We Cannot Be Silent (Psalm 34)

A scripture reading opens Kurt Carr's praise song: "The Bible says, 'I will bless the Lord at all times, and His praise shall continually be in my mouth.'" That is Psalm 34:1, and the first sung section simply repeats it, "I will bless the Lord at all times with praise in my mouth," then stretches the last phrase to "I will forever, forever praise with my mouth."

The chorus makes the commitment unconditional: "Come what may, I'll never be silent," answered by the choir's "Oh, magnify the Lord!" which echoes Psalm 34:3. The bridge turns personal, "my soul loves Jesus, bless His name," and then the song builds into a long vamp with a worship leader on top of the choir.

The vamp chants "We cannot be silent" many times, a line that resembles Jesus' remark in Luke 19:40 that the stones would cry out if the crowd were quiet. The reason is given near the end, in a short repeated phrase: "been too good to me to be silent." The song finishes by returning to "Oh, magnify the Lord."