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Lyrics and Music by Matt Redman and Jonas Myrin
Performed by Matt Redman
© 2011, EMI Publishing
Youtube video uploaded by MattRedmanVEVO
Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I’ll worship Your holy name
The sun comes up, it’s a new day dawning
It’s time to sing Your song again
Whatever may pass, and whatever lies before me
Let me be singing when the evening comes
Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I’ll worship Your holy name
You’re rich in love, and You’re slow to anger
Your name is great, and Your heart is kind
For all Your goodness I will keep on singing
Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find
Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I’ll worship Your holy name
And on that day when my strength is failing
The end draws near and my time has come
Still my soul will sing Your praise unending
Ten thousand years and then forevermore
Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I’ll worship Your holy name
Jesus, I’ll worship Your holy name
Lord, I’ll worship Your holy name
Sing like never before
O my soul
I’ll worship Your holy name
Jesus, I’ll worship Your holy name
I’ll worship Your holy name
What’s on your list of 10,000 reasons?
Matt Redman is an English Christian worship leader, songwriter and author based in Brighton, West Sussex, United Kingdom. In February 2011, Redman recorded his live album, 10,000 Reasons, at LIFT – A Worship Leader Collective Event. In July 2012, the title track of this new live album topped the Billboard Christian Songs chart. It was Redman’s first number one hit on American Contemporary Christian radio. In 2013, he won two Grammy Awards for 10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord) for Best Contemporary Christian Music Song and Best Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music Performance.
Redman recalled the writing of the song with a Swedish friend of his, Jonas Myrin in Worship Leader Magazine. “He played me an idea for some of the chorus melody, and I found it immediately inspiring. In fact, it felt like a perfect fit for a song based on the opening of Psalm 103.”
David lists in Psalm 103 several reasons why his heart is full of worship for God; He forgives our sins, heals our diseases, redeems our lives from the pit, crowns us with love and compassion, satisfies our desires and gives righteousness and justice.
So Redman and Myrin made a list of their own, noting they were barely scratching the surface of God’s worth. “The point behind the song is this,” explained Redman to Worship Leader Magazine. “If you wake up one morning and you cannot think of a reason to bring God some kind of offering of thanks or praise, then you can be sure there’s something wrong at your end of the pipeline, and not his. We live beneath an unceasing flow of goodness, kindness, greatness, and holiness, and every day we’re given reason after reason why Jesus is so completely and utterly worthy of our highest and best devotion.”
The “10,000 reasons” of the title echoes the “10,000 years” of “Amazing Grace.” “We already had the ‘10,000 reasons’ lyric in verse two,” explained Redman. “So when it got to writing verse three, and we were on the theme of eternity, the idea came to mirror that ‘10,000’ number and at the same time give a nod to the old hymn.”
The music video linked above was filmed in the Berlin church where German theologian and martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a youth leader.