Every Nation (O Praise Him) – Soul Survivor NSW
Well it’s good to be back after a little break with a new song for you this week. This is a really new song released in the lead up to Soul Survivor’s conference this year written by their worship team and it’s called Every Nation (O Praise Him).
There is so much to like about this song and I’m really keen to bring this for us on a Sunday morning so I’d love to know what you think of it too!
It starts with a well written reference to God’s work in creation and the beauty of it.
The story begins with light
You spoke into darkness life
We praise You, O praise Him
Your glory instilled in the land
Such beauty engraved by Your hand
We praise You, O praise Him
This is paralleled against the effects of sin we see around us; a fallen creation. But in spite of these the call, much like we see throughout the psalms, is to praise God.
Though people have cast love aside
Though nations are caught in divide
We’ll praise You, O praise Him
When family is fractured and lost
And sorries are just not enough
We’ll praise You, O praise Him
What follows is a recognition of our part in the problem, and a powerful musical crescendo with a reminder of what we are called to be;
And I know I’m a spoke in the wheel
That is rolling over the broken
But I’m done with staying silent
I was made to be righteous
Let’s talk about the chorus at the end, until then the next two verses match the flow of songs like O Praise the Name; one introduces Jesus and the other looks forward to the great day of his final victory. I just love the line “hope came alive in the night” that we find in the third verse and “Creation will join in one song, Your church resurrected and home.” It’s a great promise and a refreshing take on us being at home in heaven.
Verse 3
Jesus came down from on high
And hope came alive in the night
We praise You, O praise Him
There’s power in the blood that restores
There’s joy in the name of the Lord
We praise You, O praise Him
Verse 4
One day in heaven we’ll rise
Lifted from death into life
We’ll praise You, O praise Him
Creation will join in one song
Your Church resurrected and home
We’ll praise You, O praise Him
The second pre chorus has so much expectation written into it; it speaks of “this mountain” a place where people would go to meet with God, now we stand there in the presence of Jesus which causes us to sing praises to him louder.
Now you’re here and we’re getting ready
Winds are changing, chains are breaking
We will stand upon this mountain
We will sing a little louder
The chorus though is the standout for me.
Praise Him now,
Every nation and all generations
Praise Him now
Join with the heavens, and worship the King,
He’s risen now Power and glory,
His name echoes holy
Praise Him now O Praise him now
The melody is beautiful, the lyrics are fantastic. The image of Jesus’ name echoing holy is such a great way of expressing the idea. But what I love most is the theme of the generations and the nations being woven through the way they recorded the song. In a really clever move each verse is sung by a different person, a reflection of this very theme.
The song starts and ends with a didgeridoo, partly a reflection of their work and love for the aboriginal people but also a reminder that Jesus is for all nations, all peoples, everyone. I find myself surprisingly being really proud of a song that has our native people’s fingerprints on it, and I love the way Soul Survivor have in the past celebrated and welcomed Aboriginal people to be a part of what they’re doing and that they would do it again here.
I’m really enjoying this song in my quiet times and I hope you might too.
You can find a version of this song on youtube here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMY_Pb0DODk) I’ll also add it to our Spotify playlist so you can find it there too!
Much love and blessings,
Disney