What "Lift Him Up" means
Ron Kenoly wrote from within a tradition where praise is not a warm-up act for the sermon but the main event, where exaltation is understood as a spiritual force that actually changes the atmosphere of a room. "Lift Him Up" sits in that tradition with confidence. The title is a command, but it is a command issued by someone who is already in the middle of doing it. You are not being told to do something abstract. You are being invited into a practice the song itself is modeling in real time.
The phrase "lift him up" carries two streams of meaning the song holds together. The first is practical: when Jesus is lifted up in the preaching, the singing, and the worship of the gathered church, he draws people to himself. That is the evangelistic promise of John 12:32 running underneath the lyric. The second is doxological: exaltation is its own end. You lift up God not only because doing so accomplishes something but because God is worthy of being lifted up. The song does not force you to choose between those two registers. It lets them run together the way they should.
For worship leaders trained in more recent contemporary styles, Kenoly's approach can feel unfamiliar. The gospel-inflected call and response, the unashamed declarativeness, the sense that something is actually happening in the room as the church worships, these are features, not departures from sound theology. Understanding the tradition this song comes from will help you lead it with the authority it deserves.
What this song does in a room
At 88 BPM in F, "Lift Him Up" is among the livelier songs in any set. It moves. It asks the congregation to move with it. The F major key gives it a brightness and warmth associated in the gospel tradition with joy, and the tempo is fast enough to create genuine celebration without tipping into chaos.
This song tends to lift a room. People stand straighter, the atmosphere shifts, there is a sense of collective agreement and activation. In the gospel tradition, this kind of song is understood to shift the spiritual atmosphere of a room through sustained exaltation. Whether or not you share that exact theological frame, you will notice the room changing during this song if it is led with conviction.
The call-and-response structure built into songs from this tradition, even when it is not explicit in a modern arrangement, means the congregation has natural entry points. They are not passive listeners waiting for a chorus. They are participants in an exchange. That is a different experience than most contemporary worship songs offer.
What this song is saying about God
The song makes two primary claims about God. First, God is worthy of being lifted up, exalted, declared above every other name. The song drives that past intellectual assent into something the body enacts. You are not just agreeing that God is worthy. You are standing up and saying so, with other people doing the same thing around you. That physicality is part of the theology.
Second, the act of lifting God up has an effect. Jesus said it himself: when he is lifted up, he draws all people to himself. The congregation's exaltation is not a private spiritual exercise. It participates in the drawing power of the gospel. This is why songs of pure exaltation are never beside the point in a service. They are, in one sense, the most evangelistic thing the room does.
Scriptural backbone
"And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." (John 12:32, NIV)
Jesus spoke this in reference to his crucifixion, but the early church took the lifting up of Christ in worship to be continuous with the lifting up of Christ on the cross, a declaration that the One who was raised high in death has been raised high in resurrection and is now exalted at the right hand of the Father. Psalm 148 gives the cosmic scope: all creation is called to praise, from the highest heavens to the depths of the sea, and the congregation's praise joins that unbroken chorus. The song is an invitation to enter a praise that was already happening long before the service started.
How to use it in a service
"Lift Him Up" wants to be placed at a moment of genuine celebration. Early in a set when you want to establish a tone of joyful expectancy, or at a climactic high point when the congregation is already engaged and ready to go further. It does not work as a meditative mid-set song. Its DNA is celebratory, and placing it where the room is quiet and reflective will create a mismatch that the congregation will feel.
This song also works well in cross-cultural worship contexts, in churches where the congregation has diverse backgrounds and where the gospel-inflected exaltation tradition is already part of the room's musical vocabulary. Do not be afraid of that tradition if it is not your primary one. It is a rich vein of the church's worship history and your congregation will be expanded by it.
If your church is not familiar with this song, a brief moment of teaching before you play it, something about the tradition it comes from and the theological idea of exaltation, will help them enter it rather than observe it.
Things to watch for as the worship leader
The temptation with a song at this tempo and energy level is to lead with performance instincts, generating excitement through your own projection rather than by actually entering the exaltation you are inviting the congregation into. The room will follow your energy, but what you want them to follow is not your energy. It is the reality of who God is. Stay tethered to the content.
Watch the congregation during this song. In a gospel-tradition piece, participation is the point, and if your congregation is standing still and watching, something is not connecting. It may be cultural unfamiliarity, in which case patience and repeated exposure will open the door. It may be a platform energy issue, in which case you may need to give them permission to move with the music.
Also watch your pacing through multiple choruses. The song can plateau if the band is not intentional about building across repetitions.
A note for the team behind you (techs, vocalists, band)
The gospel tradition from which this song comes places a high value on ensemble communication. The band needs to be listening to each other and to the leader, because these songs live in the dynamic space between written arrangement and real-time response. If you are used to playing tightly to a click and chart, give yourself permission to be more responsive here.
The F key is comfortable for most vocalists and will keep the lead vocal in a strong, projecting range. Background vocalists should be singing with the kind of full-throated joy the song demands. This is not a song where blending into the background is the goal. Everyone on stage is exalting together.
For the tech team: push the low end enough to give the song its physical presence. At 88 BPM, the kick and bass should feel like they are inside the congregation's chests, not just coming through speakers. Be careful not to let the high frequencies of guitars and keyboards become shrill in the mix. The room should feel warm and full. On the monitor side, the performers need to feel the energy of the room to sustain that energy for the congregation, so give everyone on stage a strong, live-sounding mix.