Worthy of Worship

with
JUDSON


I. Origins

In 1988, when lyricist Terry W. York and composer Mark Blankenship were working in the Church Music department of the Baptist Sunday School Board of the Southern Baptist Convention, they created a musical called Praise the Risen Savior, which was intended for holy week. The first song, “We Praise You, Lord,” with its hosannas, set the scene for Palm Sunday; “We Saw Love” took listeners from Palm Sunday to the cross, followed by a medley of traditional cross hymns. After a brief reprise of the chorus from the first song, the narrative arc then shifted to a medley of traditional resurrection hymns. The response to the resurrection is for the singers to affirm their Savior is “Worthy of Worship” (Fig. 1), then there is a song of testimony, “I Can Hear the Music,” which also serves as an invitation for listeners to join the celebration. As a bookend, the chorus from the opening song returns to close out the festivities.

 

Fig. 1. Praise the Risen Savior (Nashville: McKinney Music, 1988), excerpt.

 

Out of the four new pieces created by York and Blankenship, “Worthy of Worship” was selected for inclusion in another important project at the time, a new edition of The Baptist Hymnal (1991 | Fig. 2). It was given a prominent place in the hymnal, the second hymn, following “Holy, Holy, Holy.” The tune name, JUDSON, was in honor of Judson Baptist Church, Nashville, Tennessee, where both men were members.

 

Fig. 2. The Baptist Hymnal (Nashville: Convention Press, 1991), excerpt.

 

The musical version of the song contained two stanzas, whereas the hymnal version contained three, but as York later recalled, the original version had been drafted with three:

The hymn originally had all three stanzas. I honestly don’t remember why it was reduced to two in the Easter musical. I must confess that the hymn was included in the musical in large part to see if anyone noticed it, and if so what their response might be. They noticed, and, in fact, liked the hymn more than they liked the musical as a whole.[1]

II. Analysis

The first two stanzas describe all the things the Savior is worthy to receive: worship, praise, honor, glory, etc. Some of these ideas are found in the Scripture reference cited in The Baptist Hymnal, Revelation 4:11 (“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power”). In the second stanza, both bowing and bending are encapsulated in a single verse, Psalm 95:6 (“Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!”). The third stanza is a list of names (epithets) associated with God. “Kings of kings,” for example, can be found in 1 Timothy 6:15 as well as Revelation 17:14 or 19:16; “Wonderful counselor” is from the Advent promise of Isaiah 9:6; “Comforter,” usually associated with the Holy Spirit, is from John 14:16 (especially in the KJV); while “Friend” is expressed in John 15:13–14. The refrain carries both the declaration of worthiness and a series of names associated with the One who is worthy. For “sustainer,” see especially Isaiah 46:4.

Musically, the hymn has a calm steadiness to it in its simple triple meter and its use of functional harmonies. The craftsmanship behind this melody and its harmonization is evident in touches such as the simple but effective descending bass line in the first phrase, which is then enhanced in the third phrase with functional and chromatic alterations, at the same time making use of extended harmonies like a minor ii chord with an added major 7th at measure 7, or an inverted ninth chord based on I (functioning as V of IV) which resolves to an inverted IV chord with an added 2, then its minor variant with the flatted third in the bass, pulling downward to another inversion, the harmonies constantly unfolding and moving the song forward as the stanzas end not on I but in anticipation of the refrain with a half cadence on V. In the refrain, the repetition of the music undergirds the repetition the words (“You are worthy,” etc.), then it finds its way out of the pattern through another V of IV, leading to a functional and aurally satisfying conclusion.

After its inclusion in The Baptist Hymnal (1991), this well-written hymn has found its way into other collections as fine hymn of praise.

by CHRIS FENNER
for Hymnology Archive
12 August 2022

Footnotes:

  1. Email from Terry W. York to Chris Fenner, 29 April 2011.

Related Resources:

Handbook to the Baptist Hymnal (Nashville: Convention Press, 1992).

“Worthy of worship,” Hymnary.org: https://hymnary.org/text/worthy_of_worship_worthy_of_praise