"Hallowed Be Thy Name" is a song written by Steve Harris for the 1982 Iron Maiden album The Number of The Beast. It has been acclaimed as one of the greatest heavy metal songs of all time. The 1993 live single is taken from the 1993 album A Real Dead One. The song was recorded at Moscow's Olympic Arena on 4 June 1993 during the Real Live Tour. Recordings from the same tour and its predecessor, 1992's Fear of the Dark Tour, made up the single's B-sides. It is the band's last single to feature vocalist Bruce Dickinson until 2000's "The Wicker Man".
I'm waiting in my cold cell when the bell begins to chime
Reflecting on my past life and it doesn't have much time
'Cause at 5 o'clock they take me to the Gallows Pole
The sands of time for me are running low
When the priest comes to read me the last rites
I take a look through the bars at the last sights
Of a world that has gone very wrong for me
Can it be that there's some sort of an error
Hard to stop the surmounting terror
Is it really the end not some crazy dream?
Somebody please tell me that I'm dreaming
It's not easy to stop from screaming
But words escape me when I try to speak
Tears they flow but why am I crying?
After all I am not afraid of dying
Don't I believe that there never is an end?
As the guards march me out to the courtyard
Someone calls from a cell "God be with you"
If there's a God then why has he let me die?
As I walk all my life drifts before me
And though the end is near I'm not sorry
Catch my soul 'cause it's willing to fly away
Mark my words believe my soul lives on
Don't worry now that I have gone
I've gone beyond to seek the truth
When you know that your time is close at hand
Maybe then you'll begin to understand
Life down there is just a strange illusion
Yeah, yeah, yeah,
Hallowed be Thy name
Yeah, yeah, yeah,
Hallowed be Thy name
The last line in the lyrics seem to be a mockery about the Lord's prayer. Who knows and perhaps you can appreciate the sentiment. If you are sentenced to death row and it's the morning of the execution and no reprieve has been granted, no clemency, no compassion. Then perhaps the words of the priest as he prays the Lord's prayer become a mocking prayer in your troubled mind. The lyrics of this song are indeed that of some one who has a troubled mind. It looks like life has been cruel and bitter to this person. Twisted and bent out of there original shape. Jesus in the original Lord's prayer shares with his disciples the character, plan and purpose of God in the prayer. The compassion prayer of a father who love his wayward child (The World we live in) to return and know his care and provision. The Lord's prayer represents the heart of God for the world we live in. No matter how twisted and bitter. No matter how bad we have become or how bad our circumstances are we are encouraged to come before a God who will answer our prayers. Jesus says to his disciples everywhere this is how we might prayer and acknowledge God.
Matthew 6:9-13 “This, then, is how you should pray: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’
This prayer begins with acknowledging that God is almighty. powerful, that he is so powerful that he is worshipped, but built into that power is the compassion of a father.
The Prayer goes on..... God has a plan and a will for the world in which we live in. A perfect plan which has been planned for all eternity. Now resides in heaven. We can access that plan our God, he is willing to work his will and plan in all our lives on earth as he has planned in heaven. If we are willing.
The prayer goes on..... to acknowledge God's provision - our daily bread... all that sustains us in this life. The air that we breath, the love that we receive, the food that we eat, the homes that we live in, the families that love us, the friendships that we have and so on.
The prayer goes on..... we may have sinned and become bitter and twisted but God can and will forgive us, but we in turn must learn to forgive. Forgiveness is about being free to pursue life without anything to hold us back. To forgive means we are ready to more on from a situation. This may not be easy but it is possible. The pain life perhaps had caught up with us and we feel bitter about what other people have done to us. the Lord's prayer says there is a way forward into freedom.
The prayer goes on .....We all get tempted to do things that will only bring harm to us and our families( we may not realise it at the time) The Lord's prayer points out who is behind temptation in the first place (The evil one) To deliver means (To set free, to bring into freedom and peace) to be delivered also means to come under someone else authority. It's another way of saying "I come under the authority of Almighty God and shelter under his wings)
The prayer was given to the original disciples so that they might understand who God is, what he has done, what he could do for them. Also the prayer is given to help all disciples cultivate a relationship with the living God. In the Iron Maiden track "Hallowed be thy name" for the person facing certain death there is no hope.
In Jesus and through the Lord's prayer we are invited to have hope for all our lives. Why not pray the prayer this morning and every morning this week. It won't do you any harm and might do you a lot of good. May God bless you as you do so.
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