Praise to the Lord Almighty

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,
Join me in glad adoration!

Praise to the Lord, who over all things so wondrously reigneth
Shelters thee under His wings, Yes, so gently sustaineth.
Hast thou not seen, How all thy longings have been,
Granted in what He ordaineth?

Praise to the Lord! Oh, let all that is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before Him!
Let the amen sound from His people again.
Gladly for aye we adore Him!

Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work and defend thee;
Surely His goodness and mercy shall daily attend thee.
Ponder anew what the Almighty can do
If with His love He befriend thee.

Written by Joachim Neander in the late 1600’s, this hymn was translated from German into English by Catherine Winkworth.  There are a few interesting facts about this hymn and its author.  Mr. Neander’s father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and great-great-grandfather were all ministers of the Gospel, and all were named Joachim Neander.  At a young age, however, this particular Joachim was rebellious, even to the point of going to the local church and ridiculing the worshippers there.  He, however, heard the message of the Gospel delivered by Rev. Theodore Under-Eyck that day, was convicted, and became a believer.  After his conversion, he became the assistant preacher at that very church.  He also spent a lot of time walking the mountain valleys where he lived, and many of his hymn ideas came during these walks.  He died at the age of 30 of tuberculosis, but wrote this particular hymn during the last year of his life while battling that disease. 

Couple of phrases worth spending some time on:

• “Praise to the Lord” – I find it interesting that all four verses of this hymn start with this simple phrase “Praise to the Lord.”  But shouldn’t our prayers start with this kind of praise to God?  Jesus taught us how to pray in Matthew 6 when He said pray “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed by Thy Name.”  That prayer is a praise/acknowledgement of who God is (Our Father), where God is (in Heaven), and what His character is like (Hallowed or Holy).  We should, like the author of this hymn, start our prayers with praise.  But praise should also be part of our rising up and our going down.  Psalm 113:3 says “From the rising of the sun to the going down of the same, the Lord’s name is to be praised.”  Praise should be, as the Psalmist reminds us, continually in our mouths (Psalm 34:1).  During a difficult time in his life, the author of this hymn chose to write about praise, not about problems.  What a lesson we could learn from his example! 
• “Ponder anew what the Almight can do” – This particular phrase might conjure up the idea of “think about it” or “re-think about it.”  But to really ponder something, you must spend some time analyzing it.  The author is encouraging us to analyze what God can do.  I get the impression that he believes we have almost forgotten, or we have grown so accustomed to all God’s mighty works, that we need to refresh our memories.   The Bible is an excellent source to help us “ponder anew.”  We should spend some time in the Word reading the stories of God’s great power, grace, and faithfulness.  But in our own lives, we also can think back to the great things He has done for us – especially when we consider our own salvation.  That is something we can and should all “ponder anew.”  

Did you notice anything unusual about the last name of the author of this hymn – Neander?  Kind of sounds like Neanderthal, doesn’t it?  Well, there is a connection. “Tal” or “Thal” in German means “valley.”  The valley I mentioned above, was named “Neanderthal” after this young man.  In 1856 in this particular valley, archeologists found bones of what they believed to be the “Missing link” in evolution.  They called these fossils – “Neanderthals” because of where these bones were found.  That “missing link” theory was later disproved by scientists, and it was determined that they were in fact human bones.  Isn’t it interesting that evolutionary “scientists” who had then (and have today) a passion to undermine the Bible and God, unknowingly named their findings after a man who believed in God and believed God created all things (remember the line “the King of Creation”)?  I just love the irony here. 

When we start with Scripture as our foundation, we are building our lives upon truth.  Practical truth.  Historical truth.  And, yes, scientific truth.  When we build our foundation on things outside the Bible (science, philosophy, government, or man’s wisdom), we will ultimately end up with a house built upon “sinking sand.”  Another old hymn favorite of mine says “On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.”  I hope you can echo that statement today, and join me in praising the Lord for that sure foundation.