Tag Archives: Frederick Faber

Faith Practice, the Exercise

Think About a Hymn

Open Hymnal

1 My God, how wonderful you are;
your majesty, how bright!
How beautiful your mercy seat
in depths of burning light!

2 How wonderful, how beautiful
the sight of you must be,
your endless wisdom, boundless power,
and awesome purity!

3 O how I fear you, living God,
with deepest, tenderest fears,
and worship you with trembling hope
and penitential tears!

4 Yet I may love you too, O Lord,
almighty as you are,
for you have stooped to ask of me
the love of my poor heart.

By Frederick W. Faber
Text in the public domain
Source: http://www.hymnary.org/text/my_god_how_wonderful_thou_art

  • The author of this hymn worships a God who is powerful and magnificent. He compares God with light. Why does a comparison with light evoke a worshipful image of God? Where in the Bible do you see this same comparison?
  • This hymnwriter describes God as beautiful, wise, powerful and pure. Which of these traits is most in keeping with your own image of God? Why would someone sing of such traits? Why are they important to our understanding of God?
  • How does the fear of God correlate with hope in God? Why is the experience of the fear of God a good thing? How does our fear of God lead to our hope?
  • The hymn writer says that God asked for his love. How did God make that request? Do you feel included in that request? Why?
  • How does the God described in this hymn differ from a god who thinks everybody ought to be nice,
  • and it wouldn’t be fair to shut some people out of heaven?

 

Faith Practice, the Exercise

A Hymn For Meditation

hymnalMy God How Wonderful Thou Art

My God, how wonderful Thou art,
Thy majesty, how bright;
How beautiful Thy mercy seat
In depths of burning light!

How wonderful, how beautiful,
The sight of Thee must be;
Thy endless wisdom, boundless power,
And glorious purity!

Yet, I may love Thee, too, O Lord,
Almighty as Thou art;
For Thou hast stooped to ask of me
The love of my poor heart!

No earthly father loves like Thee,
No mother, e’er so mild,
Bears and forbears as Thou hast done,
With me, Thy sinful child.

Only to sit and think of God,
Oh, what a joy it is!
To think the thought, to breathe the Name,
Earth has no higher bliss.

Father of Jesus, love’s Reward!
What rapture it will be
Prostrate before Thy throne to lie,
And gaze, and gaze on Thee!

By Frederick W. Faber

From http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/m/y/mygodhow.htm

  • Where in the Bible can you read a description of heaven similar to the one in the first verse of this hymn? Why is God’s throne called a mercy seat? What must I believe about myself if I think I need a mercy seat?
  • If wisdom, power and purity are attributes of God, what can we expect from God?
  • Why is it bliss to think of God and speak his name? Do you actually agree that to speak God’s name is bliss?
  • The US culture is quite secular. Even Christians act as if rapture in the presence of God is a little bit much. What do you say to people who laugh at the idea of delighting in the presence of God?
  • If God’s teaching is full of wisdom, then what should you do with God’s teaching? When you live by God’s teaching, secular friends and neighbors make fun of you, or even accuse you of illegal discrimination. How will you defend yourself is you are arrested for child abuse for teaching your children God’s laws?