Praise Him! Praise Him!
Tommy Walker Ministries
Each week on FishWorship, our Hymn of the Week takes a closer look at a beloved hymn of the Christian faith—where it came from, what it means, and why these songs continue to speak to us generations after they were written. This week, we’re taking a fresh look at “Praise Him! Praise Him!”, presented in a live performance by Tommy Walker as part of his Generation Hymns project.
“Praise Him! Praise Him!” is exactly the kind of hymn that makes me appreciate how far Christian music has come. For those of us who grew up in more conservative Christian churches and schools, there was often an unwritten—and sometimes very clearly written—rule that traditional hymns were supposed to sound a certain way. The words could be centuries old, but the musical presentation was not something you casually changed. Reimagining a traditional hymn with a contemporary worship sound could be viewed with considerable suspicion, and artists who dared to do it have certainly faced criticism over the years. As the founder of FishWorship, I find performances like Tommy Walker’s particularly meaningful because they demonstrate just how thoroughly contemporary interpretations of these ancient musical masterpieces have entered the mainstream of Christian worship. What once might have been considered a questionable departure from tradition can now be heard in a live worship setting as a natural and joyful continuation of that tradition.
And perhaps that’s the beautiful irony: the hymn itself hasn’t changed. “Praise Him! Praise Him!” still calls us to do exactly what its title says—to praise Jesus with everything we have. What has changed is the musical language we use to express that praise. Tommy Walker’s Generation Hymns performance shows that an old hymn doesn’t have to remain frozen in the musical world in which it was written to remain faithful to its message. Sometimes giving an ancient song a new musical voice allows another generation to hear its message with fresh ears—and perhaps even discover that the hymn they’ve known all their lives still has something wonderfully new to say.
For someone who grew up being told, in effect, “We don’t change the hymns,” there’s something wonderfully satisfying about watching a new generation of worship leaders take these treasured songs, breathe new musical life into them, and discover that the congregation is still singing along. Tradition survived. The hymn survived. And somehow, the music got a whole lot more fun.
You’ve come a long way, baby!
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