worship songs

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