Bless the Lord

View all music by Billy Siegler

Words and music by Billy Siegler

Lyrics

Verse 1

My soul will sing of grace and mercy

The Lord redeems my life from sin and sorrow

He crowns me with love and great compassion

I remember his blessings

And my heart swells up within me

Chorus

Barachi naphshi et Adonai

V’cal k’ravai

Et shem kadashoh

Bless the Lord O my soul

And all within me

Bless his holy name

Verse 2

The Lord is gracious and compassionate

Slow to anger and abounding in mercy

He has not judged us as our sins deserve

I remember his blessings and my heart swells up within me

Verse 3

Our days are passing, ever fleeting

Like grass they fade, as the wind passes over

But the mercies of the Lord are never ceasing

I remember his blessings and my heart swells up within me

About the Lyrics

This song is based upon Psalm 103, and is traditionally attributed to king David. The psalm celebrates the goodness of God, beginning with an exhortation to "bless the Lord" (Adonai, יהוה). The noun form of the Hebrew root ברך refers to the knee, while the associated verbal idea means to "bend the knee," or to "adore on bended knee" when the object is a superior. This constitutes an act of worship and reverence to authority. The object here of course is Adonai, the self-existent Creator of the universe.

The plea is to David's own soul. He is imploring himself, his soul, his innermost being, and all that is within him to bless God. There are times we need to tell ourselves something, and in this case it is something of great importance. The reasoning is obvious - so obvious that David does not make an argument of why Adonai should be blessed, or why he is worthy of blessing. He is worthy simply based upon who He is. David does however proceed to remind himself of a host of things he needs to remember: all of Adonai's "benefits" (Hebrew gemul - from the root idea of recompense, reward, bounty). It is a charge to the soul to never forget what the God of the universe, our Father in heaven, provides for us every day.

We are reminded to not forget these things, because we have a tendancy to easily do so, especially when things are going well for us. This is illustrated by words of the prophet Hosea:

“when they had grazed, they became full, they were filled, and their heart was lifted up; therefore they forgot me.” (Hosea 13:6 ESV)

When we are full and satisfied in life, we can easily become proud and self-sufficient. We forget our true reality, as those desparately in need grace. And so David reminds himself (and us) of the blessings that flow from God to His children daily:

Forgiveness
Healing
Steadfast love
Mercy
Compassion
Grace
Satisfaction
Renewal

He redeems my life from sin and sorrow. He hasn't judged me according to my sin. He crowns me with love and great compassion. My life is like grass, fading with the wind. But His mercy, his unfailing love is never ceasing.

I remember His blessings, and my heart swells up within me!

About the Music

Several years ago I was looking to write a "vintage" sounding Messianic worship song, with a camp meeting sound and style. A tune that could have easily come out of a Baptist or Pentecostal open air tent meeting, but with Hebrew in the lyrics. I later added mandolin to the introduction and interlude parts, which produced a baroque sound over the folk / country foundation. The result is a unique sound of baroque style mandolin over folk guitar. I am not aware of any song quite like this!

The mandolin switches to country banjo style rolls on the chorus sections, followed by a clean electric country style guitar solo combining single line picking and chord solo techniques. Later you will hear the mandolin played in octave unison with the electric guitar playing the baroque style counter-melody. I do hope you enjoy listening!

Credits

Billy Siegler - lead and background vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, mandolin

Jeff Swanson - bass

Chris Brown - drums

Recorded at Roller Music Pro Recording Studio, Branson, MO