Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy Name, in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, holy, holy; merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!
Holy, Holy, Holy
By: Reginald Heber 1783–1826
Listen to this simple piano version as you read. Please make certain to enjoy the video below.
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Transcript may be found below, at the end of the blog.
We conclude our journey through another great hymn this week. In the first half of this stanza, we consider the need for praise and the impact that can have on us. He is worthy of all our praise, and the praise of all creation. That worth dictates a different perspective on things. Let’s tune our hearts.
Worthy of Praise
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
So we are wrapping up our weeks of reflection on the holiness of God with this last stanza which so closely mirrors the first. The main and only difference is the second line. While the first stanza dealt with the timing of our praise, this stanza deals with the praise all creation will offer at the end of time. Before we look into that though, let us consider one last time just how worthy our Lord God Almighty is of our praise.
Let them praise your great and awesome name! Holy is he! Psalm 99:3 ESV
Great. Awesome. Holy.
His name is great! Great means to an extent, amount, intensity or eminence considerably above the normal or average. God’s name is certainly great, and then some. Think of one thing He has done in your life and you quickly see just how great is His name.
His name is awesome! Awesome means extremely impressive or daunting; inspiring great admiration, apprehension, or fear. Now we are talking. God’s name is daunting, inspiring admiration to the point of fear. He is simply so different from us, and awesome begins to approximate that as we begin to wrap our minds around that reality.
He is holy! Holy means to be dedicated or consecrated to God. When we acknowledge God as holy, we are saying that since He is perfectly consecrated to His purposes and ways, He is without fault or blemish, there is no shadow in Him, but all light.
Great. Awesome. Holy.
That is Who God is. Who He has revealed Himself to be, in His word and His work in our world.
Joining the Praise
All Thy works shall praise Thy Name, in earth, and sky, and sea;
But it is not enough for God to be holy. We must acknowledge He is holy. Not for His glory as much as for our good. And we do that by giving Him the praise He so rightly deserves. But don’t just take my word for it.
Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it! Psalm 96:11-12 ESV
All God’s handiwork, on earth, sky and sea, should give him praise. And they should be glad to do so, rejoicing all the while, roaring with exultation. You do realize that includes you, too, correct?
How is your praising going? And I am not referring to that which happens in a service, for our service to the King never really ends. It is a lifestyle.
God is worthy of our praise every moment of every day for the rest of forever. When we join with all creation, engaging in what we were made to do, we find our purpose and true meaning. But I do not think that means all we do is praise, but rather, everything we do becomes praise.
In other words, I do not think that now, or for eternity, we should or will just sing praise to God. Instead, now and forever, everything we do should be done to bring praise to God: eating, helping, caring, serving, talking, listening, walking, standing, sitting, etc. This does not diminish what praise is. Quite the contrary, it exalts every moment of the rest of our days.
But that is not all.
Changing Perspective or Repositioning
When we purpose to make everything a continuous act of giving praise to God, it changing things. Most of all, us.
For me, when I begin to praise, everything changes. Well, actually, nothing really changes but me, and how I view everything. My perspective. But for all intents and purposes, the impression that leaves me with is that everything has changed.
Let me give you an example. Imagine you are going through something very difficult. Maybe a relationship is coming to an end. Maybe God is redirecting your efforts in your vocation, or even in how you understand what you do to serve Him. Maybe there is a financial stress or an overwhelming emotional situation. Do you have a clear picture of some struggle?
Then you start to praise. For me, it was the realization recently that praise is what helps me see things differently as I sang the line “This (meaning praise) is how I fight my battles” from the song Surrounded. It occurred to me that I had not repositioned myself with praise for a couple days. That realization reminded me of the power of joining the praise of creation around me, not just ultimately, but continually.
So your exercise for today is to find some way to join the praise and observe how that changes your perspective on at least one thing. Simple. But now you have to find a few minutes to inject some praise into your day. You can do it!
Jesus, thank You for showing us the holiness of God. Thank You for giving us access and inspiration to enter the praise all around us. Help us routinely find ways to praise You. In Jesus’ name. Amen!
Praise-filled Tuning!
Keep coming back, and we will work to help you remove the things that may hinder your longing for His return by cultivating an awareness of God’s presence. We will help you tune your heart to live out your worship by providing resources like this to help you acknowledge the greatness of God as you become more Resonant, 7 days a week.
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Video 14.4 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.
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy Name, in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, holy, holy; merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!
Isaiah 6 tells us that the seraphim around the throne never stop this refrain. When we lift our voices to join theirs, we also join all the saints who have ever lifted this grand chorus. Will you join it again today praising His holy name?
There is coming a day when every creature on the earth, in the sky, and in the sea will lift their unified praise to our Lord God Almighty. What an incredible blessing is ours to choose to join that eternal song today and every day! Lift your voice and your life to him right now and never stop.
Our completely holy God blends mercy and might together perfectly. He has graciously revealed the wonder of that blessing to us. Our right response must blend seemingly opposing feelings, friendship and fear. Praise Him again for access and awe!
We worship the three-in-one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Though the word Trinity is found nowhere in Scripture, the reality of these three distinct persons who are each God and all God is consistently proclaimed. Thank Him for revealing Himself to you.
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.
The post Repositioning Through Praise appeared first on Resonant 7.
Image Attributions
Time to Praise – https://pixabay.com/photos/night-stars-rotation-starry-sky-1846734/
Earth, Sky, and Sea – https://pixabay.com/photos/milky-way-human-lake-dreams-4500469/
Perspective – https://pixabay.com/photos/architecture-perspective-modern-828596/
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