This words of this song, “Give Thanks with a grateful heart,” are among the most well known of modern choruses sung in churches all over the world. As the story goes, a young Henry Smith composes this song as he was struggling with a degenerative eye condition that would eventually make him legally blind. It was recorded by worship leader Don Moen in 1986 as the title song for one of the first of the Integrity Hosanna! Praise and Worship albums. It can be found in Songbook 1 of the similarly titled spiral bound music books popular with worship teams everywhere.
Earlier this year Don Moen teamed up with Joshua Aaron and recorded a video of this song, along with a few others. Joshua Aaron has recorded several albums and his songs are sung in Messianic congregations all around. He doesn’t isolate himself from the Christian community, and joins in worship singing well known songs and hymns with other Christian artists. His recordings with Aaron Shust, especially Live at the Garden Tomb released during Passover and Unleavened Bread this year, are amazing.
The Lyrics in Hebrew
The rendition of Give Thanks is beautiful yet very simple. Don Moen, at the Nord electronic piano, sings through the first part as Joshua Aaron is finger picking his Martin guitar. Joshua Aaron joins him in harmony for the second part, and their voices blend beautifully. Then, as Don Moen continues playing the piano, Joshua Aaron sings the entire song in Hebrew. The song concludes with the duo harmonizing in singing “we give thanks.”
I enjoy singing in Hebrew, and although I don’t speak Hebrew, I have often used music as a way to familiarize myself with the language. This is especially true when the words being sung are directly from the Hebrew Scriptures. I can look them up, and using an Interlinear Bible see the Hebrew characters, the transliterated pronunciation, and the English meaning. Doing so helps me to recognize words and phrases elsewhere.
This song of praise and thanksgiving is not made up of direct quotes from Scripture. But from the recollection of other songs that are, in listening to this it is easy to hear familiar words and phrases. Of course, the most easily discerned is the Hebrew word “Hodu.”
Hodu l’Adonai ki tov, ki l’olam chasdo
Psalm 136:1
Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his mercy is everlasting
So when we hear Joshua Aaron begin with “Hodu,” we immediately recognize that he is singing “Give Thanks” and can relate to the lyrics of the song we already know.
And fortunately, in the official YouTube video provided by DonMoenTV, the lyrics of the song are in the closed captions. Just be sure you remember to turn the captioning on my clicking the CC button at the bottom of the video screen.
When it gets to the Hebrew part sung by Joshua Aaron, the excellent closed captioning shows the lyrics in Hebrew, with the transliterated Hebrew underneath so you can sing along. Below them in parenthesis are English lyrics, though they are the lyrics as we know them and not a direct translation of the Hebrew words appearing above.
Here are the lyrics as they appear in this video.
We give thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks to the Holy One
Give thanks because He’s given
Jesus Christ His SonGive thanks with a grateful heart
Give thanks to the Holy One
Give thanks because He’s given
Jesus Christ His SonAnd now let the weak say I am strong
Let the poor say I am rich
Because of what the Lord has done for usAnd now let the weak say I am strong
Let the poor say I am rich
Because of what the Lord has done for usהודו לו בלב מלא
Hodu lo belev maleh
הודו לו בלב מודה
Hodu lo belev modeh
הודו כי את ישוע
Hodu ki et Yeshua
משיחו נתן
Meshicho Natanהודו לו בלב מלא
Hodu lo belev maleh
הודו לו בלב מודה
Hodu lo belev modeh
הודו כי את ישוע
Hodu ki et Yeshua
משיחו נתן
Meshicho Natanיאמר העני, אני עשיר
Yomar he’ani, Ani ashir
החלש חזק אני
Hechalash chazak Ani
עקב כל חסדו הרב עלי
Ekev kol chasdo harav alayהודו לו בלב מלא
Hodu lo belev maleh
הודו לו בלב מודה
Hodu lo belev modeh
הודו כי את ישוע
Hodu ki et Yeshua
משיחו נתן
Meshicho NatanHodu
Hodu
We give thanks
So if you are following along with the captioning, the English does not match the Hebrew. In fact, in the Hebrew lyrics the line corresponding to “let the poor say I am rich” comes before “let the weak say I am strong.” Perhaps that is for poetic reasons – we seem to do that a lot.
And sometimes when singing, and maybe especially in worship songs, we are a little free or take liberty with some of the lyrics as we sing from the heart. Whether intentional or not (or maybe it’s just the recording or my imagination), I’m pretty sure I hear Joshua Aaron sing one lyric different than what shows in the captioning. The second time through the middle part, I am hearing “hachadash chazak ani” rather than “hechalash chazak ani.” That would change the meaning of these lines to something like “Let the poor say ‘I am rich,’ the renewed one ‘I am strong.'” It’s beautiful. Maybe someone fluent in the language can confirm this or correct me.
Give Thanks – Don Moen and Joshua Aaron
So enjoy this video, and the longer one that includes this song as well. And thank you, Don Moen and Joshua Aaron, for this intimate worship experience.