Bless His Holy Name (Bless the Lord) -- Andrae Crouch

Andrae Crouch took a page from a musical ancestor’s book of praise one day in the early 1970s, perhaps as he was thinking of himself in a very basic way. Who was he, fundamentally? Andrae must have decided that a centuries-old songwriter (the boy harpist, and later king David -- see the painting King David Playing the Harp [1622] by Gerard van Honthorst here) had approached this question best when he began one of his songs with the poetic words “Bless the Lord”, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name! (Psalm 103:1) If a person has not found himself and cannot decide why he’s been put here on earth, Andrae had found an answer. It’s not about you when you are trying to find your purpose, but instead it’s about the One who made you. If you want to really deal with that quandary, to solve that mystery of what’s my life about, begin with Him. That’s the way a poet and king dealt with this long ago, and Andrae echoed that with a few more words added to heighten what it meant to him. Would you like to join him, this songmeister who followed in another’s steps, in order to answer the question that even a committed disciple asks and answers himself by writing songs?  

 

Andrae was so taken with his song mission in life pointing to God and His Son Jesus Christ that he formed a group and named it The Disciples in 1965, a crucial undertaking that would spawn many of his best-known songs, including ‘Bless…Name’ some years later. Although we can be certain of little specifically, other than that Andrae was reading Psalm 103 and was reading it in the King James Version (since the opening line of David’s psalm and Andrae’s song match exactly), Andrae’s purpose was as clear as David’s was. This 31-year-old 20^th Century songwriter in 1973 was doing what David had done on so many occasions, and no matter what the circumstances were. Offer Him a praise. David’s psalm begins the same way it ends (vv. 1 and 21-22) – lauding Him. Just tell about Him, which is what David did in 22 verses, and what Andrae followed suit doing in his version. When Andrae launched The Disciples, he was enrolled at Valley Junior College in the San Fernando Valley, and was intending to become a teacher, an objective he chose not to realize to completion. But, when he wrote ‘Bless…Name’, he was nevertheless kind of behaving like a teacher, pointing others to a method employed by a faith practitioner that still worked. If David had lived on for another millennia, he too could have extolled God in the way that Andrae did, by telling of His sacrifice for sin and the lordship of Jesus as the Christ. Surely, David thought of God the Father as Lord and Savior, since He had protected and extended mercy and grace to David on so many occasions. So, when Andrae borrowed David’s opening exaltation of God, and married it to verses telling of the God-Son’s death for sin’s payment, and of His triumph as Lord, he must have felt certain that David would have joined in to sing with gusto this update to his poem. Songwriters from different eras can still be of one heart, as long as it’s the heart of God.    

 

There’s really not much more that could be said of Andrae’s adaptation of David’s psalm. The verses he added on to the opening have us offering broad acclamations to God – that ‘He’s done great things (v.1); that ‘He died for my sin’ (v.2); and that ‘Jesus is Lord’(v.3). Those are three short but potent things to remember about Him. That He has accomplished those without the assent or help of you and me is of course true. And yet, He did these things and will continue to do so because of you and me. Andrae and David and the rest of us have Him, something that can never change, as long as we remember all those facets of God that Andrae’s song spells out for us. Want some more words to go deeper, in a closer look into God’s work in David’s life? Andrae’s partnership with David’s psalm gives you and me a reminder that Psalm 103 is still there in its entirety. He’s still there for me as much as he has always been there, ever since He made the first one of us. Similarly, David and Andrae’s song goes on and on and on, because He still does.   

 

 

See more information on the author and song story in this source: The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs by William J. Petersen and Ardythe Petersen, Tyndale House Publishers, 2006.

 

Read about the author-composer here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andra%C3%A9_Crouch

 

See information on the image of David here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:King_David,_the_King_of_Israel.jpg … The author died in 1656, so this work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or fewer. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1931. …found inside this document -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David

 

 

I Will Boast – Jeremiah, Paul, and Paul Baloche

What he had to say, the people did not like. In fact, Jeremiah the prophet (see depiction of Jeremiah [The Prophet Jeremiah (1511), from the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, by Michelangelo] here) did not much like what he had been given to tell the people of the southern kingdom of Judah either. ‘Don’t brag about yourself’ – that was the message that a descendant of this weeping prophet, someone named Paul, would recast some six centuries later, and which another Paul (Baloche) would repeat for us another 20 centuries later in history. If you want to brag, say “I Will Boast” because you know your Creator, the only righteous, just, and compassionate One, your Redeemer. You want His approval? Good, then practice those characteristics in your life, and see what that does for your outlook and rapport with Him and with others whom you know. It’s the only way to avoid eternal and terrestrial calamity, if you really take some time and think about what these three in history have had to say.

 

Jeremiah had the unenviable task during his prophetic mission (between 626 and sometime after 586 B.C., so around 40 years) of telling Judah’s inhabitants that doom was coming. Here’s a paraphrase of his message: ‘The land will be laid waste, and exile to Babylon awaits. If you want to prostrate yourselves and admit that you’ve violated the covenant with the Lord God, and reengage with the true One, here’s what you have to do, though your punishment cannot be avoided ultimately’. Then Jeremiah tells them in some short directives what Paul Baloche repeats in his musical rendition in 2006. Don’t boast in or count on the following: your wisdom, your strength, or your riches (Jeremiah 9:23-24). That covers an awful lot in the human experience, and the penchant to chase after these still entices a lot of people today, some 26 centuries after Jeremiah first delivered this rebuke. The great apostle Paul must have taken note of his ancestor’s words, for he too talks about boasting pretty frequently, and then tells his contemporaries in the first century that any such crowing should be exclusively connected with Christ. (Paul wrote at least nine times in five New Testament letters about boasting in Christ [Romans 5:11; 1 Cor. 15:31; 2 Cor. 10:14; 11:10; 12:9; Galatians 6:14; Philippians 1:26; 2:16; 3:3].) His namesake 2000 years hence has thus connected what Jeremiah said so long ago with the apostle’s instructions, in order to consummate some ordinances for a God follower’s lifestyle in our current era. The 21^st Century Paul links our boasting to being ‘humble’ and full of ‘thanks’ for Him because He created us in His image and has saved us (v.1 of  ‘I Will Boast’). So, boast in the ‘Lord’, the ‘worthy’ One, in fact ‘in Christ alone’, Paul Baloche says over and over. It never gets old.     

 

What Jeremiah says after his warning about the harlots of human wisdom, strength, and riches is fairly important also, and when lived out today are pretty meaningful. Paul Baloche mentions humility in his lyrics, versus what Jeremiah says in the latter words of his two verses – that kindness, justice, and righteousness are the ways to please God. It sounds a lot like what another prophet, Micah (6:6-8), had already said to the northern kingdom of Samaria approximately 100 years earlier (sometime between 750 and 686 B.C.), in his warning to those people of what was approaching. If worship – true worship – to the true God is not connected to heart-level attitudes like kindness (mercy), justice among people, and ability to humble oneself to Him, then all the sacrifices on earth you can make won’t matter to God. He’s a righteous God, Jeremiah said, and He expects His image-bearers to mimic Him in these key character traits that He gave to His prophets to tell us. Be kind, practice justice, and be humble, if you want to know what righteous living resembles. That is so needed today in early 2025, so get out there and boast in a shining Christ-likeness everyone…or will we need another weeping prophet to come preach?

 

Read about the contemporary author-composer here: Paul Baloche - Wikipedia 

 

See information on the image of Jeremiah here: File:Michelangelo Buonarroti 027.jpg - Wikimedia Commons …This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or fewer. {{PD-1996}} – public domain in its source country on January 1, 1996 and in the United States.

I Feel Good, Good, Good – Anonymous

 

We don’t know who wrote it, but we could guess that it has been sung a lot of different ways just by inserting a couple of new words in place of the original ones to fit the mood of whomever was trying to express him- or herself. Open an old hymnal (or a new one, even) and you might find “I Feel Good” --   maybe with the adjective repeated twice more for emphasis – in the pages of that book. Who was behind the song that is often anonymously attributed to ‘Traditional’ or ‘Gospel’ or maybe ‘Folk song’ will remain a mystery, but could it be that Philip Paul Bliss (see his portrait here) helped spawn a musical movement that gave rise to ‘I Feel Good’ and others like it? Someone was feeling good, and wanted others to share that too, and then he/she shared a few other emotions to help carry the group’s celebration further. Maybe an old apostle deserves some of the credit, when he wrote about focusing on the positive (see Philippians 4:8) as he addressed a new church that he wanted to inspire. This can even be done while sitting in a prison, as he apparently was. God can be with anyone, anywhere, and His presence can bring light into the darkest period of one’s life.  

 

The apostle Paul wrote: Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. (Philippians 4:8) Wouldn’t it be interesting if this guy named Philip (P.P. Bliss, as he’s often designated in his songs’ attribution lines) had come up with some of his own pretty positive thoughts to musically echo those first crafted by a guy writing to a community (the Philippians) from which his own name derives? Let’s just pretend that that might be true! Moreover, the 1^st Century Paul and the 19^th Century Philip Paul might thus be linked, not only in their names, but emotionally and spiritually too. All these linkages could not be just an accident, right? OK, enough of this speculation. Here’s what we could say, including that positivity flows from not only saying one feels good, but good, good, good, and hearing some clapping and maybe even foot stomping to accompany all of this revelry. Say the operative word three times, with a jumpy tune that goes well with a broad smile and contentment in one’s heart. You could verify this by experiencing it in person. Change a few words – like from feel good, to can love, or got joy, or can sing, or got peace, or any other ways you want a group to say something uplifting – and you’re doing what the 1^st Century Paul suggested. Philip Paul was perhaps the first to publish a work with the phrase Gospel song that described the contents of a hymnbook (in 1874, Gospel Songs. A Choice Collection of Hymns and Tunes), helping coax worshipping crowds with songs noted for their ease of use. Just sing something simple and crowd-pleasing, so the saved can focus on the delight of their spiritual state. That’s a recipe for easing depression and anxiety, no matter what one’s earthly circumstances are.   

 

Long before the Gospel Music era (also known as the Holiness-Pentecostal period in the 19^th Century) came along, two prisoners (including Paul, and his first partner Silas) modeled for early Christians the feel good, good, good satisfaction, a reaction to their situation that could not but have helped stir others in their presence (see Acts 16:25-34), including the Spirit of God apparently, in Philippi. Earthquakes don’t often happen because of a joyful witness, but who’s to say what might result if more of us dug deep inside ourselves more often to proclaim the hope we have? Paul knew well what joy, despite his whereabouts, could do. Perhaps he was remembering another character in his Jewish history who made the most of his prison stay – Joseph (Genesis 39 and 40). He, and then later Paul and Silas, probably discovered something you and I should remember. Prison is temporary, but joy emerges with so many other potent reasons for celebration on a never-ending spectrum. It’s a journey that doesn’t even end at death’s door. In fact, it’s just really beginning.         

 

Gospel music - Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folk_music

 

See information about the portrait here: Philip Paul Bliss, 1838-1876…This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or fewer. This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published (or registered with the U.S. Copyright Office) before January 1, 1930.