Each week during our traditional worship services, our family of faith stands and sings the Doxology. The words of this wonderful hymn of praise are from the hymn “Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow,” written by Bishop Thomas Ken in the late 1600s. The words of this hymn are:
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.
This treasured song is now over 300 years old. It is not only sung by our congregation, but these words are lifted in praise in various churches, each week, around the world.
These famous lines are actually part of a larger set of hymns written by Bishop Ken. They are in fact one of the first hymns written in English. While teaching at Winchester College, Bishop Ken wrote several small hymns to lift praise to God throughout the day and to help students better grow in their faith. There was a verse to sing after waking up, one for midday, one for the arrival of night, and the final verse is the now famous verse known as the Doxology.
Both the early morning hymn and the last hymn of the evening began with the now famous phrase, “Praise God from whom all blessings flow.” Bishop Ken understood that our day, from start to finish, was a gift of God. I can only imagine that he remembered the scriptures that read, “Every good endowment and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (James 1:17) or perhaps he was thinking about the words from Psalm 9:1 that reads, “I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will tell of all thy wonderful deeds.” Bishop Ken knew God should receive our gratitude for the gift of each and every day.
I want to encourage you, as you begin today, to take a moment and express your gratitude to God. As a people of faith, our practice of gratitude begins with our thanksgiving to God. When we look to God, we will remember that we have everything we need, because of God’s great love for us. When we realize we have all that we need, it helps to realize we also have much to offer our neighbors.
Start your day with thanksgiving. Remember you are a child of God. You have been given much today. You may even want to join with the saints around the world and sing your praise and thanksgiving to our God from whom all blessings flow.
– Rev. Keith King, Pastor of Worship
