Why Do We Sing The Doxology?

Why Do We Sing The Doxology?

 

Good Morning Friends,

 

Gratitude is where spiritual life begins all with the purpose of ultimately glorifying God. That is the reason we sing the Doxology every Sunday after the usher come forward with the offering. It sums up the reason we are here. Garrison Keillor tells the Lake Wobegon tale of a person who purchased a custom made musical car horn that played the first eight notes of the Doxology. It calmed him down after he laid on the horn. So too the doxology is to be that kind of defiant blessing that expresses itself in the midst of difficulty as well as victory. The motivation is joy. Still we ask the question on this the beginning of the Jewish Passover. Why Do We Sing The Doxology?

 

Scripture: As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

 

Colossians 3:12–17 (NRSV)

 

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come into his presence with singing. Know that the Lord is God. It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name. For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

Psalm 100 (NRSV)

 

O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! “For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” “Or who has given a gift to him, to receive a gift in return?” For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.

 

Romans 11:33-36 (NRSV)

 

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,

 

Ephesians 1:3 (NRSV)

 

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,

 

Matthew 28:19 (NRSV)

 

Message: Paul is a really good example of what it means to carry the Doxology with you in your life. Think of him singing in prison.  The dictionary defines doxology as “an expression of praise to God, especially a short hymn sung as part of a Christian worship service.” The word doxology comes from the Greek doxa, (“glory, splendor, grandeur”) and logos, (“word” or “speaking”). Most doxologies are short hymns of praise to God in various Christian worship services, often added to the end of canticles, psalms, and hymns. The Gloria Patri, so named for its first two words in Latin, is commonly used as a doxology by Catholics and Protestants alike. It is called the “Lesser Doxology,” thus distinguished from the “Great Doxology,” Gloria in Excelsis Deo, and is often called simply “the Doxology.” The Latin text of the Lesser Doxology is “Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto. Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in sæcula sæculorum. Amen.” Our choir will sing those very words on Sunday as part of our choral anthem. Literally translated, it means “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. Amen.” Another commonly heard doxology is “Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow,” which was written in 1674 by Thomas Ken, a priest in the Church of England. The familiar words are “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.” We will sing that after the offering is collected. As you contemplate the Doxologies realize that they are not found in the Bible but are none the less scriptural in origin. See the act of praising God in Ephesians and the assigning of glory to God in Romans and the affirming of the Trinity in Matthew and know they are to be part of worship but also are in integral part of the Christian walk each day. Indeed we are to become what we sing.

Pray that Doxology accompany us everywhere. Pray we savor these moments out of time, when we are conscious of love’s presence. Pray we experience a great abiding generosity and holy moments of gratitude in song. Pray we realize that it is our purpose to experience and share grace.
Pray we praise God from whom all blessings flow. Pray we thank God for all that is in our salvation. Pray our doxology be always in our hearts, always in our minds and even on our lips. Pray our praise not be trivial but dignified. Pray our doxology rise from deep within us. Pray every breath we take, every pulse beat of our heart, sound to us and signal to us that we have eternal life. Pray we realize we have forgiveness. Pray we realize have been rescued. Pray we know the truth and we stand on it. Pray we receive a life filled with spiritual blessings, joy and peace and goodness and hope today. Pray we have the security that we have been redeemed by an undeserved grace that prompts us and all of creation to give glory, and honor and praise to God now and forever. Pray we offer our doxology as a declaration of the equality of the three Persons of the Holy Trinity in praise to the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

 

Blessings,

 

John Lawson