Daily Devotion – July 29, 2020 – Erin Bjerke
ELW #858 “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty”
1 Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise him, for he is your health and salvation!
Let all who hear now to his temple draw near,
joining in glad adoration!
2 Praise to the Lord, who o’er all things is wondrously reigning
and, as on wings of an eagle, uplifting, sustaining.
Have you not seen all that is needful has been
sent by his gracious ordaining?
3 Praise to the Lord, who will prosper your work and defend you;
surely his goodness and mercy shall daily attend you.
Ponder anew what the Almighty can do
if with his love he befriend you.
4 Praise to the Lord! Oh, let all that is in me adore him!
All that has life and breath, come now with praises before him!
Let the amen sound from his people again.
Gladly forever adore him!
Text: Joachim Neander, 1650-1680; tr. Catherine Winkworth, 1827-1878, alt.
I’m sure this is a familiar hymn to many of you. It’s a favorite of mine, probably because whenever I hear it, I can’t help but think of the grand arrangement that the Concordia Choir has sung over the years, with Dr. Rene Clausen animatedly directing. I guess I’ve always thought of this hymn as a purely joyful, almost happy-go-lucky expression of praise to God. Upon closer examination, I see that the joy that’s expressed in this hymn is much deeper than surface-level praise. Lately I’ve realized that this hymn is actually very applicable to our current situation of unrest, illness, and uncertainty. I suspect that the writer, Joachim Neander, had been through a lot before writing this praise to God for sustaining us, even through the tough stuff.
There are so many encouraging lines in this hymn! I’ll point out a few here.
Verse 2: Have you not seen all that is needful has been sent by his gracious ordaining? Sometimes it’s hard to see, but God is the source of literally everything, so we can praise God for that. And God knows what we need and will provide for us.
Verse 3: Surely his goodness and mercy shall daily attend you. God is walking with us each and every day. God cares about the big things and the little things in our lives. We don’t have to be afraid that God is “too busy” or “too important” for us. God wants to be involved in our lives!
Verse 3: Ponder anew what the Almighty can do… I encourage you to look for what God is up to lately. It might be something wonderful that none of us has seen before.
Verse 4: Oh, let all that is in me adore him! Verse 4 is pure praise! We can praise God with all our energy, with everything we have because God is the Ruler of the universe, the Author of all life, and God cares for us and provides for us!
Even in these hard times, we can praise God. We can praise God because God is still good, God is still in control, and God still provides for our needs.
Let’s pray:
Loving God, you are the Creator of the universe, and you love us as your own children. You are worthy of all of our praise. Let us not get caught up in what is going wrong in our lives or in the world, but instead get caught up in your awesome splendor, power, and love for us. Amen.
