When I Think About The Lord Lyrics

Understanding When I Think About The Lord

When I Think About The Lord is a modern worship song written by Don Moen. It's one of those tracks that shows up in church bulletins constantly because it works for every occasion from memorial services to Sunday morning praise. The lyrics are straightforward, and that's exactly why they endure. The song opens with the line "When I think about the Lord and everything He's done, there's not a heart so cold but Him He can redeem." That opening couplet sets the entire theological framework for what follows. The song cycles through reflections on creation, redemption, grace, and eternal hope, each verse building on the last without getting complicated. I've arranged this song for small church choirs for roughly twelve years now. The main difficulty isn't the melody or the harmony, it's the tempo control. Beginners tend to rush the second verse because the lyrical momentum pulls them forward. What I do is mark a subtle ritardando at the end of verse two, then bring it back to tempo for the final chorus. It stops the song from sounding like a race.

Here's the thing most people miss about these lyrics. The phrase "not a heart so cold but Him He can redeem" is deliberately inclusive in a way that works for preaching and for congregational singing. It doesn't alienate anyone in the room. That's why it survives in rotation year after year while some of the flashier worship songs from the same era faded out.

How to Use These Lyrics Practically

If you're planning to perform this, the standard structure runs verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus-outro. The bridge is where the song peaks dynamically, so if your pianist or organist drives that section too hard, the congregation loses their ability to sing along comfortably. Keep the bridge under controlled intensity. I ran into a specific issue once where our sound engineer had placed the lyric sheet on the big screen but the image was so bright that half the congregation couldn't see the words past the first few lines. The fix was simply switching to a dark background with light text, then reducing the font size to something readable from the back row. Nothing fancy, just practical. For solo performers, the vocal range sits comfortably between G3 and D5 for women and C3 to G4 for men. It's not a demanding song vocally, which is another reason it stays in the repertoire. You don't need a powerhouse voice to deliver it well, you just need to mean the words when you sing them.

The song is in 4/4 time and typically performed around 72 to 76 beats per minute. Slow enough to feel contemplative, fast enough to keep energy from sagging. If you go significantly slower than that, it starts sounding elegiac, and that changes the whole mood in a way that might not match the context you're using it for.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

One error I see repeatedly is adding extra vocal runs or ad-libs over the chorus. The power of these lyrics comes from their simplicity. Every embellishment you add pulls attention away from the message. Let the words carry the weight. Another issue is the key choice. Some singers transpose this into higher keys thinking it'll sound more passionate. It usually sounds strained instead. Stay in the original key or go a half-step lower if anything. The lower register on this melody has a warmth that gets lost when you push it up. The bridge section contains the line "Let His love forever fill my heart" and that's where your dynamics should hit their peak before pulling back for the final chorus. I've seen too many performances where the bridge is treated the same as the verses, which makes the final chorus feel underwhelming by comparison. Let that bridge breathe, then dial it back intentionally.

Getting the Lyrics for Your Own Use

You can find the complete When I Think About The Lord Lyrics in official hymnals, in worship songbooks, or through licensed lyric databases like CCLI or WorshipTours. If you're printing these for a service, make sure you have the proper reproduction license, especially if you're projecting them on screen. The song is under copyright and the licensing is straightforward, but skipping it isn't worth the risk to your congregation. For personal study or private use, the lyrics are widely available through legitimate music sites and church resource platforms. The wording has remained consistent across publications, so you shouldn't run into major variations between different printings. The bridge also gets repeated in performance sometimes. Don Moen's original recording doesn't do a full double-bridge, but many choirs add a repeat for dramatic effect. It's acceptable, just know that it extends the song by about forty seconds and changes the pacing slightly. Plan around it if you have a tight service order.

There's no downloadable PDF of the official lyrics that I can point to as the single authoritative source, since the rights are held by the publisher. But any legitimate worship resource site will have them formatted correctly for projection or printing. Just verify the license situation first, then you're set.