Seven Hebrew Words for Praise

4. towdah (to-daw’) – (noun)

an extension of the hand…

adoration, specifically a choir of worshippers…

sacrifice of praise, thanksgiving, offering …

Psalm 50:23
He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God.

This word speaks specifically of a SACRIFICE OF PRAISE…

Praising God when it costs me something,
when I don’t feel close to Him,
when I feel irritable or out of sorts.

When it demands something of me…
that’s when I’m making a sacrifice.

…Blessed be Your name when I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness, 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…
Every blessing You pour out I'll turn back to praise
And when the darkness closes in, Lord, Still I will say:
Blessed be the name of the Lord, Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord, Blessed be Your glorious name.
(BLESSED BE YOUR NAME,

Beth Redman, Matt Redman ©2002 Kingsway's Thankyou Music)

Album Reviewed: "Arriving"

(if you think I'm plagarizing again...I am, but only from myself)

For a long time now, I've thought that Matt Redman was the foremost worship writer/musician around today. Not only the quality, but the quantity of Matt's music is astounding. Looking back over the past decade, an unbelievable number of great worship songs come from Mr. Redman.

Chris Tomlin , amazingly enough, is getting near Matt in both quantity and quality. His latest (about a year or so old) album, "Arriving", is the first congregational music I've heard to match Mr. Redman in quite some time (although Tomlin is not exactly a new face in the worshipful crowd). A quick scan of his guitar tabs yields these major Christian worship songs from the past 5-7 years (not counting those from "Arriving"):

• Be Glorified
• All Bow Down
• Enough
• Famous One
• Forever
• Give Us Clean Hands
• Kindness
• The Noise We Make
• We Fall Down
• The Wonderful Cross

Clearly, the man has some seriously blessed song-writing skills. IMO, there are two types of "worshipful" music. The first is an intensely personal, person-to-God style (think of Crowder's "A Collision") that can be very powerful in a time of intimate worship, whether it's between the song writer and God or an individual worshipper and their creator. The second style is meant to be sung corporately; whether through lyrics or musical style, the song simply feels right when worshipping with a group of believers. Arriving clearly aims for the latter style, and rarely has an album hit the bullseye so well.

The best worship songs are great because of their lyrical quality. It is fairly easy to stir emotions through crashing drums and a crescendo of instruments. It is more difficult, but much more impactful(?), to write lyrics that hit your heart. Some songs on this CD that do so:

• 1 - "Indescribable". This song "describes" how everything on heaven and earth glorifies God, ending with a statement of mercy: "You see the depths of my heart and you love me the same". For any Christian struggling with sin, guilt, and acceptance, those words can never be repeated enough.
• 2 - "Holy Is the Lord". The catchiest song, musically, on the album, it reinforces a simple statement of praise to God for his holiness. This is really the point of the whole album; not so much a digging into the depths of man, but focused on the attributes of God. We could use a lot more songs like this in our modern worship sets.
• 3 - "How Great Is Our God". The anthemic chorus will stir you--a great combination of powerful music with sublimely true and simple truths about Gods greatness. In my experience, this chorus ends up being repeated over and over and over as an awesome declarative statement. In my recent worship band experience, this song consistently got the single-best worshipful response by the congregation of any we played.
• Your Grace Is Enough, Unfailing Love, King of Glory, and You Do All Things Well are other standouts.

This is an absolute essential for your modern worship collection. Just about any church that plays contemporary worship will have taken several songs from this CD. And why? Because you won't find another album as focused on the glory of God. And that is a good place to be.

Album Review: "Beautiful News"

We're living in a veritable golden age of worship music. Witness the personal intensity (and bass-drum-obsession) of David Crowder's music; Chris Tomlin’s knack for writing anthemic power ballads; Darlene Zschech and her “these are the sounds we‘ll hear in heaven” choir; or Martin Smith and the U2-righteous sound of Delirious?

But in my mind, one modern song writer stands above all others. This writer mixes profound truth from Biblical passages with an inventive, non "G-C-D" chord structure, all coming from the depths of his personal experience with God. His roster of songs could be safely called "impressive": The Wonderful Cross, Better is One Day, Blessed Be Your Name, Did You Feel The Mountains Tremble, Facedown, The Fathers Song, For the Cross, Heart of Worship, Holy Moment, Let Everything That Has Breath, Let My Words Be Few, Let Your Glory Fall, Making Melody, Once Again, Thank You For the Blood, Undignified, You Must Increase.

By now you either know who I'm talking about, or you've never heard a worship song in your life. When I heard that Matt Redman had a new CD arriving December 26th, my heart was happy. So happy, in fact, that by Dec 27th I had bought four (4) copies of Beautiful News: one for personal enjoyment, and three for belated Christmas presents to family members of various distinction. All this, and I'd only heard one song (You Never Let Go, from the Passion CD "Everything Glorious") on the album.

Upon hearing the full roster of songs, my pre-release expectations did not go unfulfilled. There is no single stand-out track; no song with the power of "Blessed Be Your Name", for instance (IMO, the greatest worship song ever written). What Beautiful News does offer is track after track of challenging lyrics bundled in diverse musical forms. Some of the better tracks include:

• #2 You Never Let Go: The lyrics remind me of "Blessed Be Your Name", from God's perspective. It speaks of walking through difficult times, but without fear; "for if my God is with me, whom then shall I fear". Where Blessed Be was a heart-declaration in obedient praise to God, You Never Let Go shows God's promise of protection and provision "through the calm and through the storm". Maybe the most singable song on the album too.
• #4 Take It To The Streets: My favorite guitar-riff song; the verses flat-out rock in a direction MR usually doesn't go, likely due to the influence of co-writer Martin Smith of Delirious? The two verses are almost identical, but the sublte change in orientation adds depth of meaning. The first verse claims that "I am not a stranger to mercy, grace, kindness" and declares God's redemptive power. After a chorus of exclaiming "I'm gonna take it to the streets", the second verse states that "I must tell the world of his mercy, grace, kindness". Almost the same lyrics, but what a difference. Once we recognize God's truth in our lives, and it sinks into the essence of our hearts, it brings such a joy and life change that we must tell the world, so they can experience it as well.
• #6 A Greater Song: Similar in theology to "The Heart of Worship", this song compares the wonder of God's love and mercy with our inability to produce anything to worthy to describe the same. Ending with a second chorus of "Hallelujah, we want to lift you higher", a crescendo-worthy repetitive line if I've ever seen one.
• #8 Thank You For Healing Me: I identify with the verses in this song, with a "disease eating me up on the inside". Anyone who is honest in their struggle with sin has felt a powerlessness at times that leads to a desparate need for Jesus. The theme is the same as saving or rescuing, but lyrically couched in healing terms. "On the outside I may waste away, but on the inside I'll be more alive every day" is a statement of hope for everyone. An especially poignant song when you read the story that inspired it on Matt's site.

Really, I listen to the entire CD and consistently find truth and hope in almost every track. While the quality of the music is high and the melody's original, the real power comes, as always, from the lyrical depth. These are not simple, feel-good singalongs that seem trite. Matt's songs challenge and give hope in fresh ways that are all too rarely seen.

Go buy four copies.

And once you do, please read the stories behind each song on Matt Redman's site. This makes each song a lot more meaningful.