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Praise to the Lord

Praise to the Lord,
the Almighty The King of creation
O my soul, praise Him
For He is thy health and salvation
All ye who hear,
now to His temple draw near
Praise Him in glad adoration

Praise to the Lord
Who o’er all things so wonderfully reigneth
Shelters thee under His wings
Yea, so gladly sustaineth
Hast thou not seen
how thy desires e’er have been
Granted in what He ordaineth

Praise to the Lord
Who doth prosper
they work and defend thee
Surely His goodness
and mercy here daily attend thee
Ponder anew
what the Almighty can do
If with His love He befriend thee

By Joachim Neander 1860
Translated from German to English
by Catherine Winkworth 1863
Text in the Public Domain
Source: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/p/passion/praise_to_the_lord_the_almighty.html

 

• The theme of this hymn is God the Father, the Almighty, the Creator. Secular thinkers believe that the Big Bang happened by chance, and after it happened, the laws of thermodynamics took charge of the universe. How can Christians respond to secularists who aggressively demand that the teaching of creation as a legitimate explanation of the origin of the universe be removed from public schools?
• If, as the hymnwriter declares, our “desires e’er have been Granted in what He ordaineth,” what does that mean? How would you explain it to someone who believes that every event is ultimately a data point in a probability spectrum?
• The hymn writer believes that God cares what becomes of people and gives them power to earn what they need for their living. Secularists teach that human beings must dig deep within themselves in order to prosper and earn a living. What do you believe?

By Katherine Harms, author of Oceans of Love available for Kindle at Amazon.com.

Image: Open hymnal
href=”https://www.flickr.com/photos/pelegrino/16257877172/”>Nick in exsilio /
Foter / CC BY-NC-SA