Oh Praise The Name

Published June 3, 2020
Oh Praise The Name
I cast my mind to Calvary Where Jesus bled and died for me. I see His wounds, His hands, His feet. My Savior on that cursed tree
His body bound and drenched in tears They laid Him down in Joseph's tomb. The entrance sealed by heavy stone Messiah still and all alone
O praise the name of the Lord our God O praise His name forever more For endless days we will sing Your praise Oh Lord, oh Lord our God
Then on the third at break of dawn, The Son of heaven rose again. O trampled death where is your sting? The angels roar for Christ the King
He shall return in robes of white,
The blazing Son shall pierce the night. And I will rise among the saints, My gaze transfixed on Jesus' face

We start this song with a look at the crucifixion, pointing out some of the details that we know would have hurt. There’s a slow, calm reverence in the tone at this point as we go on to consider the burial of our Lord and saviour, and on into the first chorus as we first praise the name. There are the beginnings of joy and celebration now. We continue this gradual progression as we move into the next verse, where the song really changes gear and shows the unleashing of the power of Jesus, and testament to the wonderful gift He purchased for us - “Oh trampled death, where is your sting, the angels roar for Christ the King”. We finish with a nod to the future, when Jesus will return, and we’re straight back into celebration mode again, and into the last couple of choruses, filled with power and sung with gusto! I’d heard Dis lead this many times from the congregation and loved the dynamics of his expression. I remember leading this when I first started leading worship. Feeing the spirit move when voices raise around you is just wonderful, hearing notes booming out, seeing arms raise on all sides of the room. Ben had a way with the drums that always really added to this, then Tom K took over that role and added his own flavour, then Frasier led it a few times and added his take on it, and now Tom K has led it a few times, with a new twist again. I love all of these variations. Throughout all of this it’s stood the test of time, and still gets some of the most exuberant vocals out of our congregation! It really is a wonderful song that spans the generations. Have a listen to the song here or on our Spotify playlist! Alec