Devotional Thoughts Based on the Glory to God Hymnal

Lamentations 3:22-23

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end, they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

I can imagine that some of you are saying, “I am not familiar with this hymn. It is new to me! Why I do not even know the tune.” Oh, yes you do! The hymn tune is: Aurelia. You say, Alan I still have not heard of that hymn. Oh, yes you have! If you have ever sung “The Church’s One Foundation,” then you can sing, “Great God of Every Blessing.”

This hymn is another example of how the Holy Spirit inspired the author to write a beautiful hymn which alludes to God’s love and mercy as cited in Lamentations 3:22-23. “Written for the 500^th anniversary of John Calvin’s birth, this text sums up his liturgical theology, ending each stanza with his motto: Cor meum tibi offero, Domine, prompte et sincere. By moving from plural to singular, the stanza shows how corporate faith becomes personal piety.”

Special phrases worthy of our reflection are:

Every blessing we have comes from God.

God is the fount of goodness, providing us with daily bread and enough to share.

Our praise is but the smallest means by which we may praise and thank God.

“transforming broken people into the holy church”

“In Christ we are one body, each member has a part.”

Prayer

Divine Source, worthy of our praise and thanks, guard us from writing off a hymn when it is new to us. Remind us that in the Psalms we are encouraged to sing new songs. We thank You for music, the tunes dearly beloved and those strikingly new, asking You to teach us to sing, ever remembering that each of us can make a joyful noise to You, our Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.