His Name Is Wonderful Meaning, History, and Theology
"His name is wonderful"
- Written
- 1955
- Category
- Hymn
- Status
- Published
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Story
His Name Is Wonderful is Audrey Mae Mieir's 1955 Christmas gospel chorus, later copyrighted in 1959. Drawing on Isaiah 9:6 and other biblical images of Christ, it moves from proclamation of Jesus' identity to direct adoration and confession of his lordship.
Overview
His Name Is Wonderful is a compact gospel praise song centered on the identity and lordship of Jesus Christ. Audrey Mae Mieir wrote both words and music, drawing its central idea from Isaiah 9:6 and surrounding it with other biblical images that present Christ as ruler, shepherd, refuge, and the proper object of Christian adoration.
The song's spiritual movement is simple but substantial. It begins with proclamation about who Christ is, broadens into a confession of his authority and care, and turns finally toward worship. Rather than narrating conversion or developing a long doctrinal argument, it concentrates several biblical titles into a brief act of praise.
Because of that concentrated form, the song works naturally as a Christmas response, a general song of adoration, a congregational chorus before prayer or preaching, or a short declaration of Christ's lordship. Its enduring usefulness comes from joining biblical names and images with a musical structure that can be learned quickly and sung without an elaborate hymnal setting.
Historical Background
Audrey Mae Mieir composed His Name Is Wonderful on Christmas Day, December 25, 1955, at Bethel Union Church in Duarte, California, where her brother-in-law Luther Mieir was pastor. The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology dates the hymn to that Christmas morning, and a detailed account preserved by United Methodist Discipleship Ministries traces the occasion to the congregation's Christmas presentation. During the service, the pastor's use of Isaiah 9:6 and its messianic title "Wonderful" prompted Mieir to begin writing both words and music on the flyleaf of her Bible.
The composition did not remain exactly in its first spontaneous form. Accounts cited by hymnologist C. Michael Hawn explain that Mieir initially created the short chorus and later worked with publisher Tim Spencer of Manna Music. Spencer encouraged her to extend the piece with a bridge, giving the song the two-part form familiar in later hymnals. This documented development is more precise than describing the work simply as a generic gospel chorus written in 1959.
The distinction between composition and publication is important. Strong hymnological evidence dates the writing to 1955, while Hymnary records the copyright as 1959 with renewal in 1987 by Manna Music, Inc. Some hymnals therefore print 1959 beside Mieir's name because that is the copyright or publication date, not the date of the original Christmas composition. The represented words and music remain copyrighted.
Mieir was already an experienced Foursquare Gospel minister, pianist, choir director, and organizer by the time she wrote the song. She had worked with evangelist-musician Phil Kerr, organized the Monday Musicals in Pasadena, and directed gospel choirs. In the years after the song's creation she led choir clinics, participated in televised ministry, and continued composing and publishing sacred music.
The tune is Mieir's own and is commonly indexed as MIEIR or HIS NAME IS WONDERFUL. The Baptist Hymnal of 1975 helped standardize the tune name MIEIR under the editorship of William J. Reynolds. The song does not follow the older hymn pattern of multiple stanzas set to a separate pre-existing tune; it is an integrated words-and-music composition built as a chorus with an added bridge.
Hymnary now documents the song in dozens of English-language hymnals, together with Spanish, Korean, and other translated or adapted forms. It appears in Baptist, Methodist, Moravian, African American, Pentecostal, ecumenical, and blended-worship collections. This circulation supports describing it as an influential mid-twentieth-century praise chorus, while avoiding the stronger and harder-to-prove claim that it was universally sung across all churches.
Biblical Foundations
Isaiah 9:6 is the song's primary biblical source and its documented point of inspiration. The prophecy gives the promised child a series of royal and divine titles, placing wonder, authority, peace, and God's saving purpose together in a messianic portrait. Mieir's Christmas setting naturally drew this prophecy into praise of Jesus.
Psalm 18:2 develops the image of God as rock, refuge, strength, and deliverer. That language explains why Christian worship frequently uses rock imagery not simply to describe power but to confess stability, protection, and dependence on God.
John 10:11 identifies Jesus as the good shepherd who gives himself for the sheep. This adds pastoral care and self-giving love to the song's emphasis on majesty: the Lord who is worthy of worship is also the shepherd who lays down his life.
Philippians 2:9-11 provides the clearest New Testament theology of Christ's exalted name and universal lordship. Worship at the name of Jesus is connected with the confession that Jesus Christ is Lord. Hebrews 13:20-21 similarly names Jesus as the great shepherd and closes in doxology, joining pastoral imagery, resurrection, covenant, obedience, and glory.
Verse Explanation
The song is not a conventional multi-stanza hymn. Its opening chorus concentrates attention on the identity of Jesus and repeatedly directs the worshiper's attention toward his name and lordship.
The expanded middle portion broadens that confession through biblical images associated with authority, shepherding care, divine strength, and dependable refuge. These images move the song from a single messianic title toward a fuller portrait of Christ.
The closing movement turns explicitly from description to response. The worshiper is no longer only saying who Christ is but is summoned toward reverence, love, and adoration.
This chorus-and-bridge progression helps explain the song's lasting congregational usefulness. It moves from proclamation, to biblical characterization, to worship without requiring the extended narrative or doctrinal development of a traditional strophic hymn.
Theological Reflection
The song is fundamentally Christological. It gathers biblical titles and images around Jesus and asks the worshiping community to respond to his identity. Christ is not praised merely for emotional comfort; the biblical framework presents him as the promised Messiah, exalted Lord, shepherd, refuge, and ruler whose authority belongs within the worship of God.
A second theme is the theology of the name. In Scripture, a name can communicate identity, authority, reputation, and vocation. Philippians 2 does not treat Jesus' name as a magical formula; the point is that the exalted Christ is universally confessed as Lord. Christian reverence for his name is therefore reverence for the person and saving authority to whom the name refers.
The song also holds majesty and pastoral care together. Biblical images of kingship and divine strength stand alongside shepherd imagery. This prevents worship from reducing Jesus either to remote power or to private comfort. The New Testament shepherd gives his life for the flock, while the exalted Lord receives the church's allegiance.
Finally, the song illustrates how a very short congregational form can carry substantial theology when its images are rooted in Scripture. Repetition serves meditation and communal confession, but its value depends on worshipers understanding the biblical content being repeated rather than treating the words as sound detached from meaning.
Church Impact
His Name Is Wonderful became a widely circulated praise chorus in the second half of the twentieth century. Hymnary documents the text in dozens of hymnals, including Baptist Hymnal editions, The United Methodist Hymnal, Moravian Book of Worship, African American Heritage Hymnal, Total Praise, and numerous evangelical and ecumenical collections.
Its circulation also crossed language boundaries. Hymnary records Spanish and Korean versions as well as the English original, showing that the song moved beyond the California Pentecostal setting in which it was created. Hymnal subjects commonly place it under the name of Jesus, Christ's lordship, adoration, shepherd imagery, and praise.
Hymnological commentary also places the song within the history of shorter congregational choruses that preceded the later praise-and-worship movement. It should not simply be labeled a product of contemporary Christian music, a term that became common later, but it can reasonably be seen as one of the mid-century gospel choruses that helped normalize compact, repeatable songs of direct adoration in evangelical worship.
Musical Notes
Audrey Mae Mieir composed the melody as part of the same work as the text. Hymnary identifies the tune as MIEIR, also printed in some hymnals as HIS NAME IS WONDERFUL, and classifies its meter as irregular.
The song uses a chorus-and-bridge structure rather than a sequence of stanzas. According to the documented publication story, the compact chorus came first and the bridge was added after Manna Music publisher Tim Spencer encouraged Mieir to expand the composition. This gives the music a clear two-stage design: a highly memorable opening idea followed by a broader musical and textual development.
The United Methodist Hymnal prints the song in F major, as do many later hymnals, but key can vary by edition or arrangement and should not be treated as a fixed historical requirement. The melodic writing is concise and repetitive enough for congregational learning while still providing a distinct bridge that prevents the piece from functioning as a single musical loop.
Because Mieir wrote both words and music, there is no older tune pairing to disentangle. The original 1955 composition is represented by a 1959 copyright renewed in 1987 by Manna Music, Inc.; later harmonizations, translations, arrangements, and recordings may carry additional rights.
Application
- Use Isaiah 9:6 and Philippians 2:9-11 to deepen the congregation's understanding of the biblical titles and lordship celebrated in the song.
- Let praise of Jesus' name lead to allegiance and obedience, not only to an emotional response during singing.
- When using the song at Christmas, connect the child promised in Isaiah with the exalted Lord confessed in the New Testament.
- Reflect on the contrast between Christ's majesty and his shepherding care, and allow both truths to shape prayer and pastoral ministry.
- Because the work remains copyrighted, verify current licensing before projecting, reproducing, arranging, recording, or distributing the song.
Discussion Questions
- Why is Isaiah 9:6 an especially fitting biblical source for a song first written during a Christmas service?
- What does Philippians 2:9-11 mean when it connects the name of Jesus with universal confession of his lordship?
- How do the biblical images of king, rock, and shepherd give different dimensions to Christian understanding of Christ?
- What are the strengths and possible weaknesses of using repetition as a form of congregational praise?
- How does knowing that the song was composed in 1955 but copyrighted in 1959 help us distinguish composition date from publication or copyright date?
Teaching Tips
- Introduce the song with Isaiah 9:6 and explain that its original inspiration came during a Christmas Day service in 1955.
- Teach the difference between the 1955 composition date and the 1959 copyright date so hymn metadata is not confused with publication history.
- Use Psalm 18:2, John 10:11, and Philippians 2:9-11 to unpack the biblical images of refuge, shepherding, and lordship behind the song.
- Explain that Mieir wrote both the words and music and that the familiar bridge was added during the publication process after advice from Tim Spencer.
- For worship planning, treat it as a concise song of adoration that can function at Christmas or throughout the year, while observing current copyright licensing requirements.
Sources
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Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology — His name is wonderful
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United Methodist Discipleship Ministries — History of Hymns: His Name is Wonderful
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Hymnary.org — His Name Is Wonderful text authority and copyright data
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Hymnary.org — The United Methodist Hymnal 174, text and tune data
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Hymnary.org — MIEIR tune authority
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Manna Music — Audrey Mieir biography and representative works
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Manna Music — Company history and Audrey Mieir publishing relationship
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Bible Gateway — Isaiah 9:6, World English Bible
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Bible Gateway — Psalm 18:2, World English Bible
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Bible Gateway — John 10:11, World English Bible
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Bible Gateway — Philippians 2:9-11, World English Bible
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Bible Gateway — Hebrews 13:20-21, World English Bible
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