Welcome to this edition of Wednesday Is for Worship where my goal is to point you to great songs of the faith so that you might greatly worship the Lord today.  Today our song is “Blessed Be Your Name.”

Written in 2002 by Matt and Beth Redman and published through Thankyou Music, “Blessed Be Your Name” has been one of the most popular church worship songs for the past decade.  In fact, it is still #5 on the CCLI Top 25 List, which ranks how often a song is sung at churches.

Based on Job’s epic statement in Job 1:21, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD,” the song balances the moutain-top and the valley experiences we face in life.   It’s easy to bless the name of God when things are good, but this song reminds us that we’re to praise Him in the face of difficulty and calamity as well.  In fact, Job uttered those words after he’d lost all of his children and many of his possessions to disaster.  So, whether the Lord gives or the Lord takes away, we should bless His name!

Matt Redman has a recording of this song, but the definitive recording of it was done by the South African Christian rock band Tree63.  They included it in their 2004 album The Answer to the Question, and in 2005, their version of the song was nominated for Song of the Year and Worship Song of the Year at the Dove Awards.  You can sing along with Tree63 below.

Whether you are in the land that is plentiful or in the desert place, may you bless the name of the Lord today!

Verse 1
Blessed be your name
In the land that is plentiful
Where the streams of abundance flow
Blessed be your name

Verse 2
Blessed be your name
When I’m found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed be your name

Pre-chorus
Every blessing you pour out,
I turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say…

Chorus
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your glorious name

Verse 3
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

Verse 4
Blessed be your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there’s pain in the offering
Blessed be your name

Bridge
You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, Blessed be your name