Thank You Jesus for the Blood Chords | Charity Gayle

Charity Gayle is a name that keeps popping up in worship music. One of her most popular songs "Thank You Jesus for the Blood" is a very powerful song that speaks to the broken condition of people and then the resurrection power of the blood.

One of my favorite exercises when I'm evaluating a song is to follow the progression of the song in the context of a "song story." Instead of singing the song, just read it and see how the lyrics unfold in the form of a story. Here are the lyrics to the first verse: 

I was a wretch
I remember who I was
I was lost, I was blind
I was running out of time

The verse starts off with the condition of man as defined in Romans 3:23 ("For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"). It also alludes to John 9:25 ("I was blind but now I see"). From there the verse expounds on the affect of sin: 

Sin separated
The breach was far too wide
But from the far side of the chasm
You held me in your sight

The song shifts into God's pursuit of man, even in his sinful state. This pursuit begins with "seeing" of man, and then progresses into an action plan: 

So You made a way
Across the great divide
Left behind Heaven's throne
To build it here inside

Finally, the verse ends at the pinnacle of love at the cross, and then circles back to the result of that love to man: 

And there at the cross
You paid the debt I owed
Broke my chains, free my soul
For the first time I had hope

The song has taken us through the basic gospel story of redemption. Man is sinful and removed from God. God pursued man. God sent His son to the cross in the ultimate act of love. Through the cross, man is reconciled to God, freed, restored, and hopeful. Now the chorus begins as the response to the gospel. 

Thank you Jesus for the blood applied
Thank you Jesus, it has washed me white
Thank you Jesus, You have saved my life
Brought me from the darkness into glorious light

The chorus shift from reflection of the gospel story to an active response in worship. It's a chorus of specific gratitude of the sacrifice made and the causal effect. 

As the song jumps back into the next verse, it started to get much more specific about the gospel story celebrated at Easter: 

You took my place
Laid inside my tomb of sin
You were buried for three days
But then You walked right out again

And now death has no sting
And life has no end
For I have been transformed
By the blood of the Lamb

Lyrically, this verse combines the Easter story with a personal application. This weaves together theology as well as personal transformation. From here, we're ready for another response in gratitude and worship with the chorus. 

The bridge of a song serves to highlight something different within a song. It's kind of like a side road. It's related, but it has a different focus. In this case, the focus in on the blood itself, rather than the general gospel story: 

There is nothing stronger
than the wonder working power of the blood
The blood

That calls us sons and daughters
We are ransomed by our Father
Through the blood
The blood

The bridge also serves as a way to build the dynamics of the song. You'll hear all of the instrumentation build into the climax of the song on the next chorus, with a big emphasis on each word, "Thank You Jesus" as it continues into a big "up" chorus. 

Finally, the song lands into an optional chorus at the end, which acts as another response in worship. 

You can find this song on Apple Music or Spotify.