This series of blogs, Wednesday Wanderings, is currently under development. We look forward to releasing the first of these this summer, each with their own unique multimedia component like Tuesday Tunings and Thursday Thoughts!
Stay tuned for details!!
Glory to God, and praise and love,
Be ever, ever given;
By saints below and saints above,
The Church in earth and heaven.
O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing
By: Charles Wesley, 1707-1788
Listen as you read. This is a nice instrumental version.
The first two lines of this stanza instruct “what” must be done and “when”. We examined those in our last Tuning, which you can find here. The final two lines tell us “who” should be doing it and “where”. Let’s think about this.
In some measure we might look at the first two lines as the qualifiers of who the saints actually are. Those who eternally give God glory, praise and love are His saints. But we should also consider what the Bible has to say about who the saints of God are.
There are many passages that speak of the saints in both the Old and New Testaments, and though our context here does not provide time to do an exhaustive study, let’s look at one from near the end of the book.
Revelation 14:12 Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
“…the saints, who keep God’s commands and their faith in Jesus.”
So there are at least two characteristics.
There are many who would give intellectual ascent to having some trust in Jesus but have no evidence of working that out in their daily living.
Giving God glory, praise and honor. This is our work now. Not going to church as the image might imply, but being the Church, the hands and feet of Jesus to one another and the world around us.
When you think of the Church, not your church or a church, but THE Church, what comes to mind? Corporate gatherings like this one? People offering songs of praise to God? I would imagine it includes those things, but hopefully it is a lot more.
I am part of a missions movement that has kept my eyes beyond my local body with some success over the years, but even still, I long to find ways to celebrate the incredible, beautiful, diverse yet unified body we are! I want to continue to get a taste of what heaven is and will be like, even before I get there.
Diversity is a word that is thrown around a lot today, but in the last few months I have had a taste of it that stoked my desire for more. The experience was an opportunity to bring some differing cultural expressions together in a way that esteemed them both. The admiration and love that flowed from some music offering God praise was undoubtedly a small taste of what our God has in store for us when He gathers all the saints together around the throne. I am humbled to have been a part of something so wonderful and can hardly wait to experience it again, even before I join the…
Giving God glory, praise and honor. This is currently the work of the saints of God who have gone before and will be our work eternally when we join them there.
When you think about the “saints above”, what comes to mind? Think about for just a moment…
If your eyes tracked ahead at all you may have seen this image. I tried to find a good artists’ rendering that captured my sense of what that might look like and none represented the incredible differences that will make up that throng around the throne. They tended to be a single large group gathered around our Lord shrouded in clouds and brilliant glory.
While I could appreciate that concept, because we are indeed one in our Lord, the diversity that will be reflected within that unity was not rendered in anything I could find. Instead I offer this image.
Though it would take a thousand to truly begin to scratch the surface of the efficacy of Christ’s sacrifice on the peoples of the earth, this one gives enough material for the question I will ask, and the exercise I want to offer.
Look at a few of those faces. Identify a few that are different from you, whatever that means. Question: Is your concept of the saints above expansive enough to include that face? Exercise: Will you ask God to expand your capacity for the saints above to match His? While I realize such an exercise could cause your mind to melt, I think it is a worthwhile one. Why? Because I believe it will enable you to give even more glory, praise and love to Him who not only gave a tongue to sing…but everyone one of them as well.
Let’s make the most of it, here and now, then and there!
Jesus, thank you for giving me a tongue to offer You glory and praise, and a life to offer You love. Thank You for granting me the privilege of becoming one of the saints, redeemed by Your blood. Stir my longing for that great worshipful throng, even as I enjoy the ones I come across here. Glory to Your Name. Amen
Joyful Thinking!
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Subscribers enjoy this podcast! Everyone else, the transcript below.
Podcast 3.5 Transcript
Welcome to Thursday Thoughts at Resonant 7, where we reflect on the reality of God and resolve to let it resound in our lives, repeatedly. Let’s think about this.
Glory to God, and praise and love,
“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
This view of the worship around God’s throne is an invitation for us to join that praise now, even as we prepare for it and long to join it in heaven one day. He is worthy. Will you lift your voice and your life in praise today?
Be ever, ever given;
I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever.
From Revelation and the end of time, back to the ancient worship book of the Hebrew people, the eternal call to worship resounds continually. Forever and ever He is worthy of glory. Determine to continually find a way to be a part of the praise.
By saints below and saints above,
Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name.
Not only is He worthy at all times, but also in all places. Across all time and space the saints of God, those redeemed by their trust in Him, have been, are, and will be giving Him praise. Thank Him that you get to be a part of that.
The Church in earth and heaven.
To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours:
What an incredible, beautiful, diverse, unified body we are! Sanctified means set apart as holy. Not because of anything we have done, but solely because of what Jesus has done, we are the Church. O, we have a thousand tongues, and far more, to sing our Great Redeemer’s praise! Hallelujah!
Take a few moments to talk to Jesus about what has come to your mind, or just listen to what He is saying to you, then I will read our text once more.
Glory to God, and praise and love,
Be ever, ever given;
By saints below and saints above,
The Church in earth and heaven.
Take the mindfulness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond. Until next time, be Resonant.
Glory to God, and praise and love,
Be ever, ever given;
By saints below and saints above,
The Church in earth and heaven.
O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing
By: Charles Wesley, 1707-1788
Listen as you read. This is a nice instrumental version.
We are focusing in every one of these Tunings on loving God with our hearts. Giving glory to God and praising Him seem pretty straightforward right? I mean, the words seem to communicate pretty clearly what I need to do. I need to give glory and praise to God, not only with my lips but with my life as well. And I need to do this because He is worthy of said glory and praise. But what about LOVE?
Ok, I need to love God. I am down with that. But exactly how do I do that. Pretty quickly simply telling God I love Him seems to fall way short of what my response to His love for me truly needs to be. Instead, this kind of love implies that we are giving of ourselves. [If you want to think more about love, here’s a great article about love at Crosswalk.com, “What Is Love? – Meaning & Biblical Understanding of the Word” by Meg Bucher] This also brings it in line with the other two concepts, we give Him glory and praise, so to give Him love requires us to give of ourselves.
What I want to encourage you to consider is, “What would that kind of love look like in my life?” I think a great place to begin is Jesus’ explanation, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15) This takes the nebulous concept of love and immediately makes it at least a bit clearer.
Allow me to give you but one example. Jesus commanded us to love the Lord, and immediately followed it with a second commandment, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mark 12:31) When you understand that your neighbor is not just the person who lives next door, but instead anyone around you that needs help, then it becomes obvious you will have no shortage of opportunities to love Jesus, as you love your neighbor.
Some are more obvious and appropriate for some than others, but consider these.
This is one of the ways we love God, by giving ourselves away, just like Jesus did on the cross.
Now before you go looking for these things to do so you can check them off your list, allow me to caution you. First, do not just dutifully love your neighbor. Put your heart into it. Look for ways to give yourself away, not simply obey the command. This makes a world of difference to the person you are loving, and also to God.
Second, notice the unchecked box in the image. It is meant to represent the opportunities around you of which you have not yet taken advantage. And do you know what happens when you do check off that box? You realize there is another unchecked one below it, representing the never-ending opportunities to love others.
And I do mean never-ending. Did you notice the second line repetition of the word ever? When a writer repeats a word, they are drawing special, special attention to something. Here the emphasis is on the eternal scope of our adoration. I am not certain what our eternal loving will look like, but I do believe there will be a communal aspect to our forever worship. I believe this will certainly involve giving ourselves away to others as we give glory, praise and love to God. That starts now, and continues on forever. Thanks be to God.
We will think about that a little more in our next Thoughts. Until then, be resonant.
Happy Tuning!
Jesus, thank You for loving me and modeling for me how to give myself away. I want to give you glory and praise, so I know I need to continue to look for ways to love others. Help me to see those opportunities and then give me courage to walk into them. In Jesus name. Amen.
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Subscribers and Free Members, enjoy this video log! Everyone else, the transcript below.
Video 3.5 Transcript
Welcome to Tuesday Tunings at Resonant 7, where we reflect on the reality of God and resolve to let it resound in our lives, repeatedly. Let’s tune our hearts.
Glory to God, and praise and love
Be ever, ever giv’n
By saints below and saints above,
The church in earth and heav’n.
Glory and praise appear pretty straightforward, particularly because they seem word driven. But love immediately implies action. Ask God to show you how to do all three today.
When songwriters repeat a word we should really pay attention. Here, it is putting emphasis on the scope of our adoration, ever, ever. He is worthy of us doing this now, and forever.
But not just us, all the saints on earth, joining all the saints who have already gone before us and are in His presence in heaven. Thank him for the opportunity to continue your worship when this life is over.
Your saving faith makes you His child and a part of the church. If you have one you attend, thank him and pray for it. If you do not, ask him to lead you to one, so you may experience now a taste of what is forever yours.
Take a few moments to talk to Jesus about what has surfaced in your heart, or just listen to what He is saying to you, then we will sing once more.
Sing
Take the awareness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond. Until next time, be Resonant.
My gracious Master and my God,
Assist me to proclaim,
To spread through all the world abroad
The honors of Thy name.
O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing
By: Charles Wesley, 1707-1788
Listen as you read. This version features the tune that is more often used in the UK.
What a wonderful world! But a world that desperately needs to hear the name of Jesus. And not only the world in general, but all the people of the world; every nation, tribe, people and tongue. Revelation 7:9 gives us a glimpse of the future when our mission is complete describing the scene this way.
A Great Multitude from Every Nation
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,
Bringing that day about is going to require an incredible amount of work. The awareness of that ignites this beautiful and powerful prayer. Having every language represented at that final celebration is our Lord’s desire. Being a part of making it happen is our privilege and responsibility.
If we want to truly spread through all the earth abroad the honors of the name of Jesus, and we certainly should, we are going to need the ability to speak in the heart language of all the people on the planet. Learning to say “Hello” is a start, but it is going to take a lot more than that. To communicate such important news, and to do so in a way that communicates deeply God’s love to every tribe, and nation and language, we must learn and use every language. Just how daunting a task is this?
In 1911 (11th edition) Encyclopedia Britannica implies a figure of around 1,000 languages. It is interesting to think Wesley, as best as he knew, could have been asking for enough different languages (1000 tongues) to be able to cover every soul on the planet, ensuring they could hear the name of Jesus and His Good News in their native tongue. That estimate has continued to grow steadily over the last hundred years and now sits at over 6,900 distinct languages. So you see pretty quickly it is a good idea for God’s people to ask for His assistance on this one.
If the honors of the name of Jesus were not enough to compel us, and they certainly are, there is another motivation for the prayer. Jesus issued the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20.
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
If you are going to make disciples, not just converts, you are going to have to walk along with someone for some time. Teaching someone to observe all that Jesus has commanded us does not happen overnight, or with a handbook of local phrases. It will require a tremendous investment.
For years I have thought of my part of the Great Commission in terms of four words:
Each of them is self-explanatory. Each of us must find some combination of these different pursuits as we respond to Jesus’ command to “make disciples”. I like the other words this image adds.
It is such a daunting task, it can immobilize us. But when we look at it as our shared endeavor, with one another and God, it becomes more manageable. None of us could ever accomplish it on our own, even if we had a thousand tongues, but together we can hasten that day pictured in Revelation 7:9. What is your part?
Holy Spirit, show me what my part is in spreading the honors of the name of Jesus. Inspire me to embrace that part and empower me to do it. Help me to sing praises, but also to live them out daily, and to find my little part in this huge task. IN Jesus’ name I pray. Amen
Joyful Thinking!
Are these thoughts helping you to develop greater spiritual awareness? Sign-up in the form to the right above to get updates of new tools to help you be Resonant.
Below is content normally available only to Subscribers. Want to learn more about accessing all the additional material in the Subscriber Content Library, click here. Or check out other some samples at our Free Member Content Library. We have lots of tools and lots of options designed to help you be Resonant! Check them out today!!
EVERYONE, enjoy this podcast and the transcript below!
Podcast 3.4 Transcript
Welcome to Thursday Thoughts at Resonant 7, where we reflect on the reality of God and resolve to let it resound in our lives, repeatedly. Let’s think about this.
My gracious Master and my God,
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Acknowledging Him as Master implies not only that He is in charge, but also that it is likely He has work for us to do. This Scripture bears that our plainly. Our Master and our God graciously invites us to be His, and to do good works. Ask Him what He has for you to do today.
Assist me to proclaim,
Here Jesus promises that the Holy Spirit, our Helper, will indeed assist us in our efforts to speak the marvelous mysteries of our God and His Kingdom. We can ask with confidence when we already know our Lord has promised to answer. Ask for that help now, and then again any time you need it.
To spread through all the earth abroad
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
Again we find ourselves asking for something the Lord has commanded us and given us the authority to do. While we should be a part of this work locally, we must find some expression of it globally as well. After all, how else we will have a thousand tongues to sing. Ask Jesus to show you how to be a part of raising up a thousand tongues to sing, and more.
The honors of Thy Name.
…baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Jesus’ Great Commission continues with a focus on His name, and the teaching that flow from it, before concluding with the promise of His presence. And what a promise it is. If we have any hope of being a part of something that has been changing the world for 2,000 years, we will absolutely need His presence. Thank Him that He has promised it to us before we even begin.
Take a few moments to talk to Jesus about what has come to your mind, or just listen to what He is saying to you, then I will read our text once more.
My gracious Master and my God,
Assist me to proclaim,
To spread through all the world abroad
The honors of Thy name.
Take the mindfulness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond. Until next time, be Resonant.
My gracious Master and my God,
Assist me to proclaim,
To spread through all the world abroad
The honors of Thy name.
O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing
By: Charles Wesley, 1707-1788
Listen as you read. This version is features the tune that is more often used in the UK.
There is such a different energy in this version which features a tune less common in the US. I think it really matches this stanza. That is true whether you see this as a prayer or a statement.
I keep re-reading this and keep coming up with the same two possibilities. At first, I think this is a statement. My Gracious Master and my God assist me. To do what? To proclaim. Yes and Amen! God does assist us to proclaim His name. If He did not, we could not possibly adequately spread the honors of His name to the entire earth. It seems like a statement.
That is until you understand it with the last verse, which by the way is what each line of a hymn stanza is actually called. “The honors of Thy name.” Up to this point it seems like it could be statement declaring that God actually does help us. This resonates with us because He does. However, I believe this last line makes it a prayer.
Why is this important? Because most of the other stanzas are actually horizontal. They are directed from one worshipper to another, or at least another prospective worshipper. This stanza is unusual in the context of this hymn because it is directed vertically. It is sung directly to God, making an appeal for His assistance. The vertical direction is important because in it we may learn a valuable lesson.
If we are going to have any real hope of proclaiming the glory of our God, we are going to need His help! This represents the key tuning element for this installment. Seems simple and straightforward, but let me ask you what at first may seem like a simple question. When was the last time you prayed and asked God to assist you in telling the world about Him? Of course this is not limited to praising Him in song, but I also do not believe it excludes help with that.
And Charles Wesley’s brother John offered some help from His perspective which he intended would illicit better signing. His seven principles were written for a particular volume of hymns, but many can be applied in a broader context. That is certainly true of this one.
4. Sing Lustily – and with good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half-dead or half-asleep; but lift up your voice with strength. Be no more afraid of your voice now, nor more ashamed of its being heard, than when you sang the songs of Satan.
Ouch! That is a strong indictment to lift up energetic voices in praises. If we sang the songs of Satan without shame, certainly we should sing the songs of Jesus entirely free of shame.
So how are you doing with that? Do you sing lustily? If not, why not? When was the last time you asked God specifically to help you sing? Have you ever asked Him?
Tune your heart to sing His praise, by asking Him to assist You spread through all the earth abroad the honors of His name. And then, make haste to find a group of worshippers to which to lend Your newly loosed tongue.
Happy Tuning!
Jesus, thank You for Your willingness to assist me in proclaiming You name. Forgive me for not asking sooner or more often. I confess I need Your help to do this and so I am asking. Help me, Jesus, to proclaim Your name, when I am singing, and when I am not. In Jesus name. Amen.
Finding some help here tuning? Sign-up in the box in the sidebar to get updates of new tools to help you be Resonant.
Please comment below and share if you have found this helpful in your journey of being more resonant.
Below is content available only to Subscribers. Want to learn more about accessing all the additional material in the Subscriber Content Library, click here.
Subscribers, enjoy this video log!
Video 3.4 Transcript
Welcome to Tuesday Tunings at Resonant 7, where we reflect on the reality of God and resolve to let it resound in our lives, repeatedly. Let’s tune our hearts.
My gracious Master and my God,
Assist me to proclaim,
To spread through all the world abroad
The honors of Thy name.
We may be quick to acknowledge him as God, but what about Master? Maybe because it implies there are things He has for us to do? May His grace compel us to serve. Ask him what he wants you to do today.
Whatever He asks you to do will almost undoubtedly serve this purpose, to proclaim who He is. Ask Him for His assistance to do that.
We are commanded to make an impact beyond our local proclamation’s. Giving, praying, going, and sending, as we advance His Kingdom to the ends of the earth. Are you involved in these pursuits?
There is no other name worthy of the honor due the name of Jesus. Thank Him that you get to be one of those who make that known.
Take a few moments to talk to Jesus about what has surfaced in your heart, or just listen to what He is saying to you, then we will sing once more.
Sing
Take the awareness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond. Until next time, be Resonant.