What "Praise Him Praise Him" means
"Praise Him Praise Him" is a doxological proclamation set in the exuberant register Fanny Crosby occupied better than almost anyone who has ever written for the church. Crosby was one of the most prolific hymn writers in American Christian history, producing thousands of texts across decades of ministry, all of them from a life she never once publicly treated as diminished despite writing them in blindness from infancy. The song arrives at full volume from the first line, hailing Jesus as the Lamb of God and mighty Savior. Set in F (male) or Ab (female) at 92 bpm, it is the fastest hymn in this group, and the tempo is not incidental; it matches the theological claim. Psalm 150 is behind the structure: praise with everything, in every register, without holding back. Revelation 5:9 provides the theological ground for the Lamb language: the slain Lamb who is worthy of all honor. The song is not asking whether Jesus deserves praise; it is declaring it as settled fact and inviting the congregation to participate in a proclamation that is already underway.
What this song does in a room
An intergenerational room finds something in this song that more recent worship songs sometimes struggle to provide: a refrain so immediate and clear that no one needs to read a screen to join. The refrain is the theological argument and the musical invitation at once, and when a room full of people from eight to eighty is singing it together, the experience of the early church praising together with full voice is not abstract. It is happening. The march-like quality of the tune means the song carries the congregation rather than requiring the congregation to carry it. That is a gift in services where people are tired or uncertain or have come through a hard week. They do not need to find the energy; the song provides it. By the second verse, rooms that started tentatively are usually singing without looking at the words.
What this song is saying about God
The song names Jesus with specific titles rather than general attributes: Lamb of God, mighty Savior, the one who bears away sin. Those are not decorative terms; they are confessions. The Lamb language connects directly to the sacrificial system, to John the Baptist's declaration at the Jordan, and to Revelation's throne room, where the same Lamb is declared worthy. The song is saying that the one who gave himself is the same one who reigns, and both truths belong in the same breath of praise. That is a comprehensive Christology packed into a simple refrain, and the congregation sings it without necessarily articulating the doctrine, but they are confessing it nonetheless. Crosby understood that the theology does its work whether or not the singer can explain it afterward.
Scriptural backbone
Psalm 150 is the formal invitation to total praise, the final psalm in the psalter's great crescendo of doxology. After 149 psalms that include lament, disorientation, complaint, and penitence, the psalter ends not in ambiguity but in unqualified praise. Psalm 150 does not give reasons; it gives instruments and settings and a single command: let everything that has breath praise the Lord. The range of instruments listed, trumpet, lute, harp, tambourine, strings, pipe, clashing cymbals, is itself an argument that praise is not a narrow register but the fullest possible expression of a creature before its Creator. The hymn inherits that posture and focuses it on the person of Jesus rather than the general address of the psalter. Revelation 5:9 provides the specific Christological content: the Lamb was slain and has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. That is not a soft image. The Lamb of God is the Lamb who was slain, and the praise in the song is not cheerful sentiment but a response to the cost of what was purchased. When the congregation sings about the Lamb, they are singing about a death that made their singing possible.
How to use it in a service
This song is built for moments of corporate joy and celebration, and it belongs near the opening of a service where the congregation needs to be gathered into a common posture quickly. It is also effective as a response to communion, where the congregation has just received the bread and cup and needs a vehicle for the gratitude that has no other adequate form. The transition from the table to the song makes the Lamb language of the refrain land with particular force, because the congregation has just enacted the same Lamb theology in the breaking of bread. In intergenerational services, it functions as a bridge, something that grandparents who learned it in Sunday school and children learning it for the first time can occupy together without the typical gap in familiarity creating friction. The 92 bpm pace should not be slowed; the energy is theological, not entertainment, and pulling the tempo back diminishes the declaration. A service that uses this song well treats it as proclamation, not warm-up.
Things to watch for as the worship leader
At 92 bpm, the biggest risk is that the worship leader's energy becomes frantic rather than joyful. There is a difference, and congregations read the difference immediately. Lead this song from a place of settled delight, not performed enthusiasm. The melody's march character provides more than enough momentum; the worship leader does not need to manufacture additional excitement on top of it. The other thing to watch: because the song is familiar to many older congregants, there is a temptation to let it run without engagement. A brief moment before the song that names what the Lamb of God actually means, the cost behind the praise, can transform the singing from comfortable nostalgia into genuine doxology.
A note for the team behind you (techs, vocalists, band)
Percussion matters on this song in a way that is not optional. The march feel lives or dies on the rhythmic foundation, and a bass drum or hand drum that holds a steady quarter-note pulse gives the congregation something to walk with. Brass, if available, can add a layer of celebration that fits the song's character without overwhelming the congregation's voice. Vocalists, keep harmony parts clean and rhythmically precise; the verses move quickly enough that smeared rhythms will muddy the text. Techs, the mix should favor the congregation's room sound on this one. If the house mics are picking up the room, let them up; Crosby wrote this to be sung by a crowd, and a crowd singing it should sound like one.