Sing to the Lord a new song;
    sing to the Lord, all the earth.

• Psalm 96:1

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
    Worship the Lord with gladness;
    come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God.
    It is he who made us, and we are his;
    we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

• Psalm 100:1-3

Praise the Lord, all you nations;
    extol him, all you peoples.
For great is his love toward us,
    and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.

• Psalm 117:1-2

“The only lasting glory is God’s glory. This is the eternal splendor. Glory signifies splendor, great renown, magnificence, and these things call forth admiration and praise.
“The glory of God is portrayed in the anguish of the Cross, where His blessed Son suffered and died so that we might be forgiven our sins and thus be redeemed by His blood. When we are confronted by the saving message of the Gospel, we glorify God by singing, ‘Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end.’”

• Roy Z. Kemp, Measure for Living

Boilerplate

In this new mini-series, I found an old book of mine in my wife’s things.  I did not know that she had it, but she loved collecting inspirational poems.  She had a knack for skimming over the subject matter that the Sunday school class would discuss.  Then she would thumb through the poetry and devotional books on the shelf and seemingly pick one at random.  Then she would open the book to a seemingly random page and read a prayer or two.  Then she would nod her head and place a bookmark at what she had found.  Then after the Sunday school class had wandered around the subject, going down various rabbit holes along the way, she would end the class with the poem and a short prayer.  And the poem seemed to summarize what we had talked about, even the side trails down rabbit holes.  It fit so perfectly every time.

I do not think she ever quoted this book, but it was a keepsake.  I had never read it.  The inscription in the front of the book states, “It has been a joy to have had you this year.  It has been a friendship I will cherish.”  It was signed by the woman who lived next door to my mother’s mother.  She taught piano and organ.  I took organ lessons.

Do not ask me to play anything on the piano.  I learned by gently gliding over the keys, not by striking them.  And after 55+ years of not practicing, I would be lost after a few bars of Swingin’ Shepherd Blues.

Discussion

The Gloria Patri, the song the author gave the words to, has been around for centuries.  It has unknown origins, but two different composers wrote tunes for it.  In our church, we sing the Gloria Patri after our prayer of confession and the assurance of pardon.  Then after the offering is collected we sing the Doxology, another short hymn that has been around for a long time.  The Gloria Patri focuses on the word “Glory,” while the Doxology focuses on the word “Praise.”  Both are short hymns of praise.

The next time you are having an MRI and the walls start to close in on you, Psalm 23 usually comes to mind.  The Lord’s Prayer comes to mind, but the last time I had an MRI, I got the words all jumbled up.  That did not stop me.  At one point, I thought to myself, ‘Lord, you know what I am forgetting, and you are good at sorting things out.’

But then you can recite the Apostle’s Creed, if you say that often in your church.  And you can sing songs.  It might be July and all you can think of are Christmas Carols.  But if your church sings the Gloria Patri and Doxology every week, those are good ones.

My point is that when you become anxious, or you feel trapped and you had no idea that you had a slight case of claustrophobia, singing praises to God not only pleases God, it calms you down.

I feel my “praise life” is weak.  Every time I go to prayer and start to focus on praising God, I end up saying, ‘Lord, there are no words for how much you mean to me.’  And maybe the number of words is not important.  When you have searched through your life and honestly seen how many times that you put yourself into harm’s way, and then God pulled you out of the problem… Or maybe you are counting the times you received undeserved blessings.  Or maybe you have been through the hardest times that you have ever faced, but you knew God was right there.  With the storm passed, you are still standing.

Yes, there are words to express glory to God and praise His Holy Name.  But at some point in the day, you might have to stop and fix something to eat.  If you are like me, it would take days to go through that list.

Closing Prayer

“”Glory” signifies magnificence.
It calls for admiration and for praise.
Men may achieve a certain radiance,
Receive an adulation many ways,
But transitory is this recognition;
There is no permanency in this condition.

The only lasting glory is God’s glory,
For here is splendor that shall be eternal.
Our God, alone, is wise. It is His story
That brings a saving knowledge. This, the kernel
Of saving truth. And God we glorify
With all our love, our life, – or else we die.”

• Roy Z. Kemp, Measure for Living (Glory)

“Father, guide me.  Help me feel the poetry.  Glory to You in the Highest.  You are sovereign; You are wonderful; And You love me.  That makes me stop and think about my life, all of it.  And how You were there all the time.  Thank You, Lord, and Praise Your name.  In Thy Name I pray.
“Amen”

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.