The Doxology

A child of God should be a visible beatitude for joy and happiness and a living doxology for gratitude and adoration. Charles Spurgeon. This is The Bright Forever.

The Bright Forever

25 words. 25 words. Who knew that just 25 words could have such a profound impact that almost 350 years later, we would still be singing them. We would still be moved by them. We would still experience the powerful moving of the Spirit as we utter these 25 words in worship. Hello and welcome to The Bright Forever. I am your host, Andy Peavyhouse, as we rediscover the power... and richness of some of the greatest hymns of the faith. He brings such insight to scripture and to everything I've ever talked to him about, and I am just blessed to be able to partner with him at Bell Shoals Riverview. And to relaunch this church in six months, I am so excited for what is coming down the road for us in the next few months. But today we are going to simplify it just a bit. We are going to look at just 25 words. And I know what you're thinking. Oh no, Andy has left hymns and he's gone into the 90s and he's found some dinky little chorus that you sang 50 times and he's going to try and tell us how powerful this is. And though I could find some very powerful choruses from the 90s, that's not what I've done. We're going to be looking at the doxology. The doxology was written in 1674, and almost 350 years later, we are still singing this song. It is still moving us. It is still touching our hearts. These 25 words still have power. I came across an article by David Mathis called The Best Known Hymn in History, Why Do We Keep Singing the Doxology?, And in this article, Mathis says something I think is quite pointed and something I think sometimes we don't think about. He says, just because something is simple doesn't mean it's shallow. And plain does not exclude profound. I'll add to that. Something that is shallow is doesn't last 350 years. How have these 25 words endured the centuries? Let's take a look. These 25 words, known to many around the world today as the doxology, comprise what is known likely the single best known verse of all Christian hymnody. This doxology is cherished by so many different countries and languages. Yet few know the story behind these words. And even fewer know the life of their composer, Thomas Kinn. Thomas Kinn was born in July 1637. In childhood, Thomas was orphaned. He was raised by his sister Anne and her husband, Isaac Walton, who is known for his book, the classic, The Complete Angler, which you can still buy on Amazon. In 1651, Ken became a scholar of Winchester College and in 1661 received his bachelor's at New College in Oxford. His Presbyterian schooling helped deepen his love for his Anglican heritage. As an adult, Thomas Kinn held various church and academic positions, even serving as chaplain to Princess Mary. That is until he was dismissed for standing against the immorality he became aware of in her court. Later, he became chaplain to Charles II. However, Kinn wouldn't allow his home to to be used to lodge the royal mistress. But instead of being dismissed, this time, Ken was rewarded for his courage to stand up. He was named the Bishop of Bath and Wells in 1684. But before Thomas Ken became a bishop, he spent most of his life intertwined with Winchester College and the chapel of the same name. It was there, through his preaching and through his music, Ken sought to encourage the spiritual lives of his students. He first penned two hymns for his students to sing. One, when waking in the morning,"'Awake my soul and with the sun,' and another for bedtime each night,"'All praise to thee, my God, this night.'" Soon after, he added a third hymn to sing at midnight if his students had trouble sleeping, entitled, My God, I Now From Sleep Awake. Each hymn was a confession of faith and a plea for God's blessing. They were designed for certain moments of the day. What's interesting about all three hymns is that each hymn ended with, with the same 25-word praise of God, three in one. Although his hymn lyrics expressed praise for God's amazing blessings, Thomas Kinn cautioned his students to only sing them in the privacy of their dorm rooms during their personal devotional time. You may ask, why all the secrecy? Well, going back to last week and talking about Isaac Watts and his nonconformity, and his desire to change the music of the church, the Church of England at the time believed hymns should only include words directly from the Bible. They chanted and sang the Psalms and other verses only. Using your own lyrics, they felt that was like adding words to Scripture. Even though kept to the quiet, of each student's dorm room, these hymns shouted their praise to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit with a pleasure and a passion for God's glory. Fortunately, the hymn we know today as the doxology, those last 25 words of each hymn were soon taken from the shadows I love the irony of the story. This hymn, meant for secret use in personal devotions, became the most frequently sung piece of music in all public worship. You gotta love that irony. The tune that eventually became the fit for this 25-word doxology was not actually attached until much, much later, yet was composed over a hundred years before Thomas Kinn ever wrote his lyrics. Louis Bourgeois, a Frenchman who served as head of choirs and music alongside famous theologian and reformer John Calvin, composed the tune. It was originally arranged to aid the singing of Psalm 134, and then later Psalm 100, and was first published in the Geneva Psalter in 1551. The tune today is known as the Old 100th. In a 1709 edition, Thomas Kinn changed Praise Him Above Ye Anglic Hosts to praise him above ye heavenly host. And the lines reached their final form. The world had gained a priceless instrument of praise. I make this challenge for you. This week, maybe even this month, just before you begin your day, in your quiet time, or just before bed, or maybe when you can't sleep, consider singing these words of praise to God.

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.

So what is a doxology? You ask a Southern Baptist and it's this song. It wasn't until I was at least in my 20s, if not even maybe my 30s, that I actually sat down and thought, I should probably figure out what the word doxology means. I mean, as long as I'm going to sing the song, I should probably know what the word means. I just assumed it was the title. I didn't know it had any other meaning. I was wrong. In the Greek, doxa means honor or glory. And logia is language or speak. So doxology means, literally, glory speak. We speak the glory of God. A modern dictionary definition of doxology is a liturgical formula of praise to God. Or in plain terms, it's the way you praise God. A doxology is what you say or do to praise God. Let's take a step back to the beginning quote of this podcast by Charles Spurgeon. Our lives should be a living doxology. It's not just about our words, but also our actions, what we do to give God glory. If a doxology is what you do to praise God, then work is a doxology. The way you speak is a doxology. The way you love others is a doxology. Your creativity can be a doxology. The way you raise your kids is a doxology. So let's make sure we do it right. And when I say let's do it right, I mean right. Let's make sure we do it biblically. Let's make sure we're working with the right attitude, bringing glory to God through our work. We're raising our kids biblically, bringing God glory through raising them up in the way they should go. We're not just going through the motions, but we're putting our whole heart And our whole life lived for the glory of God into the things that we do. Jesus said it best in Matthew 5, 16. He's talking about being the light of the world. We don't hide our light under a basket, but set it on a stand. So it lights the whole room and everyone in it. And then he says this in verse 16. In the same way, let your light so shine before others that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. The apostle Paul says this to the church in Corinth. So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all things to the glory of God. All things. And then again, In Colossians 3, he says this, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thanksgiving in your hearts to God. And then here it comes. 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. Everything, everything we do should be a doxology. The first question and answer from the Westminster Shorter Catechism is this, what is the chief end of man? To glorify God and enjoy him forever. Because here's the thing. Our lives are to be a praise to God. Everything. Everything we do should be a praise to God. Everything we do should bring him honor and glory. Our lives lived for God should be our testimony to the world. I go back again to what Spurgeon said. A child of God should be a visible beatitude for joy and happiness. People should see us and they should go, there's something different about those Christians. The way they view the world, the way they handle struggles and adversity, look at their joy in the midst of sorrow. Look at the way their life just shouts. God is real. Jesus died for my sins. I am a new creation. The old is gone. The new has come. Our lives are living praise of that. Or at least they should be. Now, I'm not deluded in my thinking. I realize we fall and we fail constantly. to measure up to the standard. Not everything in my life brings God glory. And at times, sometimes very little might. But my desire is to keep chipping away at those places and giving more and more and more of them over to God to mold and to shape. and to bring him greater and greater glory. I want to be, as Spurgeon said, a living doxology for gratitude and adoration for what God has done for us. More than any song or any lyric, our true doxology is should be our lives. Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. And thank you for continuing on each and every week as we go through this journey of these amazing hymns. Take a moment to subscribe to this podcast and either through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, Amazon, whichever platform you find us on. Make sure to like us. Make sure to comment, too. I would love to hear some comments. I would love some five-star ratings. If you're out there, you can rate us. I mean, I would love five-star. I mean, if you're going to rate me one star, maybe you can keep that to yourself. I don't mind. But... But I would love for you to share us with the world. Let them know whether you like this or not. And to be honest, I'm terrible, like I've said multiple times, at social media. I need your help. If you love this, if you're enjoying these hymns and enjoying us going through them, then please share it. Please share it with your friends. Send it out there into the Twitterverse and the Faceverse or whatever it's called. And just tell people about The Bright Forever and what we're doing here. And I would love to hear from you as always. You can go and find us at www.thebrightforever.com. You can send us a comment, go to the contact us section of our website and send us a message, or you can email us at podcast at thebrightforever.com. Again, that's podcast at thebrightforever.com. Again, thank you for joining me and thank you for listening. I hope you will continue to enjoy it as we continue to go on this journey together. Let me leave you with this prayer. Father, thank you so much for your love. Thank you to the God from whom all blessings flow. Every good and perfect gift comes down from you, the father of lights. And we can trust you. And so father, give us an amazing week. Help us to take up the challenge to when we wake in the morning or when we're going to bed at night, let us just recite the words, 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. God, we praise you. We thank you. Let our lives truly be a living doxology. In Jesus' name, amen. Have a great week, and I'll see you back here next week. We're out.