Chris Tomlin – Exalted (Yahweh)

Chris Tomlin is a household name.  He started his career in 1993 and released sixteen albums, including:

• Inside Your Love (1995)
• Authentic (1998)
• Too Much Free Time (1998)
• The Noise We Make (2001)
• Not to Us (2002)
• Arriving (2004)
• See the Morning (2006)
• Hello Love (2008)
• And If Our God Is for Us… (2010)
• Burning Lights (2013)
• Love Ran Red (2014)
• Adore: Christmas Songs Of Worship (2015)
• Never Lose Sight (2016)
• Holy Roar (2018)
• Chris Tomlin & Friends (2020)
• Miracle of Love: Christmas Songs of Worship (2020)

He is a 26-time award recipient, including 23 Dove Awards, 2 Billboard awards, and 1 Grammy.

Also, check out my other Chris Tomlin reviews and Christmas song Noel.

Note to new users: This is a different kind of review site!  Read About the Berean Test and Evaluation Criteria prior to reading this review.

1. What message does the song communicate?

This song teaches us that God is praised, held as King, and wonderful.  He is worthy of blessing and honor, glory and power, and His name is set apart.  The nations worship, alongside us whom Tomlin asks to join in song.

Side Note: To those sensitive to massive repetition, the second half of the song contains a double-Chorus, followed by four of the same lines within Bridge, another double Chorus, and essentially Bridge again as Outro.

Score: 10/10

2. How much of the lyrics line up with Scripture?

This song is consistent with the Bible.

Lyrics posted with permission.*

[Verse 1]

Exalted, he is exalted

That is, God is held in high regard and worthy of praise (1 Chronicles 16:25, 2 Samuel 22:4, Psalm 96:4-5, Psalm 145:3, and Revelation 4:11).

On high, he is exalted

Combines God’s rulership and reign (Exodus 15:6, Exodus 15:11, 1 Chronicles 29:11, 2 Chronicles 20:6, Psalm 24:10, Psalm 93:1, Psalm 110:2-3, Psalm 104:1, Psalm 145:5, Psalm 145:12, Job 37:22, Isaiah 24:14, Isaiah 26:10, Hebrews 1:3-4, Hebrews 8:1, Revelation 4:1-11, and Revelation 19:7-16) with parts of Verse 1.

Great is the lord, let all the nations say

God is great (Deuteronomy 10:17, Psalm 8:3-4, Psalm 147:5, Job 26:14, Isaiah 40:28, and Isaiah 55:8-9) and the nations will praise Him (Psalm 67:1-7, Psalm 86:9, Isaiah 6:3, Isaiah 40:5, Isaiah 45:23, Joel 2:28, Acts 2:17, Romans 14:11, and Philippians 2:10-11).

Exalted, he is exalted

Repeats line 1.

[Chorus]

Blessing and honor
Glory and power unto the lord be praised

Quotes from part of Revelation 5:13.

Sing with a chorus resounding before us

Tomlin invites us to sing along.

Holy is his name, his name

This comes from the Lord’s prayer (Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11:1-4).  The word “hallowed” means “holy”.

[Bridge]

Yahweh, holy is your name

Essentially repeats Chorus, line 4.

Side Note: According to all the rabbis and Jews that I’ve interacted with over the years, the word “Yahweh” is a mispronunciation of the Tetragrammaton YHWH or YHVH.  While they find this pronunciation offensive, I won’t deduct points.

Yahweh, holy is your name
Yahweh, holy is your name
Yahweh, holy is your name

Repeats line 1.

[Outro]

Yahweh, yahweh, holy is your name
Yahweh, holy is your name
Yahweh, holy is your name
Yahweh, holy is your name
Yahweh, holy is your name

Repeats/essentially repeats Bridge, line 1.

Score: 10/10

3. How would an outsider interpret the song?

Christians among the nations worship God.  Surprisingly, Tomlin’s misprounciation of YHVH points unbelievers towards interpreting this as Christianity, as opposed to Judaism.

Score: 10/10

4. What does this song glorify?

This glorifies God as our holy King who is worthy of our praise.

Score: 10/10

Closing Comments

Chris Tomlin’s Exalted (Yahweh) is simple but not simplistic.  It presents eternal truths about God, that he is exalted for His holiness, bringing Him glory.  Unbelievers should easily interpret similarly.

Churches will have to decide if mispronouncing YHVH is an issue that prevents them from worshipping with this song.

Final Score: 10/10

Artist Info

Track: Exalted (Yahweh) (listen to the song)

Artist: Chris Tomlin

Album: Hello Love

Genre: Contemporary Christian Music (CCM)

Release Year: 2008

Duration: 5:52

Agree?  Disagree?  Don’t be shy or have a cow!  Calmly and politely state your case in a comment, below.

*Copyright © 2008 worshiptogether.com Songs (ASCAP) sixsteps Music (ASCAP) Vamos Publishing (ASCAP) (adm. at CapitolCMGPublishing.com) All rights reserved. Used by permission.