Devotional Thoughts Based on the Glory to God Hymnal

And He [Jesus] will send out His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Matthew 24:31

For me, one of the most difficult aspects of worship during this pandemic not being able to join with the congregation and choir to sing hymns. My earliest memories of church included being encouraged to sit still, to be quiet, and to join in singing the hymns as I learned the tune and how to read the lyrics. Though this was not a favorite hymn, it is one I remember specifically about dynamics.

The stanzas were sung with equal devotion, but once you came to the refrain it seemed that sopranos, altos, tenors, and basses sang with unbridled fervor.

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;
  all other ground is sinking sand;
  all other ground is sinking sand.

Matthew 24:31 is alluded to in verse 4 of My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less.

When He shall come with trumpet sound O may I then in Him be found, dressed in His righteousness alone faultless to stand before the throne.

Prayer

O Lord, hasten the day when again we shall be able to fill Your house with the sound of our praises. Continue to prepare us for the day when Christ will come again this time in power and great glory. As the hymn says, we will be prepared for His judgment only as we are dressed in His righteousness, faultless to stand before the throne. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.