Blessed be your name
In the land that is plentiful
Where the 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
Every blessing you pour out,
I 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
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
Every blessing you pour out,
I 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
You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, Blessed be your name
I don’t really know who released this song originally, but the Newsboys, Tree63, and Matt Redman have all released their versions of this. My favorite’s got to be Matt Redman’s because his is arranged as a rock song.
This is one of my favorite songs, and when we sang it during worship Tuesday night, I was filled in awe all over again. What I love the most about this are the lyrics, because they describe just about every situation we find ourselves in.
In the land that is plentiful… These are times when we feel as though luck is on our side, because everything seems to be going well, and we’re receiving so much - whether it be love, companionship, provisions, or anything else that we need, even want.
When I’m found in the desert place/Though I walk through the wilderness… For Christians, this would be our “dry periods.” This is the time in our life when we feel so oppressed, as though we’re fighting against the world, and we have no one on our side. For me, this is a harder situation to be in than to be going through suffering, because while you may not be going through any trials physically, there’s a heaviness in your heart that doesn’t seem to go away no matter what you do.
When the sun’s shining down on me… When we are happy and contented with our life. Everything is going well, and there doesn’t seem to be anything more that we would want.
On the road marked with suffering… This is the time of trials, when we really are going through difficulties, no matter how small or big these are. There are so many ways that we can be oppressed, and sometimes, these could happen simultaneously.
Now, you could say, “I can imagine being thankful when I’m happy, but when I’m miserable? No way!” You know what, that’s precisely the time when you should really turn to the Lord in thanksgiving, because that’s when He’s really working to purify you. Lots of people could go up to Him and be all thankful when their circumstances are well, but when things take a turn for the worse, they begin to blame Him for their misfortunes. Don’t do that, because those are the times when God is cleansing you of whatever is barring your relationship from Him - whether it be an excess of pride, of anger, of vanity, or whatever it may be that’s keeping you from enjoying a closer friendship with the Lord.
It’s really a valuable lesson I’ve learned over the years, to be thankful. It’s an acknowledgement that those things aren’t from you, but from a Higher Being, and that no matter how difficult our present circumstances might be, everything has a purpose and will work out in the end. We can take that opportunity to learn and be better people - or we can go and complain and grumble, and all we’ll end up accomplishing is annoying the people around us and being heavy-hearted and angry about what we’re going through.
Try it out yourself.:) It’s really something that would lighten your mood.
