That Beautiful Name

"I know of a Name, a beautiful Name,
That angels brought down to earth;
They whispered it low,
One night long ago,
To a maiden of lowly birth.
That Beautiful Name,
That Beautiful Name,
From sin has pow'r to free us!
That Beautiful Name,
That Wonderful Name,
That matchless Name is Jesus!"
~ THAT BEAUTIFUL NAME
Words by Jean Perry, 1916; Music by Mabel Johnston Camp


I cut my teeth on hymns... real meat. And, to be honest, hymns are my 'preference.' I can't help "feeling" that a lot of the choruses sung "over and over and over" by many of today's church 'worship bands' -- are milk. Skim milk. Rather than being songs of adoration - directed toward our Beautiful Savior, the focus of many, (but not all), seem to be centered on "me and I" --- another 'by-product' of our "me" generation. When I was in Junior High School, my younger sister and I would sing our favorite hymns on the way to church - which was a 30 minute drive from home. Not much on the radio back then!
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Some of our "favorites" were songs like: "Love Found A Way.... to redeem my soul....", "Higher Ground.... I'm pressing on the upward way, new heights I'm gaining every day....", "Faith Is The Victory... O glorious victory that overcomes the world!", "He Leadeth Me... By His own hand He leadeth me...", "It Is Glory Just to Walk With Him... whose blood has ransomed me...", "I Love to Tell the Story... 'Twill be my theme in glory...", "I Am Thine, O Lord... draw me nearer...", "Count Your Blessings", "Trust and Obey", "Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus... just to take Him at His Word...", "There Shall Be Showers of Blessing... mercy drops round us are falling...", "There Is Power in the Blood... in the precious blood of the Lamb!", "At Calvary... mercy there was great and grace was free...", "In The Garden... He walks with me and He talks with me...", "Springs Of Living Water... to the blessed cross of Christ one day I came...", "Heaven Came Down and Glory Filled My Soul.... O what a wonderful, wonderful day, day I will never forget....", "The Solid Rock... my hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus' blood and righteousness!", "Softly and Tenderly.... Jesus is calling...", "My Jesus I Love Thee... ", "Near To The Heart of God...", "Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus... look full in His wonderful face...", "Have Thine Own Way, Lord... Thou art the Potter, I am the clay...", "Leaning On The Everlasting Arms... what a joy divine!...", "Standing on the Promises", "Channels Only", "Take My Life and Let It Be... ever, only, all for Thee...", "Wonderful Words of Life... beautiful words, wonderful words...", "Open My Eyes, That I May See... glimpses of truth Thou hast for me...", "I Know Whom I Have Believed... and am persuaded that He is able...", "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing... tune my heart to sing Thy grace...", "He Keeps Me Singing... there's within my heart a melody...", "To God Be the Glory... great things He has done!...", "He Lives... you ask me how I know He lives, He lives within my heart!", "It Is Well With My Soul... when sorrows like sea billows roll...", and of course, "Holy, Holy, Holy... Lord God Almighty, early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee", "How Great Thou Art... then sings my soul...", "Great Is Thy Faithfulness... morning by morning new mercies I see", and "Amazing Grace... how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me!.." ~ a "few" favorites among many, many glorious hymns!! In fact, singing from the Hymn Book, is where I learned to read music! What a precious lesson!
[listen to: "It Is Well With My Soul" by Wintley Phipps; "How Great Thou Art" by Carrie Underwood; "Amazing Grace" by Charlotte Church -- links]

When I sing these hymns at home, now, I often find that my kitties

come running to me - it's as if they know the songs are praising

the Creator of Heaven and Earth! Let Heaven and Nature sing!

"Hallelujah! What a Savior!" ... as the hymn goes!

When I was in High School, my dad and I sang a duet in Church:

"It Took A Miracle".... to put the stars in place, it took a miracle to hang the world in space, but when He saved my soul, cleansed and made me whole,

it took a miracle of love and grace!

My mom gave me an old hymn book, the one we used to sing from, in the church where I grew up. That is truly one of the most beloved books on my shelf! And as I was singing through some of the well loved hymns, I came upon this one, that really speaks to my heart:

"That Beautiful Name"

Take a moment to listen to: "You Are So Beautiful To Me" - by Joe Cocker - from my playlist... and simply meditate on how Beautiful our Lord Jesus is! "Lord, You're everything I hope for, You're everything I need, You are so beautiful to me!" Indeed.

For more Beautiful Music:

Beautiful Words, Wonderful Words, Wonderful Words of Life

"Hosanna! Blessed is He that comes in the name of the LORD: we have blessed You out of the house of the LORD... Thou art my God, and I will praise Thee: Thou art my God, I will exalt Thee. O give thanks unto the LORD; for He is good: for His mercy endureth forever."

~ Psalm 118:26-29