The Lord’s Day Evening
Hymns of the Faith - (1)
(Based on Psalms 103 and 150)
“Praise to the Lord, the Almighty”
Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III
Amen. Please be seated. The ushers are going to be handing out two sheets tonight with information on this hymn, and as they do so I’m going to give you a little introduction as to what we’re doing because it’s going to be a little bit different. We’re beginning a new and unusual series of Sunday evening sermons. These will be sporadically sprinkled throughout the fall, and the idea comes from the radio program that Derek and Bill Wymond and I have had the joy of doing, “Hymns of the Faith.”
We’re going to look at the Bible texts on which some of the great hymns of the church are based, and then we’re going to study the way the hymn itself illuminates those Bible texts and helps us to apply Bible truths in the very context of our public worship. And along the way, we’re going to get to sing some of the very best hymns ever written in the history of the church and learn more about what we’re singing when we’re singing them.
Tonight we’re looking at the great hymn, Praise to the Lord, the Almighty. You just sang the first four stanzas. It is one of the very best hymns that has been written in the last 350 years, and it’s no surprise that it’s a favorite of this congregation. The combination of the tune and the text of this hymn makes it a very, very special song.
Now, the text (or the lyric) of this song is based on Psalm 103, especially verses 1-6 and verses 19-22, but it alludes to the whole Psalm. It’s also based on Psalm 150:6. We’ll read those passages tonight.
One of the things you’ll see even if you just glance at the sheets that are being handed out is that the amount of allusion to other biblical passages in this hymn text is staggering. You will find a pattern that the best hymns always pack in the most Scripture. In just a few words they will be able to call up to mind tons of biblical truth.
The hymn’s author was a man named Joachim Neander, who was the grandson of a musician and the son of a teacher. He only lived to be thirty years old, and he was part of the German Calvinist Church, very influenced by the Pietist teachers in the late seventeenth and the early eighteenth centuries. Julian, the great hymnologist, says that this song is “a magnificent hymn of praise to God, perhaps the finest production of its author and of the first rank in its class.”
This hymn was translated into English out of the German by Catherine Winkworth. Catherine Winkworth was a nineteenth century Church of England hymn translator and writer. She traveled to the area around Dresden, Germany, in the middle of the nineteenth century, and found all sorts of hymns that were being sung by the German church. The Germans have historically been amazing singers and amazing composers, and she brought back a number of the hymns that she heard being sung in the German churches and translated them into English, and many of them became instantaneously popular in the English churches, and we sing so many of them even to this day.
Now I’ve provided you with two handouts. Does everybody have a handout? If you don’t, let one of the ushers know. I’ve provided you two handouts. There’s no way we’re going to get through all the information, so rest easy right now! One sheet gives you the text of the song, and then right under that text I give you my own interpretative elaboration on the poetry of each stanza. What I’ve done is not poetry by any definition, and all I’m trying to do in the language that I’ve given you there is simply to spell out very clearly the precise meaning of what you’re singing when you’re singing the poetry of the hymn. Sometimes poetry, as beautiful as it is, can hide the clear affirmation of what is being sung, and I want to make sure that you’re clear in your minds exactly what you’re affirming when you sing. So that’s what that sheet does. Under each of the stanzas I simply try and elaborate and clarify exactly what it is that we’re singing when we’re singing those lines of the hymn.
Then the other sheet that I’ve given you, is a stanza by stanza study of the hymn. I go through and I look at the hyphenated words or the archaic words, or the unusual words, or maybe the words that are just sort of adult words that children might not understand, and I try and give you a very simple definition of those words, again so that you understand the language of the hymn.
I try and point out to you the biblical allusions in each line of each stanza and explain some of the theology contained in the literary metaphor. And then I give you a paragraph summary of the gist of each stanza of the hymn. All of this is designed to help increase your understanding and appreciation of what we are singing when we sing this great hymn.
Now, as I said before, this hymn is exceedingly rich in biblical allusions and in piety and worship that is rooted in sound doctrine. The song anchors our life and our worship in the doctrine of God’s sovereignty, His creation, His providence, His goodness, His mercy, and His lovingkindness. In other words, in a beautiful lyrical and poetic way the song brings to bear a rock solid theology proper. Now, theology proper is just a fancy way that theologians speak about our doctrine of God: who God is; what He’s like; what He does. So the song works to bring to bear what we believe the Bible teaches about who God is, what He’s like, and what He does…bring that to bear on our lives and our worship, and express our own personal Christian experience in the course of public worship.
The Psalm, too, that the song Praise to the Lord, the Almighty is based on is rich. It’s Psalm 103. I’d invite you to take your Bibles in hand to turn with me to Psalm 103, and then keep your finger ready to flip over to Psalm 150 and the last verse, as well. In fact, we’re going to be studying this Psalm in its entirety very, very soon as we work through this series of the Psalms on Sunday mornings. But tonight I just want you to look for three things in particular that you’ll find in this Psalm, and then we’re going to show how each of those three things come about in this hymn as well.
Let me just tell you ahead of time what the three things are that we’re going to be looking for in this Psalm. In this Psalm, you will find the psalmist exhorting himself. Especially look at the first six verses. The psalmist is preaching to himself in the first six verses. That’s very important, and the neat thing about it is that comes out in the hymn. Catherine Winkworth, and Joachim Neander before her, capture that aspect of Psalm 103 beautifully. There’s self-exhortation…preaching to yourself.
Secondly, I want you to see in this Psalm mutual exhortation. In the Psalm the psalmist preaches not only to himself, but he preaches to his fellow believers. He exhorts them to believe biblical truth about God. And what is so important about that [is that] you’ll find in our hymnody that we’re doing those two things all the time. You may not realize it, but start looking at the hymns that we sing. Constantly in hymns we’re preaching to ourselves and we’re preaching to one another. We’re exhorting ourselves to believe God’s word, and we’re exhorting our fellow believers to believe the word of God.
The third thing I want you to see in the Psalm is that it praises God for His providence. It praises God for His comprehensive providence and sovereignty over everything in life. Many people think that that’s a doctrine to argue about. The psalmists think that it’s a doctrine to sing about; that it absolutely keeps you from falling into the depth of despair; it enables you to put one foot in front of the other when you get up in the morning; it gives you confidence in a life filled with circumstances that give you anything but confidence; that God’s providence is absolutely sovereign and pervasive in your life. I want you to look for those three things as we read Psalm 103.
Now before we read God’s word, let’s pray and ask for His help and blessing.
Heavenly Father, as we embark upon this study of this great Psalm and on this beautiful song which paraphrases its truth, we ask that You would flood our minds with the comfort that comes only from Your truth, from Your promise, from Your word. Help us to respond in thankful, confident praise, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Hear the word of the living God, beginning in Psalm 103:
“Bless the Lord, O my soul;
and all that is within me, bless His holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits;
Who pardons all your iniquities;
Who heals all your diseases;
Who redeems your life from the pit;
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;
Who satisfies your years with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.
“The Lord performs righteous deeds,
And judgments for all who are oppressed.
He made known His ways to Moses,
His acts to the sons of Israel.
The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.
He will not always strive with us;
Nor will He keep His anger forever.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
For high as the heavens are above the earth,
So great is His lovingkindness towards those who fear Him.
As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
Just as a father has compassion on his children,
So the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.
For He Himself knows our frame;
He is mindful that we are but dust.
“As for man, his days are like grass;
As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
When the wind has passed over it, it is no more;
And its place acknowledges it no longer.
But the lovingkindness of the Lord is from everlasting
To everlasting on those who fear Him,
And His righteousness to children’s children,
To those who keep His covenant,
And who remember His precepts to do them.
“The Lord has established His throne in the heavens;
And His sovereignty rules over all.
Bless the Lord, you His angels,
Mighty in strength, who perform His word,
Obeying the voice of His word!
Bless the Lord, all you His hosts,
Who serve Him, doing His will.
Bless the Lord, all you works of His,
In all places of His dominion;
Bless the Lord, O my soul!”
Thus far the word of God. Now turn to Psalm 150, the final verse of Psalm 150, the final verse of the book of Psalms…Psalm 150:6:
“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord!”
Amen. And thus ends these readings of God’s inspired and inerrant word. May He write its eternal truth upon our hearts.
The psalmist in Psalm 103 is teaching us something about what we do when we come to worship God together congregationally. We exhort ourselves, we exhort one another, and we praise God for His providence. There is self-exhortation, there is mutual exhortation, and there is praise for God’s providence. To elaborate on that I want you to see as we look very briefly at Psalm 103 how the psalmist talks to himself – how he preaches to himself, how he exhorts himself. Then I want you to look at how the psalmist exhorts his fellow believers, and then I want you to look at how the psalmist anchors his praise of God in this Psalm in God’s comprehensive sovereignty and providence.
I. The psalmist exhorts himself.
Let’s look at the self-exhortation first. You’ll see this especially in verses 1-5 and in verse 22. The Psalmist talks to himself throughout this Psalm. Listen to how he does it: “Bless the Lord, O my soul.” Who’s he talking to? He’s talking to his own soul. He’s saying, ‘Soul, bless the Lord. Self, bless the Lord. Hey, you [me]! Bless the Lord!’ Look at how he continues this (verse 2): “Bless the Lord, O my soul.” Then verse 3: “Who pardons…your iniquities.” Now is he talking about your iniquities or his iniquities? His iniquities. ‘The Lord pardons my iniquities.’ But he’s talking to himself.
What else? ‘He heals your diseases.’ Whose diseases? Your diseases or his diseases? His diseases, but he’s talking to himself. ‘He heals your diseases, O my soul.’
He goes on (verse 4): ‘He redeems your life from the pit…He crowns you with lovingkindness…who satisfies your years with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle.’ And he closes the Psalm (verse 22), “Bless the Lord, O my soul!”
Do you see what the psalmist is doing? He’s saying, ‘Soul, remember who God is. Soul, remember what he’s done for you. Soul, believe God; believe His promises; believe His word; believe that He is who He says He is in His word. Give thanks to Him for what He’s done for you.’ It is self-exhortation.
Some of you are fans of Martyn Lloyd-Jones, the great British preacher who ministered so faithfully for dozens of years in London at the Westminster Chapel, and those of you who have read Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ works or heard his sermons have perhaps run across the place where Lloyd-Jones says, “As Christians, it is important that we learn to talk to ourselves rather than listen to ourselves.” He says that’s the difference between the quality of Christian experience in many believers.
Some believers are always listening to themselves: ‘O woe is me…my life is so hard.’ There’s a little voice in their head that they’re always listening to, instead of doing what? Preaching the word to themselves…talking to themselves using God’s word…saying, ‘Soul, bless the Lord. Soul, believe God’s promises. Soul, respond in faith and gratitude to who God reveals himself to be in the word.’
In other words, Lloyd-Jones exhorts us to preach to ourselves rather than to listen to ourselves. I believe that’s good counsel, and that’s exactly what the psalmist is exhorting us to do – to exhort ourselves. My guess is that at least once or twice in your life you’ve come to public worship and your heart just hasn’t been in it. Your heart was a million miles away. You were troubled by burdens…there were financial problems; there were family problems, and marriage problems, and work problems, and health problems, and all kinds of problems. And you sat through that whole service and you didn’t get a thing out of it because you were thinking about your problems. You were listening to yourself, and what you needed to do before that service even started was start preaching to yourself and exhorting yourself: ‘Self, now more than ever you need to believe God’s word.’ And the psalmist is showing you how to do that in this Psalm. So we see self-exhortation.
II. The psalmist exhorts other believers.
But this is not some sort of a self-centered exercise in self-administered therapy! The psalmist, after exhorting his own soul to believe God’s word, turns his eyes out and he starts looking to his fellow believers. It’s clear that the truth of God’s word has come home to the psalmist because now he begins to exhort his fellow believers. Look at verses 6-7, 9-14, and 17-18.
The psalmist exhorts his fellow believers. Listen to what he says: “The Lord performs righteous deeds and judgments for all who are oppressed.” This isn’t just about him. It’s about all who are oppressed. He made His ways known not just to the psalmist, but to Moses and to the sons of Israel (verse 7). “He will not always strive…” - with me? No, with us. “He has not (verse 10) dealt with us according to our sins.” You remember just a few moments ago he was telling his soul that the Lord had forgiven him his iniquities and healed him of his diseases, but now he’s talking about God forgiving us for our sin, and not rewarding us according to our iniquities.
And you see this language continued throughout the rest of the Psalm: “…towards those who fear Him…our transgressions…our frame…we are but dust…on those who fear Him…his children’s children…to those who keep His covenant.”
In other words, the psalmist now starts exhorting his fellow believers to do what? To believe God’s word, to remember what God has done for them, to remember what their God is like – who He is and what He’s done, and to respond to Him in praise.
III. Praise God for His providence.
And he anchors the praise that he exhorts his fellow believers to show in God’s providence. He anchors the praise of God in the comprehensive sovereignty and providence of God, and you see this throughout verses 2-17, but especially in verse 19. Look at verse 19:
“The Lord has established His throne in the heavens;
And His sovereignty rules over all.”
Now he catalogues some of the things that the Lord has done for him (and for you and for me, his fellow believers) in verses 2-17: “Forget none of His benefits.” He pardons…He heals…He redeems…He satisfies…He makes known…He is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness…He removes transgression…He has compassion on those who fear Him…He knows our frame…and the lovingkindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting. In other words, God’s sovereignty in His providence is comprehensive in the life of the believer.
Now the hymn (you can go ahead and open your hymnals back to No. 53, that is based on this Psalm) picks up on those three themes beautifully: self-exhortation; mutual exhortation; and praise for God’s providence. Look at the hymn. We’re going to go through the hymn stanza by stanza, so open up to 53 and look at how this hymn helps us to talk to ourselves, to preach to ourselves throughout.
The self-exhortation starts in stanza one, line two:
“O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation!”
So the song, just like the psalm, has you preaching to your own soul, talking to your own soul: “My soul, praise Him, for He is your help and salvation.”
Look at stanza two, lines two to four:
“He shelters thee…”
Thee, as you know, just means you, and who’s the “you” that he’s talking to? Well, in the first instance it’s himself. He’s talking to his own soul: “He shelters you, my soul….under His wings, yea, so gently sustaineth! Hast thou…?” Who’s the thou, who’s the you? It’s his soul. Have you not seen how your desires ever have been granted in what He ordains?
Look at stanza three, lines one to four:
‘Praise to the Lord, who does prosper your work and defend you!
Surely His goodness and mercy here daily attend you.
Ponder anew what the Almighty will do,
If with His love He befriend you.’
It’s self-exhortation to believe these truths about God and about His blessings.
Look at stanza four, lines one to four:
‘Praise to the Lord, who with marvelous wisdom has made you,
Decked you with health…guided and stayed you.
How often in grief has He not brought you relief,
Spreading His wings to o’er-shade you.’
So throughout this song you’re singing to yourself, saying, ‘Soul, believe this.’ Because sometimes you walk through the doors of this building and your faith is weak, and you need to exhort yourself to believe the word of God, believe the promises of God, believe what the Bible says about God.
And then in stanza five, line one:
“Praise to the Lord! O let all that is in me adore Him!”
So the song beautifully captures the self-exhortation of Psalm 103.
But it also beautifully captures the mutual exhortation. That mutual exhortation is expressed as the hymn helps exhort fellow believers throughout, especially in stanzas one and five. First of all, notice that Neander (and Winkworth following him) has each line start with what phrase? “Praise to the Lord!” Now that is a typical exhortation found in the Psalms. Very often the priest leading the service exhorts the whole congregation to do what? Give praise to the Lord. So in effect this Psalm, though it zeroes in on your own soul, begins each stanza exhorting all your fellow believers to give praise to the Lord – general words of adoration.
Notice stanza one, lines three and four:
“All ye who hear, now to His temple draw near,
Join me in glad adoration.”
So there the psalmist lifts his eyes up. The song singer, the hymn writer, lifts his eyes up from this self-exhortation that’s going on, and he looks out and he says, ‘Everyone within earshot of God’s call to worship, draw near! And join me in glad adoration.’
And then look at stanza five, lines three and four:
“Let the amen sound from His people again;
Gladly forever we adore Him.”
Now along with this there is the beautiful effect of the double entendre of the word you or thee, or thou or thy throughout the hymn. We know from the Psalm that in the first instance that is self-exhortation. But isn’t it nice, since our language doesn’t differentiate between second person singular and second person plural, it allows him to exhort himself and his congregation at the same time as you’re singing the hymn? So even as you’re singing the hymn, exhorting yourself to ‘bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within you, bless His holy name,’ you can exhort your fellow believers. So there’s mutual exhortation in this hymn.
And then notice as well how the hymn praises God for His providence. It anchors its praise in God’s gracious sovereign providence. Look at stanza one, lines one and two: It affirms that praise is to be given the Lord, who is the Almighty, the King of creation…for He is thy health and salvation!
Stanza two, lines one to four:
“Praise to the Lord, who o’er all things so wondrously reigneth,
Shelters thee under His wings,
Yea, so gently sustaineth!”
So He reigns over all things, He shelters you, sustains you, and He even grants your desires to you.
In stanza three, again lines one to four, He prospers your work and defends you. His goodness and mercy daily attend you. He shows you His love.
Stanza four, lines one to four, He makes you with marvelous wisdom, gives you health, guides you with a loving hand, and keeps you…relieves you in grief. In all of these ways the hymn enables you to praise God because of His gracious sovereign providence.
Now I want to draw your attention to just a few things from the hymn in the closing moments that we have. The first is in the very first stanza. Look at the language:
“Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear, now to His temple draw near….”
Now, this is a beautiful use of language. Draw near is standard biblical language for public worship. You will find it repeatedly in both the Old Testament and the New Testament as an exhortation for God’s people to come together and worship. And the language of temple takes our minds back to the old covenant sanctuary where the people of God gathered in Jerusalem, the one certified place on planet Earth where you can worship the living God. But as new covenant believers, we realize that…what’s the temple? It’s not 1390 North State Street! It’s the people of God gathered together to praise Him. What does the Apostle Paul say God is doing, in Ephesians 2? He is making you into His temple. He is building a temple made of living stones, and you’re those living stones. And so when the temple gathers, the people of God draw near and worship. It’s beautiful, standard biblical language being used in the passage.
Then look at the second stanza. I love the opening line:
“Praise to the Lord, who o’er all things so wondrously reigneth….”
Many of you will know that about ten years ago it became popular in some parts of evangelical circles to assert that God does not know everything in the future, and that God is not in control of everything in the future. And the name given to this teaching was called “open theism.” And about a month ago, as I was studying this hymn I began to scratch my head and wonder: How would an open theist sing the first line of the second stanza of Praise to the Lord, the Almighty?
“Praise to the Lord, who o’er all things so wondrously reigneth.”
Open Theists don’t believe that God reigns over all things.
And so I decided that an open theist would have to sing it like this:
“Praise to the Lord, who o’er some things so wondrously
reigneth.”
Now that is a frightening thought. What if God only reigned over some things? It would be a scary world out there. Notice how the hymn writer captures biblically the truth of Psalm 103, that God does not reign over some things; He reigns over absolutely everything, absolutely everyone, absolutely every aspect of life. And that’s the only reason we can get up in the morning with hope and confidence – knowing that the God who loves us at the cost of His own Son is in control of every molecule of this universe, and every time you sing this hymn you affirm that you believe that. “Praise to the Lord, who o’er all things so wondrously reigneth.”
And then I love the last two lines of that stanza:
“Have you not seen how your desires ever have been
Granted in what He ordaineth?”
In other words, he’s saying, ‘My soul, do you realize how God has granted your desires to you in the things that He has ordained in your life?’
Now some of you may be sitting out there and you’re thinking to yourself, ‘There are some things in my life that weren’t on my list of desires, and I’m wondering whether the psalmist is painting a rather too rosy picture of the work of God’s sovereignty.’ But I want to say this to you. Have you ever meet a Christian who said to you, ‘You know, the time that I discovered the true sweetness of God and the glory of God, and the goodness of God, and the power of God was when everything was going great’? Or has the testimony consistently been, ‘No, when my legs were kicked out from under me and all the lights went out and there was no hope in this world, suddenly I realized the goodness and the love and the kindness and power of God in ways that I’d never experienced before. And He taught me things that no one can ever take away from me.’
Just this last week we have seen the funeral service of the great Soviet author, Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Some of you may have read his famous short novelette, A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch, which was really used in the Soviet Union in the early 1960’s to break forth a way that eventually led to the perestroika and the breakdown of the Soviet system. Well, Solzhenitsyn, in The Gulag Archipelago, says this of his imprisonment in Stalin’s corrective labor camps:
“It was granted to me to carry away from my prison years on my bent back, which nearly broke beneath its load, this essential experience: how a human being becomes evil, and how a human being becomes good. In the intoxication of youthful successes, I had felt myself to be infallible, and I was therefore cruel. In the surfeit of power I was a murderer and an oppressor. In my most evil moments I was convinced that I was doing good, and I was well supplied with systematic arguments. It was only when I lay there on rotting prison straw that I sensed within myself the first stirrings of good. Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties, but right through the center of every human heart, and through all human hearts. And that is why I turn back to the years of my imprisonment and say, sometimes to the astonishment of those about me, ‘Bless you, prison.’ I have served enough time there. I nourished my soul there, and I say without hesitation, ‘Bless you, prison, for having been in my life.’”
And in the same way I would simply remind you that the author of Praise to the Lord, the Almighty died either of plague or of tuberculosis at the age of thirty, and he could still write, ‘Lord, You are my health and my salvation. You have decked me with health, and with loving hand guided and stayed me.’ And he could write, ‘Have you not seen, O my soul, how your desires have been granted in what God ordained?’
John Piper, after reflecting on Solzhenitsyn’s words, says this:
“Oh, that I would be done with murmuring against my tiny prisons! Lord, grant me greater faith to live in the coming days when I will say, ‘Bless you, all hardship and pain. You have cut me off from the death of prosperous idolatry again and again.’”
And you can sing with that truth in your heart as you sing the words of this song.
One last thing and we’ll close. Look with me at the fourth stanza:
“How oft in grief hath not He brought thee relief,
Spreading His wings to o’er shade thee!”
I have often sung that phrase looking out on you as you sing that phrase, with tears of trust in the bonds of suffering with you, but in confident peace. And I have seen you sing it in faith with tears in your eyes. May God grant us to continue to sing this great song in faith.
After the benediction, we’ll respond by singing the fifth stanza. May God bless His word.
Would you stand and receive the Lord’s benediction.
Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, through Jesus Christ our Lord, till the day breaks, and the shadows flee away. Amen.
[Congregation sings.]
No. 53 – Praise to the Lord, the Almighty
based on Psalm 103:1-6, 19-22 and Psalm 150:6
by Joachim Neander/tr. by Catherine Winkworth
Praise to* the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation! *in some renderings “Praise ye”
O my soul, praise him, for he is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear, now to His temple draw near;
Join me in glad adoration.
Line 1-2, Psalm 103:1 - “Bless the LORD, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name.”
Line 2, allusion to the content of Psalm 103:2 [“forget none of his benefits” and “health and salvation”], and 103:3-6 [specified benefits], and Line 1 (again) to 103:19 [“rules over all” and “King of creation”])
Line 3, “draw near” is standard biblical language for public worship, see, e.g, Lev. 9:7; 21:18; Num. 16:40; 1 Sam. 14:36; Ps. 69:18; 119:150; Eccl. 5:1; Isa. 29:13; 34:1; 41:1; 45:20; 48:16; 57:3; 58:2; Jer. 30:21; Ezek. 43:19; Joel 3:9; Zeph. 3:2; Mal. 3:5; Heb. 4:16; 7:19, 25; 10:1, 22; 11:6; Jas. 4:8
Line 3, “His temple” refers to the old covenant sanctuary, as a way of describing new covenant worship, see Ps 11:4, Hab 2:20 and esp. Eph. 2:21. In the new covenant, God is making his people into his temple.
Line 4, “join me” the congregation exhorting one another to come worship God willingly and gladly
Stanza one praises the almighty Lord who is the Creator God for his blessings of both health and salvation (this is stated emphatically, “he is your health and salvation”) and then calls our own soul and fellow believers to join in praising and blessing the Lord. In its self-exhortation, we speak to our own souls (“O my soul, praise him”), echoing Psalm 103:1-2, exhorting our own selves to praise the Lord. The stanza concludes with an exhortation to all who have heard the Lord’s gracious call to worship (“All ye who hear”) to draw near to God with joyful adoration.
Praise to the Lord, who o’er* all things so wondrously reigneth, *“o’er” means “over”
Shelters thee under His wings, yea, so gently sustaineth!
Hast thou not seen how thy desires e'er* have been *“e’er” means “ever/always”
Granted in what He ordaineth?
Line 1, Psalm 103:19 - “The LORD has established His throne in the heavens, And His sovereignty rules over all.” “The Lord reigns” is a major biblical affirmation. See, e.g., 1 Chr 16:31; Ps 93:1; 96:10; 97:1; 99:1; Isa 24:23; Rev 19:6. The Lord’s works, deeds and love are repeatedly called “wondrous” in Scripture. See, e.g., Ps 40:5; 72:18; 107:8, 15, 21, 24, 31; 111:4. Aside: The Open Theist can’t sing this hymn as is. He’d have to sing. “Praise to the Lord, who over some things so wondrously reigneth,”
Line 2, Possible allusion to Psalm 17:8 “Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings,” or even better Psalm 61:4 “Let me dwell in your tent forever! Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings!”
Lines 3-4, Ps 44:4 and Isa 26:12 speak of God ordaining salvation and peace (total well-being) for his people; Rom 8:28ff tells us that God works all things for the good of his people.
Stanza two openly, gladly and unapologetically acknowledges God’s sovereignty over all things, especially as it is seen in his protective care of us (“Shelters thee under His wings,” “gently sustains us”). By the way, notice how we are still talking to ourselves – “Shelters thee,” thee being you talking to your own soul! It reminds you of Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ suggestion that Christians ought to argue with and preach to themselves, instead of listening to themselves ! The second stanza concludes with a self-reminder that God has often granted our heart’s desires in his providential unfolding of his plan in our lives - and he does this even in our pain.
Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work and defend thee!
Surely His goodness and mercy here daily attend thee;
Ponder anew what the Almighty will do,
If with His love He befriend thee.
Line 1, possible allusion to Ps. 90:17 “Prosper thou the work of our hands, O prosper thou our handy-work” (Coverdale?)
Line 2, allusion to Psalm 23:6 “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life ....”
Line 3, pondering God, what God does and the way of life is constantly commended in the Bible. See, e.g, Psalm 64:9, 77:12, 143:5 and Prov 4:26. Not pondering is a sign of spiritual death (see Prov 5:6).
Line 4, is not raising a doubt with its “if” but enjoining us to consider the inseparable blessings that accompany God’s saving love for us. Think Romans 8:32.
Stanza three again recognizes that it is the Lord who “prospers the work of our hands” (see Psalm 90:17) and who protects us from our enemies. Once again, this stanza has us exhorting our souls to give praise to God because of his blessings to us (“Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work and defend thee”). Here we acknowledge to ourselves that “Surely His goodness and mercy here daily attend thee” (reminding one of Lamentations 3:22-23, as well as Psalm 23:6), and then we go on to exhort our heart to “Ponder anew what the Almighty will do, If with His love He befriend thee.” That is, just think of what God most certainly will do, as he pours out his saving love on you? Romans 8:32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
Praise to the Lord, who with marvelous wisdom hath made thee,
decked* thee with health, and with loving hand guided and stayed** thee.
How often in grief hath not he brought thee relief, * “decked” means “clothed” or “adorned”
spreading his wings to o'er shade thee! **“stayed” means “caused to stand”/“made to stand firm”
Line 1, The Bible constantly celebrates the marvelous things the Lord does (e.g., Psalm 118:23 “This is the LORD's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.”) and in Psalm 104:24 we acknowledge “O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.” Here, we acknowledge the Lord’s marvelous wisdom in making us (think of Ps 139:13-14).
Line 2, The Lord has given us our health, guided us lovingly and preserved us. Aside: The hymn’s author died of tuberculosis at the age of 30.
Line 3, We are given reason here to praise God, even in our deepest griefs, he shades us.
Line 4, the language here reminds us of Ps 121:5, “The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand.” Shade is a pervasive biblical metaphor (see Ps 121:5; Isa 4:6; 16:3; 25:4f; 32:2; Jonah 4:5f) for God’s protecting, sparing providence – refuge.
Stanza four acknowledges God is our own wise maker, the giver of our health, the loving providential guide and support of our life. Its powerful language crescendos with the bold and believing declaration: “How oft in grief hath not he brought thee relief, spreading his wings to o’er shade thee!” I have often sung this phrase in tears of trust, in the bonds of suffering, in confident peace, in our congregation.
Praise to the Lord, O let all that is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before Him.
Let the amen sound from His people again,
Gladly fore'er* we adore Him. *“forever,” in some renderings “for aye”
Line 1, picks up Psalm 103:1 again - “all that is within me, bless His holy name.”
Line 2, alludes to Psalm 150:6 “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD! ”- which sums up Psalm 103:20-22.
Line 3, echoes the call of Psalm 106:48 (“Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! And let all the people say, "Amen!" Praise the LORD!”) as it beckons all God’s people to add their own “so be it” to this grand paean of praise and blessing to God.
Line 4, because God is forever blessed (1 Chron 29:10) we are to bless him forever (Ps 145:1,2, and 21).
Stanza five, once more, asks our self to give God our all in praise (“O let all that is in me adore Him!”), and then transitions to the words and exhortation of Psalm 150:6 “All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before Him,” concluding with a call to God’s people to add their “so be it,” their “Amen,” to the praise, and to continue this happy praise forever.
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise him, for he is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear, now to His temple draw near;
Praise Him in glad adoration.
Give Praise to the Lord: the Almighty One, the King of creation.
My soul, praise Him because he is the source and substance of your well-being and salvation.
Everyone who hears this gracious call, come to God’s temple to worship him,
And join me in glad, willing adoration of Him.
Praise to the Lord, who o’er all things so wondrously reigneth,
Shelters thee under His wings, yea, so gently sustaineth!
Hast thou not seen how thy desires e'er have been
Granted in what He ordaineth?
Give Praise to the Lord, who reigns over absolutely everything, wondrously.
He shelters you (my soul) under His wings, yes, He gently sustains you.
Have you (my soul) not seen/perceived how your desires have always been
granted/appointed/decreed in what God ordains?
Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work and defend thee!
Surely His goodness and mercy here daily attend thee;
Ponder anew what the Almighty will do,
If with His love He befriend thee.
Give Praise to the Lord, who confirms/establishes/prospers your work, and protects you.
Surely here, even now, his goodness and mercy are present with you.
Consider/meditate, reflect and think upon, afresh, what the Almighty will most certainly do,
as he pours out his saving love in Christ Jesus on you.
Praise to the Lord, who with marvelous wisdom hath made thee,
decked thee with health, and with loving hand guided and stayed thee.
How often in grief hath not he brought thee relief,
spreading his wings to o'er shade thee!
Give Praise to the Lord, who made you with marvelous wisdom,
and gave you your health, and lovingly guides and preserves you.
Just think about how often in times of grief, trial and trouble He has provided you relief and comfort,
spreading His wings over you to give you shade and refuge.
Praise to the Lord, O let all that is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before Him.
Let the amen sound from His people again,
Gladly fore'er we adore Him.
My soul, Give Praise to the Lord, with everything I have and am.
Indeed, let everything that has life and breath come before Him with praises.
Let his people sound a loud “amen,” “so be it” to all these praises, again.
And let us gladly and willingly adore Him, forever.
© First Presbyterian Church, 1390 North State St, Jackson, MS (601) 924-0575 www.fpcjackson.org
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