Blessed be your name
In the land that is plentiful
Where the streams of abundance flow
Blessed be your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your glorious name
A couple of weeks ago as we sang this song in church the words began to stick in my mind and the meaning of them dawned upon me as tears began to flow down my face. I suddenly began to face the fact that I have fallen so short in the area of blessing the Lord. The name of the Lord is blessed and glorious and deserves to be praised and lifted up by me. Not just once in a while, but often, every day, as I walk the walk with Him. In my new found awareness I asked for and received forgiveness from Him whose name is blessed!
I continued to sing and as the words changed they began to go deeper into my soul.
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
The first part seems so easy. There is no problem in blessing the Lord when I am in the land that is plentiful and abundance is flowing. The biggest problem then is just in remembering to be thankful and bless Him. Remembering that all good things are gifts from God and not of my own doing can sometimes become an obstacle in my life. I prayed that God would remind me whenever necessary that I am not in control – He is. I also think it is a natural thing for me to draw close to the Lord when I am “in the desert” or “wilderness”. I don’t like being lonely or afraid. I naturally seek the Lord during those times – I want to be close to Him and feel His nearness. He is very blessed to me during those times. I thank Him for that! Blessed be His name!
But the words changed again.
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
On the road marked with suffering
Oh, There's pain in the offering
Blessed be your name
This is harder. Am I willing to bless His name even when bad things happen? Even when my prayers don’t seem to be answered? Even when I have done everything right and it still goes all wrong? Even when my heart is breaking and answers don’t come? Even when those I love the most have disappointed me so deeply? Can I still bless his name even during the bleakest moments of my life? Can I still bless His name when He seems so very distant and I wonder how much He really does care about all the matters in my life? “What does it mean to bless his name anyway?”, I scream from my innermost being. “What more does he want from me? What more can He take from me? When did I ever agree to suffering? Doesn’t He remember we had a pact, a deal? I would bless Him and He would give me everything good – what went wrong?” Very quietly, through my bitter tears, the thought begins to form in my mind that maybe I had it all wrong. In fact, when I think more about it I realize there had never been a “deal” at all. The bargain was in my mind.
You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to stay
Well Blessed be your name
I get it! There was no bargain, no deal, no pact. God IS good even when bad things happen. It is my choice to stay with him and bless His name. How arrogant of me to think that I deserve all good and no bad. Who do I think I am anyway? I settle into a peacefulness as I realize that I don’t have all the answers, I don’t even have to have all the answers. My heart will CHOOSE to stay with the One whose name I bless. Every blessing you pour out, I will turn back to praise. Even when the blessings don’t feel like blessings, I will praise You Oh Holy One of Israel! You are my God, my salvation, my only Hope. I will choose to believe that You are working in my life always, even in the darkest moments. It is painful to let it go and bless you anyway, but I will do it..
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your glorious name!!
6 comments:
I liked what you had to say about "Blessing the Lord" in the good times and the bad. He is always with us. I know I often fail in this area,so thanks for the reminder. CR
I love this post. Thanks for the reminder to bless Him, no matter what. I love that song and will think of the words more when I sing it now.
Have a super day, Robin.
(BTW: Yesterday, you left a note on my blog that you have two married children...from your picture, I said aloud, "It can't be!!!")
I love this song. My son sang this at the funeral of a friend's mom. The song was, of course, not for the deceased, but for her loved ones.
You are so right. It is so easy to "bless His name" when things are going well. What a joy to know that when things are not going well, that is when He is trying to pull us closer to comfort us. Oh, Bless His Name!
I loved this post! You amaze me with your writings! I love this song as well, it's a reminder for me that the Lord gives and takes aways, but we are called to stay close to Him. He sees the finshed product. Have a blessed day! April
Stop by my place when you can, I have a surprise for you! :)
This is one of my favorite songs. Yes, BLESSED BE THE NAME no matter what comes our way.
I am praying that many will come to know Him through the horrible VT shooting. I know He can take bad and work it for His good. I pray for many to call Him Blessed in the aftermath of this suffering.
Vanessa
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