All praise to Him Who reigns above
In majesty supreme,
Who gave His Son for man to die,
That He might man redeem!
Blessèd be the Name! Blessèd be the Name!
Blessèd be the Name of the Lord!
Blessèd be the Name! Blessèd be the Name!
Blessèd be the Name of the Lord!

His Name above all names shall stand,
Exalted more and more,
At God the Father’s own right hand,
Where angel hosts adore.
Blessèd be the Name! Blessèd be the Name!
Blessèd be the Name of the Lord!
Blessèd be the Name! Blessèd be the Name!
Blessèd be the Name of the Lord!

Redeemer, Savior, Friend of man
Once ruined by the fall,
Thou hast devised salvation’s plan,
For Thou hast died for all.
Blessèd be the Name! Blessèd be the Name!
Blessèd be the Name of the Lord!
Blessèd be the Name! Blessèd be the Name!
Blessèd be the Name of the Lord!

His Name shall be the Counselor,
The mighty Prince of Peace,
Of all earth’s kingdoms Conqueror,
Whose reign shall never cease.
Blessèd be the Name! Blessèd be the Name!
Blessèd be the Name of the Lord!
Blessèd be the Name! Blessèd be the Name!
Blessèd be the Name of the Lord!

Words by William H. Clark,
Music by Ralph E. Hudson

 

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Blessed be the name of the LORD From this time forth and forever.

Psalm 113:2

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
Philippians 2:9

For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit
1 Peter 3:18

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Isaiah 9:6 – 7

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Now I don’t claim to be an expert at the English language, even though I have spoken it all my life.  Like most of us, my apologies to those of you who are English teachers, we tend to speak without thinking about the rules that go with it. And let’s be honest, there are a lot of rules in the English language.  It is down right confusing at times.  We have different words that mean the same thing such as sad and unhappy. We of course call these synonyms.  There are also words that sound the same, but are spelled differently and mean different things such as there and their. These are homophones.  There are words that are spelled the same and pronounced the same but have different meanings such as fair (just) and fair (carnival). These are homonyms.  Then there is what seems one of the strangest ones of all, words that are spelled the same, but are pronounced differently and have different meanings. We call these homographs. One such example is blessed. In one form it is the past tense of the verb bless, meaning, to consecrate or to make holy.  The other is pronounced bless-ed and is an adjective based on the same root word describing something or someone as being consecrated or holy.  (Okay, maybe I am being a little loose with characterizing this as a homograph, like I said, I am not an expert in English, but it is one of those words that just strikes me.) Our focus is on the second usage which is found in the hymn, “Blessèd Be The Name.”

The theme of the hymn is to focus on one specific characteristic of God, that His name is blessèd. This is not something that is bestowed upon Him, but who He is.  He is holy, consecrated and set apart.  His name is blessèd. So the hymn presents us not with things that make Him blessed, but rather items that demonstrate the truth that He is blessèd.

So the hymn begins with the words, “All praise to Him Who reigns above In majesty supreme, Who gave His Son for man to die, That He might man redeem!” Clark tells us that God truly is set apart from all else.   We can see the evidence laid before us. He reigns supreme and He gave His son. We see this in John 3:16 where we read, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Who else could make such a sacrifice, only one who is truly blessèd.

The hymn continues “His Name above all names shall stand, Exalted more and more, At God the Father’s own right hand, Where angel hosts adore.” His name is above all and now He sits at the Father’s right hand. Philippians 2:9 tells us that “God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name.” Yet again the evidence shows us that God is blessèd for no other name lives up to His.

And it continues by declaring “Redeemer, Savior, Friend of man Once ruined by the fall, Thou hast devised salvation’s plan, For Thou hast died for all.” He is our Savior and friend who gave his life for all.  We are reminded that “Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God.” (1 Peter 3:18) He has done what no one else has done, what no one else can do.  Truly He is consecrated for a special purpose.

The hymn echos the words of Isaiah 9:6 – 7  when we sing, “His Name shall be the Counselor, The mighty Prince of Peace, Of all earth’s kingdoms Conqueror, Whose reign shall never cease.” Truly there is no one like Him.  He is set apart, holy.  A Holiness that knows no end.  A truth that the author of Psalm 113 declares in verse 2 were we read, “Blessèd be the name of the LORD From this time forth and forever.”

We are blessed by God. We are made holy in Him.  But He is not made holy, He is not consecrated by anyone else.  He is Holy, set apart, consecrated.  He is blessèd. So we cry out in praise and adoration the words that so many have said, “Blessèd be the Name of the Lord!”

 

 

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