“Blessed Be Your Name”

I recently heard this song in church and then again when I was watching the movie Soul Surfer (note: I realize there are modesty/apparel problems in the movie, which I do not condone). I think it’s such an easy song to sing but such a hard song to live out in our lives. Could I really sing, “You give and take away; my heart will choose to say, Lord, blessed be Your name” if a shark had eaten my arm off? I had two different friends quote Job 1:21, which states, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” soon after their babies died. Would I do the same if my daughter died?

If I allow it, singing this song and thinking about the implications can scare me. I think, “What will the Lord take away from me? What if he took my husband or my daughter?” But such thoughts have no place in the Christian life. God is sovereign. Isaiah 55:9 states, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” While I may not understand, God has a purpose and a plan in the giving and taking away to bring glory to Himself. I hope reading the words of this song and meditating on passages like Job 1:21 and Isaiah 55:9 will be a comfort and encouragement to you no matter what you are facing in life. I often remind my daughter that even if Mommy or Daddy can’t be with her, God is always there.

Blessed Be Your Name

By Matt Redman

Verse 1:

Blessed be your name
In the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name

Blessed Be Your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed Be Your name

Chorus:

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Verse 2:

Blessed be Your name
When the sun’s shining down on me
When the world’s “all as it should be”
Blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name

Chorus:

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Refrain:

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name