Hymn:
“Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven” – Henry F. Lyte (1793-1847)
Various
Tunes: LAUDA ANIMA, ANDREWS (My favorite is ANDREWS!)
The
unchanging nature of God is an attribute to which we should all rally in our
worship, our adoration, our reliance… and ultimately, our evangelism. The very
fact that the Bible teaches that all else may morph, our God is the great
Non-Transformer!
Transformers
are great time-consuming toys because you can play with them and change their
shape, their function, their appearance, etc. The industry has spawned movies
and Saturday morning cartoon series, books, comic books – all offering a
fascination with constant change.
However,
for me who lives in a world of constant flux, I am delighted that Jehovah is
not like that – nor is his Son or his Spirit: these are constantly constant.
Mortals
– that is those of us whom God has created and allowed to inhabit this globe –
we are the ones with all the ups and downs; ours is a roller coaster existence.
Just when we think we have made it to the top of our game, we seem to begin
some desperate slide. It’s true with governments and empires as well as with
our created race individually.
I
love it when this hymn-line comes across the page… and past my lips. I am
reminded that God is not only unchanging, but he is also durable. My God has
staying power!
Endurance
is a great thing in sports, in careers, in ministry, in life in general. Scripture
(the book of Revelation in particular) teaches that those who endure to the end
shall stand… shall remain standing! So endurance is a good thing for the saints
of God. It is sort of like that ‘hang in there’ philosophy, but there is
something more confident implied; with Martin Luther the enduring ones say, “Here
I stand. I cannot recant.”
Things
are probably going to change in my life today. This mortal may undergo several
upsurges; there may be plunges involved. In the daily mouse-race, I may win, or
I may fall down along the track – tripping on my own feet, or being tripped by
a fellow racer. There may be societal upheavals that alter my existence.
Somewhere in the world, a thriving government may collapse. An unspeakable tragedy
may occur. I may need to say today’s hymn-line to myself as a reminder.
My
fixed, ageless, unalterable God will survive, persevere and prevail. He will
live on while all else perishes around me.
Can I get an “A-men”?
This Hymn Sung in Worship to the ANDREWS tune
This Hymn to the LAUDA ANIMA tune
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