****HOLY! HOLY!

Jimmy Owens wrote the song, “HOLY! HOLY!” in 1972. He wanted to create something that could be easily learned and sung by a church congregation.

(Now there’s a general attitude among many traditionalists, that modern worship songs are too repetitious, and they lack depth. This song might seem that way at first, but it really is rich and profound in doctrine.)

Lyrically, there are two things going on simultaneously. The author makes several declarations about the nature of God, (His attributes) and then he instructs us about the attitudes of our worship.

The first, characteristic or attribute of God, that we encounter, is in the title and the opening lines. Our God is Holy! And His holiness is expressed here, in three couplets (Holy, holy; Holy, holy; Holy, holy).

Of all God’s attributes, His holiness is the one that is uniquely and superlatively emphasized is scripture.  In the book of the Revelation, John saw four living creatures surrounding God’s throne, and honoring Him by crying out continuously, day and night forever, “Holy, Holy, Holy!”   And that is what we, His Church will do also.  We will worship Him in His holiness forever as we bow before His throne and cry out, “Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and by Your will, they existed and were created.”  (Rev. 4:11) 

But why the three-fold repetition, "Holy. Holy, Holy?"  

In addition to holiness, the author introduces another of God’s attributes; His tri-unity.  Our God is One holy God in three holy persons.

I am disturbed by how many biblically ignorant Christians, today, are so quick to embrace heretical beliefs. One of them, which is rapidly gaining in popularity, is the denial of the Trinity.

But God's Word is clear. The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Spirit is God. And these three persons are One God. The Father is not the Son and He is not the Spirit.  The Son is not the Father and He is not the Spirit. The Spirit is not the Father and He is not the Son. I don’t understand that and there are NO known analogies to accurately explain it.  But that is how God has revealed Himself and so, that is all we can know.

    

In this song, as worshipers, we approach God with our offerings of praise; we “lift up,” to Him, our hearts, our heads, our hands, and our voices.

In verse One, our praise is directed to the Triune God, and it emanates from our surrendered hearts. Our hearts are the seats of our desires. And God wants us to seek Him, desire Him, and love Him above all other things.

In verse Two, our praise is directed to God, our Father. We lift our heads to Him for life and sustenance. He wants our attention; He wants our thoughts and our understanding to be influenced by the Truth of His Word.

In verse Three, our praise is directed to Jesus, our Savior, and Redeemer. We offer Him our hands. This is NOT about just raising our hands while we sing. 

When my mother used to call her children to supper, we all came running to the table. And before we could sit, she would ask, “Did you wash your hands first?”

My little brothers would threw their open hands up toward her to show her their clean hands. That is the same kind of reaction we should have before coming to worship.

Jesus’ blood has cleansed us from the penalty of our sins but, while we are still in this world, we continue to sin and so, before we approach Him with our worship, we must confess our sins. He expects us to come to Him with clean hands.

In verse Four, our praise is directed to the Holy Spirit; our Comforter and Guide. We have been redeemed and we have Life. So, we offer our sacrifices of praises; that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks. (Hebrews 13:15) 

“Great is the Lord; and greatly to be praised” (Ps.145:3). The song ends with a continuous string of Hallelujahs - “Praise the Lord!”  He is worthy to be praised.

****IMMORTAL, INVISIBLE, GOD ONLY WISE (1)

In the late 1970s, the deacons in an evangelical Baptist church called a meeting with their pastor.   Deacon John was accusing the pastor of teaching false doctrines about the nature of God. 

In the meeting, John unloaded his complaint - “Pastor, I just can’t believe what you are saying!  You are telling me that God’s plans cannot be thwarted and that He controls all the events of human history for His own purposes--is that fair?  I’ve always thought of God as a gentleman, the kind of fellow that presents His case to you, and lets you work things out.  He lets human beings work out the world their own way, except when He decides to intervene in some special case.”

Pastor Bob asked him, “Where do you find that in the Bible, John?  God never claims to be fair--only just.   Fairness is a human standard that changes as often as our perceptions change--But God never changes, and His decrees are never altered.  God is not, and cannot be, judged by any standard established by men!”

 

He opened his Bible and read about God’s ruling the affairs of nations, and His plan for redemption through the sacrifice of the Cross.  Then he looked at John and asked, “Was it fair for God to send His Son to die for us?  Did God ever promise to take our thoughts, whims, and petty human pride into account in His eternal councils?  No! John, God is either absolute, or He is not God!”

John stood up, walked to the door, and said, “You and I don’t worship the same God.”

After that, John would not answer his pastor’s phone calls and he never returned to the church again.  Instead, he moved his family to a liberal church across town.

This is not unique; it happens too often.  Not long ago I asked my friend, "Do you believe that God is Sovereign?"  

He answered, "Yes!"  

Then I asked, "Is He sovereign over all things?" 

And again, he answered, "Of Course."  

One more time I asked, "Do you believe He is sovereign in salvation?"  

This time he answered, "Well, He is to an extent." 

To an extent? -- in other words, my friend thinks there is a limit to God's sovereignty.  But if God is not sovereign in all, He is not sovereign at all.

Deacon John was like a lot of people, including my friend; they have unbiblical concepts of God.  And they have created a false god who thinks and acts the way they imagine a god should act.

 

We can know nothing about God, except that which He has revealed to us in Scripture.   If the god you worship is less than, or different from the One true God of the Bible, then your god is one that you have created in your own imagination. 

In our Wednesday Bible studies, we have been looking at some very difficult and astonishing truths about the attributes or character traits of our God.    I would think it’s probable that God is infinitely more than the total of His revealed attributes but, certainly, He is nothing less. 

IMMORTAL, INVISIBLE, GOD ONLY WISE was written by Walter Smith who, in the late 1800s, pastored the Free Church of Scotland for forty-four years.

  

The opening line is a paraphrase of 1Tim. 1:17, “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honour and glory forever and ever.  Amen.”

In rapid succession, Smith identifies at least 23 of God’s character traits.  The original hymn had five stanzas but, in most hymnbooks, the last two have been carefully combined and what we have today, is an amazing hymn of reverential praise to the greatness of our God. 

****PRAISE, MY SOUL, THE KING OF HEAVEN

One of the things I have noticed is that many of the greatest hymns of our faith have been authored by godly men and women who have been tested through extreme sufferings, losses, and persecutions.  And yet God has used them as testimonies to His goodness.

 

The Reverend, Mr. Henry Lyte, was one of them.   He was a frail, and sickly man who suffered most of his life with chronic asthma and tuberculosis.  Yet his friends described him as “strong in faith and spirit.” 

At the age of twenty-five years, he had just entered the ministry when a close friend and fellow clergyman died of a serious illness.  That experience changed Henry.  He said, “the death of my friend, who died happy in the thought that there was One who would atone for his delinquencies” made me study my Bible and preach in another manner than I had previously done.”

In 1834 Henry published an obscure collection of 280 hymns that he had written called, The Spirit of the Psalms.  They were not strict paraphrases but they were all loosely inspired by the Psalms.

 

His classic hymn, "Abide With Me," was the best known of his works for over 100 years, until Queen Elizabeth married the Duke of Edinburgh.

  

The Queen had chosen another one of Henry’s obscure Psalms to be sung at her wedding ceremony.  That single event on November 20, 1947 (which was also the 100^th anniversary of Henry Lyte’s death) caught the attention of the whole world and Henry’s hymn was instantly popularized for use at weddings and funerals for decades.  PRAISE, MY SOUL, THE KING OF HEAVEN has probably begun more ceremonies than any other hymn in the English language.

The hymn is a free paraphrase of Psalm 103.  It is a declaration of the Goodness of God.   The author mentions several benefits of God’s grace but I think the most stunning line in the entire hymn, is in the first stanza.  It summarizes God’s goodness in just four amazing words: 

“Ransomed, Healed, Restored, Forgiven.”

 

And therein is the Gospel; God’s Good News.  

As sinners, we owed a debt that we could not pay.   The payment for our redemption was made by the Son of Man who "gave His life a ransom for many."  

Jesus paid a debt He did not owe.  And for all who have been ransomed, the disease of sin that results in spiritual death has been cured.  We have been made whole.  All our sins have been forgiven.

“Bless the Lord, O my soul;

And all that is within me, bless His Holy Name!

“Bless the Lord, O my soul,

And forget not all His benefits:

“Who forgives all your iniquities,

Who heals all your diseases,

“Who redeems your life from destruction,

Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,

“Who satisfies your mouth with good things,

So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”  (Psa. 103:1-5)

God is Good and this Hymn urges us to do now, what we will be doing in eternity; “PRAISE, MY SOUL, THE KING OF HEAVEN.”

**** HYMN TO A GRACIOUS SOVEREIGN (O GOD, THE DEEP IMMUTABLE)

How big is your God?  I noticed last week, in our Bible study (Behold Your God), one commentator made this statement: “(Our) great goal…is to be amazed with the bigness of God and to allow that to infiltrate and affect our lives in every arena of our lives.”

It seems like our culture, our country, and the whole world is rushing headlong into destruction.   Immorality, lawlessness, and godlessness is all around us and every day seems worse than the one before.  Consequently, many people, including Christians, are insecure, worried, and fearful.

It's NOT sufficient to simply acknowledge that God can or may use bad situations for our good.  We need to understand that God is much bigger than all our problems.  So, I continually remind myself; God is Sovereign.  But is He sovereign in ALL THINGS?  Do we really believe that?  Are we sure?

I know that most Christians will admit that God is in control but I wonder if we really believe that He controls ALL THINGS.   I sometimes ask that question of my Christian friends and almost every one of them answers "Yes, God is sovereign." 

But then, when I dig a little deeper and ask more specific questions about things like His control over our health, our environment, our finances, or even our salvation, the answers I get are often surprising.  One person answered, "Well, He is sovereign to a certain extent."

NO!  God is not sovereign to an extent.  There is no extent to God; He is immeasurable and infinite.  He is not limited in any of His attributes.  If your god’s sovereignty is limited, then your god is not the true God as revealed in His Word.

A God who is truly Sovereign is NOT reactive; it's not simply that, because He knows the future, He manipulates circumstances and works to change the outcomes of bad things.  He is not on the defensive.  The truth is that He is proactive.  He has ORDAINED ALL THINGS for His Glory.

HYMN TO A GRACIOUS SOVEREIGN (sometimes called, O God, The Deep Immutable), is a hymn about the “bigness” of God.  It focusses our attention to the mighty power of a sovereign God who rules over ALL His creation.

The first stanza begins with one of His attributes; God is immutable; He NEVER changes.  He doesn’t change His mind or His plans.  And He is not changed by His creation.  He doesn’t learn anything; nothing has ever occurred to Him so He is not caught off guard by anything men do.

God is not changed by time either.  He doesn’t grow older, He doesn’t forget, and He isn’t uncertain or surprised about the future.

The second stanza assures us that He is not caught off guard by nature.   All creation, the entire universe, changes at His command.  (Are you worried about global climate change and the threat of rising sea levels?)  Well, Proverbs 8:29 informs us that, even the boundaries of the seas are set by God’s spoken Word.  He is the Sovereign ruler over ALL things.

He is not only a SOVEREIGN ruler; He is also a GRACIOUS ruler. After the song proclaims the vast, immeasurable wonder of His power and glory, the hymn writer uses the final two stanzas to reveal His grace, love, and mercy. Because He is immutable, His care for us never diminishes; “He who began a good work in us will complete it.” (Phil. 1:6)

God is in control and He, intricately, works all things together for the good of those He is saving.  And that is why, as Christians, we can find peace and great comfort even during times of hardship, persecution, or tribulation.  

But, as the songwriter indicates, the greatest evidence of God’s graciousness is that “(He) demonstrated His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8)

HYMN TO A GRACIOUS SOVEREIGN

 (O GOD, THE DEEP IMMUTABLE)

Sing to the tune of, "O Sing a Song of Bethlehem"  KINGSFOLD c.m.d.

  

O God, the deep immutable,
The changeless, wise and still;
The absolute, eternal One;
You wield the sov’reign will.
Deep Heav’n itself and even time,
Must bend beneath Your sway.
With whispered thought You banish night,
With flash of blinding day.

  

The seas are bounded by Your Word;
Great mountains heed Your call.
Majestic swirls of galaxies,
Adorn Your royal hall.
The centuries are lumps of clay,
Shaped by Your strength and skill.
You mold the long millennia,

To the dictates of Your will.

  

The boundless, black-robed skies proclaim,
Your vast, astonishing might;
Their flaming jewels rejoice for You,
In silent shouts of light.
With sure and sovereign strokes, Your hands,
Finger the cosmic strings,
And play celestial symphonies.
As all creation sings.

  

And silent now, the angels stare;
Stunned seraphs blush, amazed;
Great Michael sheaths the sword that, at,
The Gate of Eden, blazed.
And Gabriel sets his trump aside,
And listens to his Lord,
As Love, incomprehensible,
Becomes the Living Word.

  

Now, space and time have cracked before,
The size of this event:
The glorious Godhead shudders as,   

The Son, to Hell, is sent.
Though Very God of Very God,
He counts it all but loss,
And comes and suffers as a man,
From manger to the Cross.

Words by Neil Barham (used by permission)

****SING PRAISE TO GOD WHO REIGNS ABOVE

SING PRAISE TO GOD WHO REIGNS ABOVE is a hymn that was written during a time of several converging events in church history.  

The Protestant Reformation started in Germany when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenberg Cathedral.  That was in 1517, and just a few years later, by the time he died, the new Lutheran Church was strong and fervent and it was the dominant Christian force in Germany and throughout Europe.

Another contributing factor to the rise of Christianity in Northern Europe was the influence of the Bohemian-Moravian Brethren.  They were very zealous followers of John Huss, who, in 1415, had been burned at the stake because of his evangelical views.  The Brethren had migrated into Germany in search of religious freedom.

Then there was the Thirty Years War (1618-1648).  It was a miserable time of persecution for Christians in Germany.  The Roman Catholic Church was at war against Protestants throughout Europe.  The German population had been reduced from 16 million to 6 million people.

By the middle of the century (just about one hundred years after the death of Martin Luther) the Lutheran Church was still doctrinally sound but they had lost much of their zeal.  In those days, Philipp Jacob Spener became the pastor of a congregation in Frankfurt.  One of his earliest members and his most trusted friend and helper in the ministry, was a young attorney, Johann Jakob Schutz.

At Johann's suggestion, Philipp Spener began to hold small group gatherings in homes for prayer meetings and Bible studies.  His preaching heavily emphasized the need for repentance and personal piety.  His discipleship moved his people from dead orthodox rituals to active personal faith and holy living.  That became the basis for the Pietistic revival movement in the Lutheran Churches in Germany.

One notable difference between traditional Lutheranism and the new Pietism was the active involvement of the laity in the church.  The regular gathering together of believers became a participatory time of worship rather than a spectator event conducted by the clergy.

(So, what was this thing called Pietism?  The root of the word is “pious” and if you are like me, you might be suspect of it.  That’s because the meanings of words change over time.  Our modern usage has negative connotations; it means to be characterized by a sanctimonious or hypocritical pretense of virtue or religious devotion.

But the classic definition means to have or show a genuine spirit of respect or reverence for God.)

As the father of the new Pietist movement, Philipp Spener outlined his Five Guiding Principles in a document titled “Pious Desires”.  Those included:

• The increased use of scripture.

• Lay participation in small groups, emphasizing prayer and Bible study.

• A balance of faith and actions.

• An emphasis on a pious clergy.

• Sermons that encourage an active faith.

Because of the movement’s new emphasis on hymns and congregational singing, rather than just Psalms only,  many new German hymns were written during those years.   It was pastor Spener’s friend, Johann Schutz, who authored five hymns including “SING PRAISE TO GOD WHO REIGNS ABOVE.” His inspiration for the hymn was Deut. 32:3, “For I proclaim the Name of the Lord: Ascribe greatness to our God.”

And that verse is exactly the model he used for each stanza of this hymn. 

Verse 1 proclaims the All-Powerful God of creation and Salvation.

Verse 2 proclaims the Ever-Present God who is our help and our peace.

Verse 3 proclaims the joy of knowing God.

Verse 4 proclaims that our God is Christ, the Lord.

There are two other verses that are not printed in most of our hymnbooks.  One of them proclaims the God Who never sleeps; He is always in control.  

The other proclaims the God of Mercy. 

Each proclamation, then, is followed by the same refrain: "To God, all praise and glory."