Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Amen.
Millions of Christians have been singing this hymn for hundreds of years. Most long-time Christians (I'm guessing that includes many of you who are reading this now) recognized it by name right away, and were probably singing it in your own heads as you read the above lines. If you clicked the link above, you saw that it's actually the last verse of a hymn written in 1674, and the tune, known as "Old 100th", was first published in 1551. So it is indeed very old.
My current church is the first I've attended to use the Doxology on a regular basis. We do it every Sunday. As we sing it, I usually stare up in awe at the giant crucifix hanging over the altar, and I focus on God's sacrifice of His only son, on Jesus' sacrifice for us all.
Have any of you ever been in church and received a strange, energetic, head-to-toe chill? A feeling that God really is filling you with His Holy Spirit, in a way that you can really comprehend? That all blessings, all goodness, all joy you feel really does come from God himself, and for that one moment, you can feel all of His joy and love pouring down to you, as though you were standing in His very presence? When we sing this old hymn, I feel that connection to the Creator in the most real and powerful way, a way that I love and that I am strangely addicted to. It has been said that, once you truly feel God's love in your life, you do become addicted to it; I'd hazard a guess that this is probably the one human addiction that can be permitted and forgiven. I know others feel it, too, as we sing together; many in my congregation raise their hands to Heaven, in sincere, loving praise of our sovereign Lord. That connection, to God and to all Christians, fills us all and is the most pure worship I've ever experienced.
What strikes me about the Doxology, along with the wonderful feeling of joy I get when we sing it during the service, is its simplicity. Really, after those few mere words, what more needs to be said? The Doxology calls to all of us to do what we're supposed to do for our entire lives: praise God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, from whom all blessings flow. And not just you, or just me, but everyone and everything, all creatures on Earth and in Heaven. It is so simple, so pure, and I know that's where my joy comes from. Singing it opens our hearts to the truth, and as our heart opens, God takes that precious, fleeting moment to fill our heart back up with His joy and peace, through His Holy Spirit. It's like stopping at the gas station for our souls. Unfortunately, that fill-up is just like filling the car up with gas. We drive the car and it uses up the gas, until the tank is empty again. It can be the same for us with the love and joy we receive from God. How easy it is to walk out when the service is concluded, back into the real-life complicated world of sin, and leave that simple moment of joy behind us, and forget what our lives are about. We continue to get beat around by the world, and as we drive our souls through our work week, the tank gets lower and lower until there's nothing left in it. That's the real trick, taking that one fill-up moment and extending it across our entire lives, for eternity. God is capable of leaving the fuel nozzle permanently in our tank, so that no matter how much we use, He just keeps refilling it, any time and all the time. The simplicity of the Doxology helps us remember that.
I pray that all of you will have the opportunity on a regular basis to get that feeling, and even better, to keep that feeling for the long-term, not just the fleeting moment while you sing. Try it yourself some time, when you are alone, and focus on God as you sing. I'll guarantee you'll feel something.
Thanks for reading along.
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