Praise God – Anonymous

 

Where and when did this one emerge? Perhaps the most we could say is that this brief song started within the heart of someone whose spirit was connected to the One above. For someone to sing “Praise God” for four different blessings, that kind of person would have to be very conscious of His abiding Spirit. From what this anonymous person wrote, the exaltation of Him began where all of us who believe usually begin – with His sacrifice (see it shown here). None of what this nameless writer mentions after that pivotal moment in Christ’s life in this song would have followed without that first happening. Is that not indicative of how the believer progresses in acknowledging Him – we first believe and make Him our king because He gave Himself up for us, doing for us what was necessary to make us exonerated before the Holy God? And, He didn’t stop there.

 

Was it around a campfire, or at the conclusion of a group gathering to study and think about life, or maybe at the closing of a message to a larger body of people? No one can resolve that today (unless someone reads this blog entry and reveals the answer!), but you could imagine that plausibly this lyricist had been thinking about the impact of the life of Jesus, in its many ways. There are so many hymns that laud Him for that death He died willingly…probably too many to count. That would be enough to offer Him the tribute that this writer did with these few simple, but powerful words – ‘Give thanks to the Father…’, and ‘Amen’…and concluding with ‘Sing glory, hallelujah!’ That is the echo that we, the saved, say to Him with each of the four blessings that are mentioned in the four stanzas of ‘Praise God’. Begin with this, the unknown author says -- Christ the Lord has died for you. Then insert the praise echo. Then, what did He do that embodies blessing number two for you and me? Christ the Lord has risen for you. Repeat that praise phrase, with gusto! Christ the Lord is living for you is that third blessing that we often forget…but He’s inside, as your motivating Spirit for the life He’s transformed, so sing that praise once more. And who could forget that fourth one -- Christ the Lord is coming for you? If that’s not enough, read what Paul said to arouse a group of believers once -- For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so, we will be with the Lord forever. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17) Belt out that praise phrase one more time! And, in glory, in His presence forevermore, we won’t run out of air to keep ringing out that praise again, and again, and again.

 

Wipe off that dirty skin, and thank Him for the cleansing He’s provided. Thank Him that He rose to show you that death isn’t permanent, and that you too will come alive again. Remember that He’s indwelling, so talk to Him when you’re having a rough day, and also when something momentous has happened to remind you that He provides what refreshes also. And, look up every day and imagine what He’ll look like, and tell yourself that you need to live in anticipation of that daybreak. He did indeed die, and rise, and ascend, and deliver a Helper for us…and He’s waiting for the culmination of it all. If that sounds rather like a creed, that’s intentional. All of those four blessings are what you and I live by. If they aren’t true, then we’re all lost. But what will we have lost if they were never true? Nothing, for if Jesus isn’t there, what does it matter if I believed in something false? But, what if He and all He’s done have been true, and I reject that…what will I have lost at the end? Everything. Our songwriter today might remain hidden from identification, but what he wrote sure isn’t something that’s hidden. Run up and embrace it.   

 

See the song in its entirety in the hymnal Songs of Faith and Praise, Alton H. Howard Publishing Company, West Monroe, LA, 1994. Hymn number 17.

See information on the image here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Christ_at_the_Cross_-_Cristo_en_la_Cruz.jpg … This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or fewer… {{PD-1996}} – public domain in its source country on January 1, 1996 and in the United States….found inside this document -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_in_Christianity

Praise to God, Immortal Praise -- Anna L Barbauld

 

She was just beginning to find herself as a writer, one might have said of Anna Laetitia Aikin (and later Barbauld when she married) in 1772. Anna was from England, and probably was in Warrington, near the academy where her father taught (see a picture of it here). Her first efforts in poetry showed she had the foundation for what she would do for more than the next 50 years of her life, beginning at the learned hand of her father. And it started with giving “Praise to God, Immortal Praise”, something she undoubtedly learned at an early age in a home parented by one who was a teacher-preacher. That she had been an eager learner is evident in her first poems, from which this hymn derived. How many times had she sat under the sound of her father’s instruction at home or in a pew in the church? By the time Anna was 29 it must have numbered in the thousands, many times that in fact. What she said in her poetry indicates that what she learned didn’t stay in an antiseptic classroom or on the pew she so often occupied. She found so much of whom she wrote out in the open spaces in the creation He made, even if she did not tell us explicitly why she wrote her praise to Him.

 

Anna had the advantage of a childhood that was probably considered a bit exceptional, and very formative for this girl whose talent as a writer would begin to shine in her teenage years. Her father’s position at Warrington must have influenced Anna as well, for she reportedly was a tutor there even as a young girl. This must have been her earliest efforts at poetry, perhaps coaxed to the surface in part by a thirst for knowledge in the classics (ancient Greek and Roman studies), which her father apparently taught her as a result of her incessant pleas for guidance in these. Warrington Academy was one of the dissenting institutions, meaning its adherents did not conform to the Church of England. With the influence of a kindly and intellectual father, and the stimulating atmosphere at Warrington, Anna’s talent was honed, and she published her first works in something simply entitled Poems, among which was ‘Praise to God…’ that was also in a hymnal published at Warrington. She had an obvious classroom education, but also must have walked in nature plenty to produce what she penned in the hymn’s lyrics. She wrote of ‘flocks’, and ‘rip­ened grain’, of the ‘clouds’ and ‘sunshine’ (v.2 in some versions). She describes a ‘smiling land’ and a ‘li­ber­al au­tumn’, phrases that speak of not only her well-crafted style of writing, but also of a deep appreciation for the Creator’s mastery, which she tried to mimic. If God’s creation is a Divine symphony, then Anna was hearing and seeing a lot of the rhythms and dynamic chords that speak of His artistry. ‘Every joy’ was found in looking about her world and noticing His handiwork created with ‘love’ at its root. Anna wasn’t a wearer of rose-colored glasses, however, and saw threatening ‘whirlwinds’, the ‘blasted shoot’ of a fig tree, and ‘herds (that would) desert the stall’, and yet she still found reason to revere Him. Perhaps that’s where the ‘immortal’ part of her poem-hymn comes in – the characteristic of something – or rather, someone -- that cannot die, even though all about oneself is ruin. He cannot be brought low, this One who created, sustains, and draws us, and we who look at Him closely marvel at this eternal quality that He wants each of us to inherit.   

 

Anna saw and believed He was present in everything within view, as well as beyond. The Almighty who can fashion all that is here is One whose power isn’t confined to human visibility. Anna had much within her vision that spoke of Him, and yet if all these physical evidences went awry, Anna wasn’t looking away. Somehow, probably as a function of hearing her father’s preaching for so many years, Anna evidently believed in Him, in His ability to rejuvenate and invite our attention to how His creation works. Things might look grim, but there’s a dawn approaching. After all, He modeled this idea in His own life, so how could we lose hope? He’s going to do it for everything and everyone who wants what He’s demonstrated is in His great heart, and in His power. This love is a pretty mindboggling thing, huh?     

 

 

Read about the poetess-lyricist here: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/b/a/r/b/barbauld_ala.htm

 

Read about here also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Laetitia_Barbauld

 

See the hymn’s words here (seven original verses) : http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/p/r/a/g/pragodim.htm

 

See some of the hymn’s lyrics here also: https://hymnary.org/text/praise_to_god_immortal_praise_for_the_lo

 

See information on the picture here: File:WarringtonAcademy.jpg - Wikimedia Commons… This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or fewer. {{PD-1996}} – public domain in its source country on January 1, 1996 and in the United States….found inside this document -- Warrington Academy - Wikipedia