BLESSED BE THE NAME! (New Song)

Michael E. Wood

March 22- April 19, 2011

I will sing a new song to you, O God; upon a ten-stringed harp I will play to you, Psalm 144:9

Several months ago I was given a book by our good friend Denise McCool entitled, "Then Sings My Soul" by Robert J Morgan. I have found this book to be a great encouragement to my soul as it relates the stories behind 150 of the world's greatest hymns. Each account is different in it's own way, but usually gives some background about both the writers of the lyrics and that of the authors of the music if it was known. In many cases the songs or hymns did not become well known for many years and in some instances not until after the death of the author.

In my own journey as it relates to writing songs and hymns over the last few years, I have not found what might be deemed by many as success as men count success. Whereas we all tend to be bent toward instant gratification I would have to admit that there have been moments when I have felt discouraged in the process. And yet I know that my Redeemer lives. He is Sovereign over the affairs of men and works all things together for our good and His infinite glory. Christ is the head of the church and He has given gifts to men to show forth His glory.

In March of 2011 I was asked to see if I could write some lyrics for a tune of which Paul Vossen of Immanuel Baptist Church in Sacramento, California had devised with a guitar. With much prayer I set out to discover what the Lord would give me for this occasion as this was something that I had never attempted to do before. While Paul was recording the music to send via internet, he closed the session with singing a few words of praise that were not intended to be a part of the song, nevertheless they stuck in my mind and became the bulk of the chorus posted after each verse.

As with everything we are and everything we have, we commend all to the grace of God to use as He sees fit.

Holy Father, God of all,

Hallowed be Thy Name!

So Mighty, Powerful,

Words ne’er can proclaim.

You are Awesome

And so Beautiful!

Greater than

All our minds can think,

Or our hearts perceive,

Yet Your grace You give us,

And You cause to believe

Your love, everlasting love

Poured into our hearts.

Your Spirit now given us,

Shall never depart.

Though we

Are so wretched

Yet You gave us Your Son!

So I say,

Blessed be the Name!

Blessed be the Name!

Blessed be the Name,

Of our God and Father,

Son and Savior,

Holy Spirit, in One.

God Your mercy came to us

In form of a man.

In love You did the work,

The cross by Your hand.

Humble servant,

Christ was slain.

With Him we are raised,

For Your glory LORD!

And we offer praise!

Fruit of lips give thanks

To Your glorious Name!

And now we will worship You,

With reverence and awe.

With hearts in humility,

Now prostrate we fall.

For alone

You are worthy

Of all glory and might!

So I say,

Blessed be the Name!

Blessed be the Name!

Blessed be the Name,

Of our God and Father,

Son and Savior,

Holy Spirit, in One.

Holy Spirit, Comforter,

God’s Presence within.

We ask You expectantly,

Your help to the end.

In our weakness,

Glorify the Lamb!

For we

Dare not trust ourselves,

But will glory in

Our infirmities,

Christ alone seek to win.

Teacher of God’s Holy Word, *

We bid You to come.

Breathe life through the light of men,

Christ Jesus, the Son!

For alone,

He is worthy

Of all glory and praise!

So I say,

Blessed be the Name!

Blessed be the Name!

Blessed be the Name,

Of our God and Father,

Son and Savior,

Holy Spirit, in One.

* (Options)

(1)You are now our guide and strength,

(2)You are now our guarantee,

     We bid You to come.

     Give life through the light of men,

     Christ Jesus, the Son

Sing to Him a New Song

Michael E. Wood
September 30, 2013

Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous! Praise befits the upright. Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre; make melody to him with the harp of ten strings! Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts. Psalm 33:1-3

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. Ephesians 4:15-16

addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, Ephesians 5:19

In an earlier post we shared a link from which our dear sister in Christ, India Curry had put together a video from two concerts Celeste Chen preformed at two of the Assisted Living facilities at which we have an opportunity to minister the gospel on a regular basis.

In the link enclosed you will find the segment from the concerts which are specifically aimed at sharing three songs of which I had the privilege to write. The titles include: We Look to You, Oh LORD Teach us Your Rules, and Set Your Minds on Things Above. Celeste wrote the sheet music based on an acapella CD of the songs. And India put it all together so we could share it here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9JzfwJpYmA

You may follow the adventures of Michael & Celeste Chen at http://kenyachens.wordpress.com/

Thank you India and Celeste for sharing your gifts with the body,
To the praise of His glory!

Romans 12:6

Have you ever considered the difficulty of being given the gift of song without the capacity or ability of being able to put the music stuck in your mind into print for the benefit of others?  What makes it even more frustrating, is that there are times I can hear an entire orchestra playing in my mind, with different vocal parts being sung to particular songs that I have been blessed to write.

In late 2008, at the age of fifty three, my theology began to turn into doxology in the form of poetry and songs.  The only problem (as mentioned above) was that I could not read or write music and did not have the desire or time that it would take to learn that skill.

On a Wednesday night, at Beacon Baptist Church in Burlington, North Carolina, I was encouraged to sing one of the first songs written—acapella.  With handouts of the words being passed out to the congregation, many joined in to worship the LORD on that first occasion.  After one or two more Wednesday night acapella sessions, I began to meet with Larry Hunter who had the capacity to hear the music and eventually picked out the cords on a guitar for accompaniment.  Together we moved from an occasional Wednesday night to an occasional Sunday night service.

May 18, 2010 Dianna and I were married, and drove across country to begin our life together in Citrus Heights, California.  While here, there have been a couple of brief encounters in which someone gifted with the capacity to musically play some of the songs I have written occurred.  Nothing more than the particular occasions ever developed until recently.

From a previous post entitled “The Fullness of Your Grace” dated Monday June 3, 2013, you were introduced to Celeste Chen who spent countless hours transcribing the audible music for three of my original songs from an acapella CD we had made.   This was part of her preparation for a concert she gave at two facilities where we minister.

Mike and Celeste will be leaving the Sacramento area to travel a bit before they begin their mission work in Kenya.  On the 4^th of July, we stopped by to bid them farewell and to drop off a DVD of the two concerts.  They took a break from packing and before we left, presented us with the actual sheet music for those three songs.

There are no words to express our gratitude for the grace that God has shown in providing the means by which these gifts can be shared with others because of the labors of this sweet Christian sister.

As it is written, “He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever.”  (2 Corinthians 9:9)

 

Our Dear Friends - Mike & Celeste Chen

To read more about the first concert click HERE