Holy God, We Praise Thy Name Sarah Hart	(Based on 1 vote)

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Lyrics

Holy God, we praise thy name
Lord of all, we bow before Thee
All on earth thy rule acclaim
All in heaven above adore Thee
Infinite, thy vast domain
Everlasting is thy reign
Infinite, thy vast domain
Everlasting is thy reign

Hark! The loud celestial hymn
Angel choirs above are raising
Cherubim and seraphim
In unceasing chorus praising;
Fill the heavenswith sweet accord:
Holy, holy, holy Lord
Fill the heavens with sweet accord:
Holy, holy, holy Lord

Holy Father, Holy Son,
Holy Spirit, Three we name Thee
While in essence only one,
Undivided God we claim Thee
And adoring bend the knee
While we own the mystery
And adoring bend the knee
While we own the mystery

Artist Reflection

I had this vision in my head of myself, about age 26, driving down 8th Avenue in Springfield, Tennessee, where my husband and I had our first home. I was trying desperately to get through a light, trying to turn left (in a hurry for something), and there was someone in front of me who refused to make a left turn even though the light had been green three times. I was getting REALLY mad, so I just sat there and started singing. And, for whatever reason, "Holy God We Praise Thy Name" popped into my head. Without any malice meant, I honestly started thinking about the way Father used to make me play it when I was the church organist (in high school): "Slowly, and majestically!" So I was laughing out loud, singing it at the top of my lungs like an opera singer, guys passing in pickup trucks surely laughing at me, too. I did eventually make that left turn.

When I got home, I told Kevin "You know, I had a flashback in the car of this hymn we sang ALL the time when I was a kid. I think it might be lot better, actually, than I used to think it was. I gotta find the words."

So I headed for the Internet, found all the amazing lyrics, and great memories came flooding back: As a kid . . . the way my grandma and mom used to sing it in church, at the top of their lungs, as if to drown out anyone who couldn't do it justice (thank goodness they could actually sing); me, singing just as loudly as I could — the Harts were well known in those parts to be the loudest Catholics around — and my mom's arm around me in total "We Are The World" fashion; my sister, completely embarrassed by us all, sinking down further and further in the pew until she was almost on the floor. As a teenager . . . Father's fond lectures on "triumphant music" and "why they don't write 'em like that anymore," . . . with me playing it as triumphantly and loudly as I could on that 60's model Hammond in church, and the congregation actually singing without ever having to look at the words.

I ran into the kitchen with the lyrics and sang it for Kevin (the Protestant in the family) who said, "I think I've heard that, but with different words. Did you all steal that from us?" And hence, another great memory was born.

I had wanted to do it for so long, it just was kind of a shoe-in for the Into These Rooms project. Doing a hymn remake can be a tricky thing. You're always hoping it really does give the proper glory to God, and proper justice to the writer. But I think the arrangement came off better than I ever played it in liturgy, and hopefully better than I ever sang it in traffic.

- Sarah Hart