Praise to the Lord (A Legacy of Praise)
Psalm 105:1-4
1 Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.
2 Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell of all his wonderful acts.
3 Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
4 Look to the Lord and his strength;
seek his face always.
For our home devotions we have been reading through a book entitled “The One Year Book of Hymns.” Each daily devotion focuses on a Christian hymn, gives a summary of its origin, the story of the author and then, of course, the words of the hymn.
Instead of reading or singing the text of the hymn, we tend to find it on YouTube and meditate on the words along with the music.
On thing that has struck me in these devotions – apart from the sheer number of hymns that some authors wrote – is that many well-known hymns are written by people who have lived through very difficult, troubled, even extremely tragic circumstances. That is true also for many of our great hymns of praise.
One of the church’s great hymns of praise is, “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty the King of Creation,” which was written by Joachim Neander who lived from 1650-1680.
As a student in Bremen, Germany, Neander lived a godless life until, at the age of twenty, was converted to Christianity when listening to a visiting preacher. He became headmaster of a school in Düsseldorf but was later removed from his position by the authorities because of his ‘strong Christian views and his evangelistic activities’.
During his short lifetime Neander wrote more than sixty hymns, many of them hymns of praise. He often wandered through the valley and hills near Düsseldorf spending time with his Lord in nature and, after losing his position at the school, lived in a cave where he continued to write hymns until his untimely death at the age of thirty.
Because he spent so much time in nature, he has been called ‘The wild hymn writer’.
The valley near Düsseldorf where he spent time in nature was later named Neander Valley, after him. The German name is Neanderthal, where ancient fossilised human bones were found in the 1800s. The people from whom these ancient skeletons came are now known as the ‘Neanderthals’.
This legacy of Neander’s is fascinating. However, it is not as significant as his “legacy of praise”.
Neander’s ‘legacy of praise’ was inspired, not just by nature but by the ‘legacy’ that God leaves us in his Word, particularly in the psalms. There are psalms that contain very little else but praise, simply praising God for who He is. Many others begin and end with praise and in-between are full of thanksgiving for what God has done.
Praise and thanksgiving have great spiritual benefit because they allow the Holy Spirit to lift our eyes beyond the mundane and focus purely on who God IS.
The term ‘orthodox’, used to describe the correct understanding of the Christian faith, literally means ‘right praise’.
‘Praise’ has other benefits too. Psychologists encourage a technique to help overcome anxiety which is referred to simply as ‘awe’. Taking time to focus on things – or words – that are awe-inspiring is good for our health, mentally as well as spiritually.
So, let’s ‘meander with Neander’ through his ‘legacy of praise’ as we pray words from his famous hymn.
Praise to the Lord, the almighty, the king of creation;
O my soul, praise him, for he is your health and salvation:
Come all who hear; brothers and sisters draw near,
Praise him in glad adoration.
Praise to the Lord, who in all things is wondrously reigning,
And, as on wings of an eagle, uplifting, sustaining:
Have you not seen; All that is needed has been
Sent by his gracious ordaining?
Praise to the Lord, who will prosper our work and defend us;
Surely His goodness and mercy shall daily attend us:
Ponder anew, what the almighty can do,
As with His love he befriends us.
Praise to the Lord, O 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 ever adore him.
Joachim Neander (1650-1680) Tr Catherine Winkworth 1863. (Mod. Together in Song, No. 111)
