What "Exalt the Lord Our God" Means
"Exalt the Lord Our God" by Rick Ridings belongs to a specific and often underrepresented category in the modern worship catalog: the scripture song. The lyric is drawn directly from Psalm 99, with minimal editorial addition. What you sing is, in the most direct sense, what the text says. That is a different kind of song than a contemporary praise anthem, and it asks something different of the room.
Rick Ridings wrote and recorded in the context of the charismatic and international prayer movement, and that context is embedded in the song's DNA. This is not a polished production built for mass congregational use. It has the feel of something written in a prayer room or a small gathering, where the goal was to voice scripture together rather than to craft a performance piece. That directness is one of the song's primary assets.
The word "exalt" is worth pausing on as you prepare. It is not a common word in ordinary speech, but it has a precise meaning: to lift up, to elevate, to raise above everything else. To exalt the Lord is to declare that he is higher than the thing you are also thinking about right now, higher than the thing that came up in the parking lot, higher than the news cycle, higher than your own anxiety. The song is a positioning exercise, in the best sense: it puts God where he belongs in the architecture of the congregation's attention.
The holiness emphasis in Psalm 99 adds a dimension of reverence that keeps the exaltation from becoming casual. This is not a song about how good things are going; it is a song about who God is. That distinction matters for how you prepare and how you lead it.
What This Song Does in a Room
"Exalt the Lord Our God" operates as a kind of focused declaration. The scripture-song format means the congregation is not just singing about the text; they are speaking it together. That distinction matters. There is something different about a room full of people choosing to say the same thing from scripture that functions almost liturgically, as a unified posture before God.
The song tends to work best in rooms that have some familiarity with the charismatic and classic worship tradition. For congregations without that background, it may need more introduction to land well.
The 96 BPM tempo in D gives it enough forward movement to feel engaged rather than dirge-like, while the holiness theme keeps it from becoming merely celebratory. The room is being invited into a specific combination: joyful exaltation and reverential awe. That combination is theologically rich, and when it lands, it produces a quality of worship that neither joy alone nor reverence alone can achieve.
What This Song Is Saying About God
The central claim of this song, drawn directly from Psalm 99, is that God is holy. Not just good, not just powerful, not just faithful: holy. That word in Hebrew (kadosh) carries the sense of being set apart, other, categorically different from everything else. The song is making a claim that is both exalting and humbling: the God the congregation is singing to is not like anything else in existence.
The exaltation command in the lyric is inseparable from the holiness declaration. You exalt the Lord because he is holy, because his nature warrants that positioning. This is not praise as emotional release or as cultural tradition. It is praise as a right response to who God actually is.
The Psalm 99 context also includes the motif of God as King, sitting enthroned above the cherubim, ruling over the nations. The song carries that regal dimension: the God being exalted here is not a companion-God, not merely a friend. He is the King of the earth. For congregations shaped by an overly-familiar theology of God, this song can serve as a corrective and a gift.
Scriptural Backbone
The song is built directly on Psalm 99. The key verses are 1-3 and 5: "The Lord reigns, let the nations tremble; he sits enthroned between the cherubim, let the earth shake. Great is the Lord in Zion; he is exalted over all the nations. Let them praise your great and awesome name, for he is holy. Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his footstool; he is holy."
The repetition of "he is holy" across Psalm 99, appearing in verses 3, 5, and 9, is not accidental. The psalm structures itself around that declaration as a refrain. The song follows that pattern, returning to holiness as the ground for exaltation. When you lead this song, you are not leading an original composition; you are leading the congregation in a psalm. That is a significant act of continuity with the worship of Israel and the worship of the church across centuries.
Isaiah 6:3 provides the wider scriptural frame: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory." The threefold repetition in Isaiah is the pattern of the heavenly worship that Psalm 99 echoes.
How to Use It in a Service
"Exalt the Lord Our God" fits well in a service structured around the holiness of God, the reign of God, or the nature of worship itself. It works as a declaration song positioned after a congregational prayer of approach or after a reading from Psalm 99. Because the lyric is scripture, it can also function as a way of singing the scripture reading, which is a meaningful liturgical practice when done with intention.
This song benefits from some framing. If your congregation is not familiar with Rick Ridings or with the charismatic prayer-room tradition, a brief introduction can help them understand what they are stepping into. You don't need to give a lecture; a sentence or two about the song being built directly from Psalm 99 is enough. Let the congregation know they are not just singing a song; they are saying a psalm together.
The song pairs well with "Holy, Holy, Holy," "How Great Thou Art," or any other song in the classical holiness tradition. If you are building a set around the character of God rather than congregational emotion, this song is a strong anchor.
Things to Watch for as the Worship Leader
The greatest risk with this song in most contemporary congregational settings is that the scripture-song format can feel unfamiliar or stiff to people accustomed to the production values and emotional architecture of modern worship. Watch for disengagement in the early verses and be ready to model what full engagement with the text looks like: not performing, but actually meaning the words.
The holiness theme requires a certain quality of attention from the leader. If you lead this song with the same energy you use for a high-energy praise anthem, you will miss its character. The song needs a quality of settled conviction: you know what you are saying, you mean it, and you are inviting the congregation to mean it with you. That is different from generating enthusiasm.
Watch the key. D at 96 BPM is workable for most voices, but if the melody sits in a range that is uncomfortable for unison singing, consider adjusting. The song's power comes from the congregation saying the text together, and anything that compromises their ability to sing it freely works against that goal.
A Note for the Team Behind You (Techs, Vocalists, Band)
This song benefits from a clean, reverential arrangement. Less is more. The classic-charismatic context of the song does not require a full-band production; piano, acoustic guitar, and a restrained rhythm section are often more appropriate than a full drum kit and electric guitar. If you do use the full band, lean toward a gentle mix rather than a driving one. The song is a declaration, not a celebration in the high-energy sense, and the arrangement should communicate that.
Vocalists, stay close to the text. Any vocal embellishment that draws attention away from the scripture lyric is working against the song's purpose. Harmonies are appropriate and add warmth, but keep them supporting the text rather than featuring the voice. The congregation needs to be able to hear the words clearly enough to say them with confidence.
For sound tech: word clarity is the priority here above all else. This is a scripture song, and if the congregation cannot hear the text, the song loses its primary function. Pull back any reverb or effects that might blur the lyric. If you have a subpar PA day, prioritize the vocal channel over everything else. Because this is a scripture song, consider adding the Psalm 99 reference to the lower corner of the lyric slide. Some congregations find it meaningful to see the text located in scripture as they sing it.