The rushing wind (All creatures)
Josh writes:
Over the past year or so, the hymn ‘All Creatures Of Our God And King’ has been used several times to open the worship session
(sometimes using just a couple of the verses) at the morning service at our Church.
(This hymn was written by Francis of Assisi in circa 1225 and translated into English by William Draper some 400 years later)
This was often chosen because of the powerful images and ideas presented in the lyrics, as well as it being a fantastic song of praise to God.
I love these lyrics and decided to take them and evolve them to fit into a more driving praise song.
I thought that this would make it feel fresher and bring out the passion of the song and would also keep it accessible as a service opener.
I started with the chorus – it was always in my mind to have the ‘All Creatures’ line starting the chorus
and I based the second part of the chorus on the lyric in the fifth verse of the hymn ‘Let all things their Creator bless…’
and then used the other section of that verse ‘Praise, praise the Father…’ for the alternative chorus which is sang at the end of the song.
I felt that this Trinitarian section should stay in and would go well at the end – where it is used in the original hymn.
I wanted the chorus to be really driving and loud so you can passionately shout it out as praise to God.
The repeated ‘hallelujahs’ are possibly the most recognisable part of the hymn and I used four ‘hallelujahs’ as the pre-chorus
– I thought it was best to put these together in a separate section, especially as I had used the ‘Oh praise Him’ parts in the verses
(note also that both of these repeated lines are also used in the chorus).
The verses use parts of all of the other verses used in the hymn, except the fourth
– which was used only as the basis for the very start of the bridge in my version,
as its basis is slightly different to that of the rest of the hymn and there wasn’t room to put everything into the song!
The bridge section is the personal declaration, with powerful and strong statements
‘I know our God reigns’, ‘My faith is in the King’, ‘It’s Him I praise’.
I kept the themes of praise and all creation running through these new lyrics so it fitted in well with the rest of the song.
Below are the lyrics to 'All Creatures':
The rushing wind that blows so strong The clouds that sail in Heaven along Oh praise Him The rising sun, in praise rejoice The lights of evening, find a voice Oh praise Him Hallelujah, Hallelujah Hallelujah, Hallelujah All creatures of Our God and King Lift up your voice and sing Hallelujah Let all creation bless His name He is worthy of all praise Oh praise Him Hallelujah Flowing water, pure and clear Music for the Lord to hear Oh praise Him The fire, masterful and bright Which gives to us both warmth and light Oh praise Him In sorrow and in pain May the praise remain For I know our God reigns My faith is in the King Who gave life to everything It’s Him I praise All creatures of Our God and King Lift up your voice and sing Hallelujah Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son Praise the Spirit, Three in One Oh praise Him Hallelujah
Josh Rayner
© 2007 Wendy House Music
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