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
Pre-Chorus
Every blessing You pour out
I'll 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 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
Bridge
You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord blessed be Your name
Copyright © 2002 Thankyou Music.
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Behind the Song:'This is a theme that has been flowing around my heart and head for a while – I wrote a book a while back, ‘The Unquenchable Worshipper’, and in a way this song feels like it accompanies the theme book. It comes from the whole Job story – the Lord gives, and the Lord takes away, Blessed be the name of the Lord. I’ve always found that such a powerful statement. More than anything, I hope this song re-enforces that worship is a choice. Whatever situation we’re in, the Lord’s worth never changes, and the wisest, most honouring thing to do is always to make the choice to worship Him.
The lyrics for this song meant a lot to me, so I wrote a few versions of the song before I settled on the current tune. It started as a fast song, but I felt the lyrics were being wasted – sometimes if I’m trying to write some deep thoughts or poetry, I find they go by too fast in an up-tempo song. You have to give lyrics like that a little space to ‘breathe’. So I changed it to a slow song – but then lost something of the anthemic nature of what I was trying to do. So, it ended up as a mid-paced song which builds to the (hopefully) anthemic, 'You give and take away' section. My wife Beth gave lots of vital input in re-writing the tune for this version, which was great because I was all out of ideas by that stage!
I think this is a song with a cost attached to it. You can’t sing 'You give and take away, Blessed be your name' lightly. Whether you’re singing that line looking over the past, or singing it trusting your future to God, I think it’s a tough line to sing. There’s a sacrifice involved.' - Matt Redman