" (Duckworth, 2015)
Later on in the song Kendrick says:
"Blow steam in the face of the beast The sky can fall down, the wind can cry now" (Duckworth, 2015)
This line is yet another of Kendrick's many direct references to a Biblical passage as it almost perfectly quotes Revelation 6:13 which states -
"and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind."
In this song of self-affirmation, Kendrick also reminds himself that he knows he can still love himself even when the world come to an end because he is a child of God and needn't fear the Armageddon. Instead, he will carry on and "blow steam in the face of the beast (Satan)." (Duckworth, 2015)
