We have just wrapped up a month long series on the greatest prayers found in the Bible. This week, I’ve thought a great deal on the subject of Doxologies. Why are they important in Scripture and why should they become important to our prayer life as part of our worship? Most churches today still sing the great hymn, “Doxology”
“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.”
I love singing these words, whether it is with a congregation as we allow the words to resound from our hearts and lips…or if it’s with guys like the David Crowder Band and Passion who are ensuring that a new generation of worshipper know and love this ancient song written in 1551.
But you know what I would rather do…I would rather have the knowledge of what I’m singing. I want to know what a doxology is and how I can come to honor the Lord with more than the words of my mouth, but with the meditations of my heart.
The word “Doxology” comes from two Greek words, “Doxa” meaning “glory” and “Logos” meaning “word.” It means to ascribe to God our highest glory. Scripture gives us many great doxologies (Romans 11:36; Romans 16:25-27; Ephesians 3:20-21; Philippians 4:20; I Peter 4:11; Jude 1:24-25 and Revelation 1:5-6). Ephesians 3:20-21 is among my favorites, “Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”
These verses mean so much to me. I love church history and when I look back at how God has always had a people in every age; it humbles me that we are the people of God for this generation. We are His chosen people; we are His remnant for today. We stand in this long line of saints, whom He has qualified (Colossians 1:12), who have drunk from the well of grace and have experienced the power of the Holy Spirit to transform our lives…and today, it is us who can say, “Now unto Him who is able…”
So when I think of a doxology, meaning to give God the highest praise, it makes me want to draw all attention to the glory of God! That’s what a doxology does…it points us toward the glory of God. Now, someone might ask, how is that we come to see the glory of God? Paul answers this in 2 Corinthians 4:6, “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” For those who really desire to see the glory of God, it is found in one place, the face of Jesus Christ! We see the glory of God in Christ because, according to Hebrews 1:3, “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”
So here is the challenge the Holy Spirit has been giving me…how often do I really humble myself and draw the attention away from me and toward the glory of God in Christ? How often does my prayer life seem more like a wish list? How often do I eat or drink or whatever I do, to God’s glory? I Corinthians 10:31
So, I’ve been thinking of how my life could become a doxology, how everything about me could bring glory to God. David provided the answer in Psalms 50:15, “and call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”
How could the way I live and the way I treat others and even the way I pray bring the highest glory to God? That is my aim! You know, our goal as Christians should not be to go to Heaven. That’s what is promised…that’s not my goal! Heaven is not what I’m working for…so what’s my goal? My goal is Ephesians 4:13, “until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure and the stature of the fullness of Christ.” That is the aim of my life, to glorify God in all things.
Jonathan Edwards, who tasted of true revival during the Great Awakenings, said it best, “God is most glorified in me when I am most satisfied in Him.”
“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”
Jude 1:24-25
