The song, Blessed Be Your Name, is one of the praise songs that is sometimes used as a congregational song during the Sunday morning service at our church. I had never heard it before we started attending the church a few months ago. I liked the song the first time I heard it, but it didn't really have any significant personal meaning for me. Over the past two weeks the song has taken on a whole new meaning for my wife and me. It's easy to say "Blessed be the name of the Lord" when everything in life is going well, but it's a different story when the hard times hit. The Sunday after Uriah died this was one of the congregational songs in the morning. I was singing along, not really thinking ahead to the upcoming words, when the line "You give and take away" appeared on the lyrics screen. I took a breath and tried to keep singing but the words got stuck in my throat as I suddenly realized that the line had an intensely personal meaning for me now. The Lord gave us a son...and then He took him away. I cannot explain how badly I want my son back, but I know the Lord does not make mistakes and so I seek comfort in knowing that God allowed this to happen for a reason. It's very difficult though. I don't know what the reason was, so I ask, "Why?" No answer though. Perhaps, as my wife mentioned in her recent blog post, it was the devil trying to get us to walk away from God again. Whatever the reason was, I pray that God will somehow be glorified through our great loss. Thus far we have drawn closer to God and to each other during this time. I pray that we will continue to have that type of response, and not turn away from God or get angry or bitter at Him. I know we still have many family and friends who are praying for us, and we treasure all of those prayers immensely.

"...the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." (Job 1:21)

3 comments

1. Hannah on January 20, 2010 at 1:02 AM

   Thanks Jess,
   I really needed to hear that song before going to sleep. I also needed to be reminded where we are at in all this. I love you!

    
2. Sr. Ann Marie on January 20, 2010 at 8:15 AM

   Thank you for the hymn. I used it as a meditation when I first came in to work today.

    
3. Patricia on January 20, 2010 at 8:59 AM

   I had never heard this praise song before. I like the words and music but the I couldn't watch it with the letters coming at me all the time. We can say "the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away" but when others give us this verse as a means of comforting us it becomes more difficult. I had someone write that on a sympathy card after Dad died and it hurt more than it helped because she still had her husband and in my head I knew the verse was correct but it hadn't made it to my heart yet.
   
   Still praying.