Praise, My Soul, The King of Heaven (Part Two)

Praise, my soul, the King of heaven,
To His feet thy tribute bring;
Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,
Who like me His praise should sing?
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Praise the everlasting King.

Praise Him for His grace and favour
To our fathers in distress;
Praise Him still the same as ever,
Slow to chide, and swift to bless:
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Glorious in his faithfulness.

Praise Him for His grace and favour
To our fathers in distress;
Praise Him still the same as ever,
Slow to chide, and swift to bless:
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Glorious in his faithfulness.

Father-like, He tends and spares us,
Well our feeble frame He knows;
In His hands He gently bears us,
Rescues us from all our foes:
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Widely as His mercy flows.

Frail as summer’s flower we flourish,
Blows the wind and it is gone;
But while mortals rise and perish
Our God lives unchanging on,
Praise Him, Praise Him, Hallelujah
Praise the High Eternal One!

Angels, help us to adore Him;
Ye behold Him face to face;
Sun and moon, bow down before Him,
Dwellers all in time and space:
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Praise with us the God of grace.

As I mentioned last week, I really feel like this hymn is so rich with truth that it was worth spending a couple of weeks on it.  Last week we focused on ourselves – adjectives used to describe us as children of the King – “ransomed, healed, restored and forgiven.”  This week I want to focus on the lyrics that help us focus on God as our Father and King.

• “Slow to chide” – “to chide” means to scold or to express disapproval of.  The Bible reminds us that the Lord is longsuffering.  He is patient with us.  2 Peter 3:9 says “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”  Yes He disciplines.  Yes, He expresses disapproval of our actions sometimes, but I am grateful that He is longsuffering when it comes to my stubbornness and sin.

• “Swift to bless” – In contrast to a “slow to chide” God, the author reminds us that the God of the Bible is also swift to bless.  The word “chide” only appears four times in the KJV translation of the Bible.  However, the word bless and blessing appears over four hundreds times.  Isn’t that how God works?  He blesses much more than He chides.  Our Father in Heaven is a God of blessing.  He is searching for someone to show compassion and mercy too.  He wants to bless His people.  He wants to bless us “pressed down, shaken together, and running over.”

• “Father-like, He tends…” – One typically thinks of a gardener tending to plants, but I like the image of a Father tending that the author gives us in these lyrics.  A Father who is concerned about His children.  Who tenderly disciplines and loves.  Who prunes so that we bear more fruit.  Who takes care of His child’s every need.  One who manages His flock well.  That is the kind of tender Father we have as Christians.

• “… and spares us” – I thought about God sparing us.  We deserved eternal punishment because of our sin and rebellion.  Yet, He spares us.  We deserve His righteous wrath and judgment.  Yet He spares us.  But Romans 8:32 reminds us that there was something He did not spare.  The Bible tells us “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all…”  We were spared because He spared not.  What a moving thought!!!

When you think of God as a Father, what comes to mind?  Inevitably, for most of us, our image of God as Father is impacted both positively and negatively by our own earthly fathers.  If we have a kind, loving  father, we can easily picture God as kind and loving.  If we had a judgmental, cruel father, we tend think of God in those ways.  I have always found it interesting that the God of Old Testament is portrayed as this God of lightning and thunder by many people.  A God ready to pounce in judgment.  But as my family has been reading through Exodus, I have been reminded that the God of the Old Testament is a God of grace.  A God of second, and third, and fourth chances.  A God who gave Pharaoh opportunity after opportunity to let His people go.  A God who would forgive Israel even after they would run after idols.  A God who forgives and uses Peter after He denies Him three times.

I pray today that you use the words of Scripture and songs like these to shape the image you have of God, your Father.  He is truly worth all of our praise for all the things that He is.  Kind, compassionate, merciful, faithful, just, loving, and forgiving.  Let us praise our Father, King of Heaven.