Blessed Be Your Name

The Newsboys perform “Blessed Be Your Name,” the worship song written by Matt and Beth Redman. The Newsboys' version keeps the original structure, with Rebecca St. James sharing a pre-chorus, and gives it the polish of a pop rock arrangement.

The opening verse sets two seasons side by side: a land that is plentiful with streams of abundance, and a desert place where the singer walks through the wilderness. In both, the response is the same, blessed be your name. The pre-chorus says every blessing God pours out will be turned back to praise, and that when darkness closes in the singer will still say it. The chorus repeats blessed be the name of the Lord and blessed be your glorious name. A second verse pairs the sun shining down when the world is all as it should be with a road marked with suffering and pain in the offering. The bridge is the center of the song, saying you give and take away, my heart will choose to say, Lord, blessed be your name. The choice of the word choose matters, since it treats praise as a decision rather than a mood. That is why the song has been sung at funerals and in hospital rooms as well as at celebrations. The Newsboys' version is an energetic way to bring it to a youth service.

The Lord giving and taking away is Job 1:21. Blessing his name forever is Psalm 113:2, and rejoicing when the fields yield no food is Habakkuk 3:17-18.