A prayer-song to our glorious God
Is this world’s ugly invading your thoughts and emotions lately? Is it hard to see any light right now? When darkness and ugly infiltrate our thoughts in suffering, we grasp for light and beauty. Sometimes the pain in this world becomes so big in our suffering, that we’re desperate to see God’s glory.
We know He is glorious and far bigger than these hard days, but we need to ask Him to help us intentionally re-turn to Him and see His beauty.
One thing that I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple (Ps. 27:4 ESV, emphasis added).
Let’s look for His glory, His eternal, dazzling, and weighty beauty, in this week’s praise interruption. Let’s fill our hearts and thoughts with a prayer-song to our glorious God.
Our glorious God in nature
Can you see anything beautiful in nature today?
Because He is majestically glorious, beautiful, and radiant, God’s created work also shines His glory…in Christ! How?
For by [Jesus Christ], all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him (Col. 1:16).
Fair are the meadows, fair are the woodlands,
Robed in the blooming garb of spring:
Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer,
Who makes the woeful heart to sing.
Fair is the sunshine, fair is the moonlight,
And all the twinkling, starry host:
Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer
Than all the angels heav’n can boast.
(“Fairest Lord Jesus,” Münster Gesangbuch, 1677)
Our glorious God on His throne
What a wonder that God has given us glimpses into His throne room. We see ugly and darkness, but this is the hidden reality we can’t see…yet!
I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim…And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke (Is. 6:1-4 ESV).
In response to God’s glory, songs of praise are filling His throne room, without ceasing! Right now! Maybe they’re songs like these…
“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” (Rev. 4:8 ESV).
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, amen.
(“Gloria Patri,” 2nd century)
Our glorious God in the gospel of Jesus Christ
“For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 4:6, emphasis added).
Beloved in Christ, maybe you’re bedridden today and pictures of nature just make you long to get outside. Maybe His throne room seems so far away, removed from this fallen world of sin and darkness, that the world screams louder than His eternal, weighty, bright glory.
Look what our glorious God has done!
In Jesus Christ, we do see God’s glory! In His whole life of perfect obedience, in His suffering and death for us, in His resurrected power over sin and death for us, God’s glory is on display to our hearts. We’re back to the cross again, aren’t we?
It’s in the gospel and our hope in Christ that we even can see. It’s because He broke into this fallen ugly world that we can see His light and beauty and approach His throne of grace. As we suffer, we need to constantly, because it’s so hard, right? Look what He’s doing, even as we suffer!
And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit (2 Cor. 3: 16 ESV).
So, let’s come back to the cross as we pray along with Moses,
Our glorious God has shone into our hearts, through the gospel of Jesus Christ. So, let’s praise our fairest Lord Jesus as we seek to see and honor Him in our suffering this week.
Fairest Lord Jesus, Ruler of all nature,
Son of God and Son of Man!
Thee will I cherish, Thee will I honor,
Thou, my soul’s glory, joy, and crown.
Material taken from Near to God: A Devotional Bible Study of God’s Character in Our Suffering, Lauri A. Hogle. Copyright © 2022, Singing Christ’s Hope.
A playlist to pray-sing to our glorious Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ
In my suffering, I desperately need to see Him. I need to praise God for what’s true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise (Phil. 4:8), by coming back to the gospel daily. So, I’m making weekly YouTube playlist gifts to help me and you pray-sing to Him in personal worship times, between times of gathered worship services. This week, we’re focusing on the glory of God, shown to us in Jesus, with prayer-songs to sing to our glorious Savior! If this would bless you, I’d love to share the songs with you in an email as I pray for you. Just sign up here if it would encourage you, sister in Christ.
