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O Worship the King

Lyrics by Robert Grant; Music by William Gardiner, arr. by Johann Haydn

This hymn is familiar to many of us, but it’s typical of the kind of hymn I want to use in these reflections–it needs translation!  If you merely read the lyrics it can be difficult to understand in several places.  My goal, then, is the same here as with every hymn I’ve written about: to make clear the profound depths of meaning to be discovered in these great songs of worship and praise.  I’ll follow the same format I’ve used with the last two or three of these:  The Verse itself, then my Paraphrase of the verse, and I’ll finish with a short reflection on each.

Please know that as you listen to the song at the following link, there is a gap of 10-12 seconds before you hear anything at all!  What beauty and truth fill this song!

O Worship the King

Verse 1:

O worship the King all-glorious above,
O gratefully sing his power and his love:
our shield and defender, the Ancient of Days,
pavilioned in splendor and girded with praise.

Paraphrase:

O come, worship the King of glory who dwells in the heavens!  Sing songs of thanksgiving for His power and His love, for He alone is our protector and defender, He is the One who reigns from before all time began, He is the One who lives in splendor and is clothed with praise!

Reflection:

God is the source and fountain of all glory.  Glory radiates from His very being!  In fact, anyone who sees this King for who He is can’t help but break into songs of thanksgiving.  But just as the sun radiates light, so our King radiates glory.  The sun’s heat and light are produced by the nuclear fusion happening at its core.  But God’s glory is the radiance of the fusion of His power and love.  He alone has existed from before all time.  He is the source of all majesty and authority.  All things emanate from His power and His love.  His power and love are inseparable–power without love is tyranny, while love without power is mere sentimentality.  Psalm 62 says, “One thing God has spoken, two things have I learnt: ‘Power belongs to God’ and ‘True love, O Lord, is thine…'” (NEB).  This King’s very palace is the residence of majesty and splendor, and He Himself is clothed with praise–think of it: the praises of all people, of all creation, resound through the years and gather around Him like a lavish royal robe!

Verse 2:

O tell of his might and sing of his grace,
whose robe is the light, whose canopy space.
His chariots of wrath the deep thunderclouds form,
and dark is his path on the wings of the storm.

Paraphrase:

Shout our your praise of His power and strength!  Sing of His immeasurable grace!  He lives in the starry universe and His robe is light itself.  He will ride the chariot of His wrath over dark thunderclouds, and His coming will be as swift and dark as a rising storm.

Reflection:

As in the first verse, we see God clothed and in a dwelling-place.  In the first, He was “pavilioned in splendor and girded with praise,” while here His canopy (or tent) is space itself and His robe is light–like a fiery star blazing in the heavens!  Everywhere we look we see rivers of glory, light, grace, and power flowing from His throne.  Yet His blazing glory is also His wrath, by which we need to understand not uncontrollable anger, but a righteousness and a holiness that are so unapproachable as to destroy everything that is not righteous and holy.  This is why Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension are so critical for we who follow Christ, for our own righteousness is nowhere near sufficient to save us.  Jesus’ righteousness alone has made a way for us into the presence of this holy God, and this righteousness is ours only by grace through faith.  Yet even in Christ “it is a fearful thing to come into the presence of the living God” (Heb. 10:31), for “our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29).  Still, perfect love casts out fear (1 Jn. 4:8) and saves us from the impending storm.  Make no mistake, He is coming, and when He comes nothing but faith in Christ’s love, sacrifice, resurrection, and ascension will save us from destruction.  As Isaiah says, “If you do not stand firm in faith, you shall not stand at all” (Isaiah 7:9).    One day He will ride the “deep thunderclouds” on His dark path to bring judgment against all that stands against Him and His purposes.  And friends, we don’t want to be found in that place! 

Verse 3:

Your bountiful care, what tongue can recite?
It breathes in the air, it shines in the light;
it streams from the hills, it descends to the plain,
and sweetly distills in the dew and the rain.

Paraphrase:

Who can even tell the story of your endless love?  Your love is alive, living and breathing!  It is radiant with light!  It rushes down from the hills like a flowing stream all the long way to the valley below.  It descends like the dew and the rain, purifying and refreshing everything on which it falls.

Reflection:

God’s boundless love is just that–boundless!  It is “bountiful,” luxurious, abundant, and overflowing.  It is truly beyond words to describe!  It’s so abundant it’s alive, breathing and shining in the light!  It rolls and flows and streams and purifies just like the dew and the rain water the earth.

Verse 4:

Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail,
in you do we trust, nor find you to fail.
Your mercies, how tender, how firm to the end,
our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend!

Paraphrase:

We are fragile, formed from the dust of the earth, and just as weak as we are fragile.  Your mercies, though, O God–how gentle, how loving and consistent right to the end!  How wonderful that You are not only our Maker, but our Defender, and also our Redeemer, and on top of it all–our Friend!

Reflection:

To quote another beautiful hymn “How marvelous, how wonderful!”  Here we are, nothing but dust of the earth, yet alive and breathing by virtue of God’s breath in us.  Us! Mere dust!  Weak, frail, incapable of even standing on our own two feet if left to ourselves!  If He left us for even a moment our breath would depart and we would be no more.  And yet … He is so gentle with us, so steadfast in His love and faithfulness–always trustworthy, always dependable!  What a wonder to be able to call this great God our Maker–formed by His loving care.  And our Defender–the One who stands by us and for us always and everywhere!  And our Redeemer–He who gave us Jesus to transform us from weak and frail to glorious and radiant, and who even gives us a new identity: child of God!  And, dare we say it?  Our Friend!  Our companion, our guide, the One who understands us, who hears us, who comforts us, who strengthens us, who encourages and affirms us!  

How can we know these things and not fall into glorious worship and shouts of praise!  Listen again–
O Worship the King