Monday
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear,
Brothers and sisters draw near;
Praise Him in glad adoration!
In 21st century terminology we describe almost everything we sing as ‘praise songs’. However, often in the Psalms, and in older hymns, praise is not so much celebration as adoration. Celebration is mostly about how we feel; adoration is more about God, and our glad and grateful response to God’s greatness and goodness. Archbishop William Temple described adoration as “the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable.” This hymn helps us to make God, not ourselves, the centre of attention in worship. “O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation!”
Tuesday
Praise to the Lord, who o’er all things so wondrously reigneth,
Shelters thee under his wings, yea, so gently sustaineth.
Hast thou not seen
All that is needful hath been
Granted in what He ordaineth?
Praise and adoration are rooted in our sense of God as the one in whom we live, and move, and have our being. Despite the unpredictability of life, and sometimes the chaos of circumstances around us, God reigns, and we are held and sustained by the mercy, power and love of God. Faith looks back and sees that, time and again, God has provided, often in ways we never expected. Soren Kierkegaard, a Danish Christian philosopher wrote that life can only be understood backwards, but must be lived forwards. This hymn encourages that kind of faith – looking back with thanksgiving and looking forward in trust.
Wednesday
Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work and defend thee,
Surely his goodness and mercy here daily attend thee:
Ponder anew
What the Almighty can do,
Who with His love doth befriend thee.
These last three lines – try using them as a prompt to write a short list of how God in his goodness and mercy has looked after you. They are amongst my own favourite words from old hymns – devotion condensed into wonder and gratitude. How does God look upon us? Three rhyming words learned by experience – defend, attend, befriend. God is on our side in whatever situations we have to face; God is at our side, always and everywhere; God, in covenant love calls us friends, and in faithful care both accompanies and goes before us on our journey. “Surely his goodness and mercy here daily attend thee.” That isn’t a question – it’s a strong assertion!
Thursday
Praise to the Lord, who, when tempests their warfare are waging,
Who, when the elements madly around thee are raging;
Biddeth them cease,
Turneth their fury to peace,
Whirlwinds and waters assuaging.
This verse wasn’t in the original hymn; it was probably written 200 years later. I first heard it sung while watching a recorded service from Westminster Abbey, as Queen Elizabeth II processed at the start of a State service. Throughout that long life of service to her nation, she had seen her share of all the turmoil this verse describes. It was one of her favourite hymns. I’m not a fan of people ‘improving’ hymns written by others – often they detract from rather than add to someone else’s work. But this verse captures that high doctrine of providence and God’s creative and redemptive care for his whole creation. The allusion to Christ in the storm is unmissable.
(Link to Westminster recording ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXhxbEjfxxc )
Friday
Praise to the Lord! Oh, let all that is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before Him!
Let the Amen
Sound from His people again:
Gladly for aye we adore Him.
“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord.” These are the last words of Psalm 150, and the final words of the Psalter. That Psalm is given a long paraphrase in this verse. This is adoration as Archbishop Temple described it – selfless praise that takes us out of ourselves, elevates our thoughts, lifts up our hearts, opens our eyes, and simply pours out love and thanksgiving as if we were made for just that- which, of course, we are! “Let the Amen sound from his people again,” is a call for the heart’s agreement and alignment with the ways of God towards us. Perhaps at a time when much seems uncertain, and many are anxious, this hymn’s call to praise and adoration points to the stance and disposition of the Church of Jesus Christ as a community of trust, praise and confidence in God. The church’s frequent liturgical reflection: “ponder anew, what the Almighty can do…”
Saturday
“Worship is the submission of all of our nature to God. It is the quickening of the conscience by his holiness; the nourishment of mind with his truth; the purifying of imagination by his beauty; the opening of the heart to his love; the surrender of will to his purpose–all this gathered up in adoration, the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable.”
During World War II, Archbishop William Temple wrote what is still one of the most perceptive devotional expositions of the Gospel of John. He called it Readings in John’s Gospel.* In my view it remains a profound commentary on the fourth Gospel. The quotation above is part of his comment on Jesus’ conversation at the well with the woman of Samaria. Jesus and the woman were in animated discussion about what true worship is. “Worship is the submission of all of our nature to God.” In that first short sentence, the good Archbishop gave one of the shortest and most comprehensive definitions of worship. Then, the second much longer sentence spells out what that means about aligning our whole inner life and outward actions with God’s will. The hymn we have thought and prayed all week is about this kind of devotion, worship that transforms and renews us in faith, hope and love.
Sunday
Praise God from whom all blessings flow;
Praise him all creatures here below;
Praise him above you heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
We finish the week with another hymn from the 17th Century, this time lines we have come to call ‘The Doxology.’ The word comes from a Greek word that means to proclaim glory, to put glory into words, and so to glorify. It was written by Thomas Ken, and was the last verse of his morning and evening hymns. In other words at the start of the day these lines set the tone and spiritual direction for the day ahead; and at day’s end they gather together the blessings of the day in praise and thanksgiving. If we use the words of the Doxology to bracket each day, in four easily memorised lines we acknowledge and give thanks to the God “from whom all blessings flow.”
For those who may be interested, William Temple’s Readings in John’s Gospel is available reasonably priced on Kindle. (£3.95)
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