I Must Praise

Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.

Psalm 150:6, King James Version

If everything dey praise am, how I go keep quiet?

Look around you. The sun rises on time. Birds are awake before you are. The sky has no mouth, yet it is talking. Everything God made is already praising Him. The only question is whether you will join.

That is the whole idea of this song. It is sung in Nigerian Pidgin, the language of the bus stop and the market, because praise should sound like the people singing it.

The stones will cry out

The bridge of this song comes from one of the boldest things Jesus ever said. In Luke 19, as He rode into Jerusalem, the crowd shouted praise. Some Pharisees told Him to quiet His followers. Jesus answered that if they kept silent, the stones would cry out.

In other words, praise is going to happen. If people refuse, creation itself will do it. So the song makes a decision. I no go let stone take my turn. I have a mouth, I have breath, and I have a reason a stone does not have. He carried me.

All creation praises God

The verses of this song walk through creation the way the Psalms do.

Psalm 19:1 to 3. The heavens declare the glory of God. They have no speech and no words, yet their voice goes out into all the earth. Sky no get mouth, but sky dey talk.

Psalm 148. Praise Him, sun and moon. Praise Him, all you shining stars. Fire and hail, snow and wind, mountains and trees, animals and birds, kings and children. The second verse of this song is almost a Pidgin retelling of this psalm.

Isaiah 55:12. The trees of the field shall clap their hands. Tree dey clap hand as wind blow.

Psalm 150:6. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Everything wey get breath done join.

What does Hosanna mean?

Hosanna comes from Hebrew and means save us, we pray. It was a cry for help that became a shout of praise. When Jesus entered Jerusalem in Matthew 21:9, the crowd waved branches and shouted Hosanna to the Son of David. They were praising the One they believed had come to save them.

So when we sing Hosanna to the Lamb, we are doing the same thing. Praising Him as the One who saves.

A few Pidgin words, for readers outside Nigeria

Dey means is, or is doing. Am means him. Done join means has already joined. Wey means that, or who. Pikin means child. Wetin means what. Na him means it is him. Where I suppose dey means where I should have been.

What the song is about

I Must Praise is a high praise song built on one question. If the sun, the moon, the thunder, the trees and even the stones are praising God, how can I keep quiet? It looks at all creation joining in, then turns to the singer with a personal reason. Not because everybody is doing it, but because I remember where He took me from.

I Must Praise is one of two Pidgin songs on the album, made for the praise session. Daalu by Michael CU is out on 3 November 2026.

A prayer of praise

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I Must Praise lyrics