28th September 2026
Praise God
Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow; Praise Him, all creatures here below; Praise Him above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost 1
This week I was challenged to repeat The Doxology every morning for a week, maybe even during the day as well. What a wonderful challenge to draw closer to God in this way. It is a blessing to be thankful, to focus on the positive instead of the negative. Truly all blessings flow from God as the first line states.
We tend to think of blessings as big things, a new home, an education, a new member of the family, but God’s blessings are in more than just these things: he is in the fresh smell after a rain, in the perfume of a rose, and in the gentle breeze that caresses our cheeks. I was reminded that God is also in the removal of all the bad things in our lives. I praise you God for all of these.
How can we forget the way God loves us? He took on our sin, our rejection, our ignorance, and placed his forgiveness, redemption, and salvation in its place. He came despite our fallen state to pick us up and dust us off, pour wine and oil on our wounds, and care for us during our recovery. How can you not be thankful to God for all of this. How wonderful it is that he did not say that we first had to heal ourselves before we could come to him, instead he rushed to our side in order to make us his own, to make us clean, to heal us and bring us home. I thank you God for all of this!
When I think of the word ‘creatures’ I naturally think of animals, but we are included in this category. We have the ability to thank our God for his generosity verbally. How does the rest of creation do this? By being all who God made them to be. When my lambs and goats used to jump in the air in the joy of their freedom and run to the end of the field for just the joy of it, I can imagine them as praising God for their life. How precious this life is. We take the things we are blessed with often for granted. It is not until these things are taken away do we miss them, and that we mourn their loss. I thank you God for all the blessings you give us every day; for those that we notice and do not notice, for you are in all of them.
In Revelation we are told that those in heaven praise God continually. They must know many things we do not, and yet what God is doing with mankind is being revealed to the heavenly host. May the day come soon when all heaven and earth will be brought back into complete harmony. Praise God all you in heaven, and on earth, for our God is a God of love and forgiveness. And so, I say: ‘You alone God, are worthy of all praise.’
Prayer
I was drawn, my precious God, to the sound today of the farmer working in his field. How pleasant this sound is compared to the rush and bustle of this world. In the farmer’s work I see how you not only bless him with fields, water, and an abundant crop, you also feed your children, you display your provision, and you display your faithfulness to us. Thank you Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit, for your faithfulness to us. I praise you God. In Jesus I pray for these things. Amen.
1 The Doxology, Thomas Ken, 1674.
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Study by: Anne Gillam About the author: |
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