Lift High The Name of Jesus

Lift high the name of Jesus,
Of Jesus our King.
Make known the power of His grace,
The beauty of His peace.
Remember how His mercy reached
And we cried out to Him.
He lifted us to solid ground,
To freedom from our sin.

Chorus
Oh sing my soul,
And tell all He’s done,
Till the earth and heavens are filled with His glory!

Lift high the name of Jesus,
Of Jesus our Lord.
His power in us is greater than,
Is greater than this world.
To share the reason for our hope,
To serve with love and grace,
That all who see Him shine through us
Might bring the Father praise.

Lift high the name of Jesus,
Of Jesus our Light.
No other name on earth can save,
Can raise a soul to life.
He opens up our eyes to see
The harvest He has grown.
We labor in His fields of grace
As He leads sinners home.

Written by modern day hymnwriters, Keith and Kristyn Getty, Ed Cash, and Fionan de Barre, this is truly a hymn that I think will last the generations.  I have attached a link to the song since it may be unfamiliar to many of you.

The song is an upbeat, toe tapping, fiddle-playing, praise song about worshiping the Lord.  About lifting His name high.  But it is not just a fun song to listen to, or a just a great song to sing, but it’s lyrics are truly Biblical in their foundation, and they have great meaning, and that is why I call it a hymn.  Couple of comments on the lyrics:

He was lifted up, and then He lifts us up – In John 12, Jesus says “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” 33 This He said, signifying by what death He would die.”  Jesus was lifted up on the Cross.  He was raised on a cross that was supposed to be for criminals, murderers, thieves, and sinners.  Another old hymn says “Lifted up was he to die.  It is finished was His cry.  Now in Heaven Exalted High.  Hallelujah, what a Savior!!!”  Not only was He lifted up to die.  But He was lifted up that He might lift us up.  That He might save us, redeem us, free us from the penalty of sin.  Another great “lifting” hymn says “He lifted me out.  Of the deep miry clay.  He planted my feet on the heavenly way.  I’ll tell it where ere I go.  For I want the whole world to know.  I’m glad that He loved me so that He lifted me out.”  His lifting up and His lifting out ought to cause us to praise and worship Him.  His lifting ought to cause us to do some lifting of our own.  We ought to be lifting high the name of Jesus.

• “Greater than this world” – I John 4:4 encourages believers with these words – “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”  Isn’t it amazing to think the Holy Spirit of God Almighty dwells in each one of us?  That we haven’t been lift comfortless, but we have been given a Comforter who is greater than the world.  We have received the Holy Spirit that empowers and endues us to do great things for God.  That truth ought to cause us to once again lift high the name of Jesus.

• “We labor in His fields of grace” – Jesus said that the fields were truly white for harvest, but the laborers were few.  He said to pray that the Lord of the harvest would send laborers, and that is what you and me are.  We are workers in His fields.  We are co-laborers in His vineyard.  Some of us He hired many years ago, and we try daily to be faithful workers in His fields of grace.  But I am grateful today that He hasn’t reached full employment.  He is still hiring harvest workers.  He is still bringing on laborers.  At the third hour, the sixth hour, the ninth hour, and yes even at the 11th hour.  He is still calling laborers to His fields of grace.

One of the concerns that I have with the modern church in America is that we are missing this concept of lifting high the name of Jesus.  We do a lot of lifting of things, but I am not sure we are lifting in the right place.

We lift up our worship music and praise bands – “Come to our church.  We have an awesome music program.”

We lift up our facilities – state of the art buildings with the latest creature comforts – “Come to our church.  We have the latest TV’s, Ipads, lighting systems, game systems, sounds systems, and the most comfortable seating in town – better than the movie theater.”

We lift up the name of our congregation online with likes, tweets, posts, and blogs. “Go to our website where you can participate in worship online, follow other members of the congregation, listen to sermons via podcast, give online, and never even have to darken the door of the church.”  (Sorry, I may have crossed over the sarcasm line.)

But are we lifting high the name of Jesus in our churches?  Is He central to our worship?  Is He the focus of the facilities we build?  Is He the central focus on our websites and facebook pages?  Or has He become an after-thought?  Do we give him bottom shelf treatment, when He desires to be on the Top shelf of our lives?

I pray that we are people who will Lift High the name of Jesus.  Of Jesus.  Our Lord.  Our King.  Our Light.  As He is lifted up, people will be drawn to Him.