The power of the Doxology!

15 Feb, 2015 - 00:02 0 Views

The Sunday News

THERE was so much for us to say last week but for time and space! God bless this editor of the Sunday News who allows so few words to say so much! We end the series on the Lord’s Prayer with an excerpt on the traditions of the liturgy we received form the early fathers. Yes, after we acknowledge that our prayer life is centred on making sure he forgives us and delivers us from all evil the prayer concludes with a doxology (omitted in the Catholic tradition), its three-fold aspect (“Yours is the kingdom”, “power and the glory”) mirroring the nature of the Trinity. Finally, we have the declaration “Forever and ever. Amen”. The word “Amen” is a useful tying together of all the petitions and requests that have gone before.

The gospel according to Matthew in Chapter 6: 13 ends the Lord’s Prayer with the words . . . for thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory for ever and ever amen. Some manuscripts have this ending to the Lord’s Prayer but not all of them do. Despite that, I believe it is biblical because we acknowledge that it is God’s kingdom and it is His power and it is for His glory which is forever and ever that we should pray. Certainly we always ought to pray for God to be glorified because God is worthy to be glorified and honoured and praised. We are to fulfil part of God’s purpose in our lives and part of that is to seek to glorify God’s name in all we do, say, and think. When we take credit for things that God has done we rob God of His due glory and God is not happy when we do not give Him the glory and we take it for ourselves. If we do this, He will surely humble us because He is opposed to those that are prideful but He will give you grace if you humble yourself before Him (James 4: 6). God speaks through Isaiah the prophet when He says: “I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other” (Isaiah 42: 8).

The plea here has special reference to the first three petitions; “Father in heaven, thy kingdom come, for thine is the kingdom; thy will be done, for thine is the power; hallowed be thy name, for thine is the glory.” And as to our own particular errands, these are encouraging: “Thine is the kingdom; thou hast the government of the world, and the protection of the saints, thy willing subjects in it;” God gives and saves like a king! “Thine is the power, to maintain and support that kingdom, and to make good all thine engagements to thy people.” Thine is the glory, as the end of all that which is given to, and done for, the saints, in answer to their prayers; for their praise waiteth for him. This is matter of comfort and holy confidence in prayer.

When he says thine is the kingdom, one does hear and read that we do not belong to ourselves but to God. But also that we are part of that kingdom. I have referred in my title today as the ‘‘doxology’.’ A bit of the resurrection of my Episcopalian, deeply Trinitarian roots responsible for the blossoming of my Evangelical, Full Gospel and Pentecostal posture that I am. Incredible! But what do we understand by this now not so often spoken about phenomena?
The doxology is a hymn or psalm of praise to God. It can also be a form of words containing an ascription of praise to God. One can think specifically of the Gloria in Excelsis Deo or great doxology, the Gloria Patri or lesser doxology, whose lyrics include, “Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.” The doxology does refer to some other metrical ascription to the Trinity, like that beginning “Praise God, from whom all blessings flow.”

The word doxology comes from two Greek roots: doxa, which means “glory,” and logos, which refers to “words.” It also literally means a study of praise.
A further study of the Greek roots and the usage of the doxology shows an even deeper meaning. It is about the blessing, the glory, the wisdom, the thanksgiving, the honour, the power, the might, unto the ages of the ages.” It is sevenfold, implying its totality and completeness. No wonder it makes the seventh utterances of the Lord’s Prayer to actually complete it. Seven is the divine number of perfection.

It is understood to have been added to the common tradition of the liturgy by Pope Saint Damasus I (366 – 384). It certainly was not Pope Saint Damasane!!
The traditional doxology used in Protestant churches was written in 1674
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. Amen.

Certain passages in Scripture are often considered short hymns or doxologies as seen in Ephesians 1: 3 which reads “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” Or in Romans 11: 36 which could be sung or chanted as “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” An exciting and exhorting one is in Ephesians 5: 14 where the Apostle says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Is that not where the Shona funeral chorus wakes you up at midnight to “Mutendi wakarara, muka muka iwe . . .!”

The Psalms contain several passages that the church has transformed into doxologies. Jesus and His followers likely sang one of the Psalms as a hymn on the night of the Last Supper (Matthew 26:30; Mark 14:26).

When one reads 1 Corinthians 14:26 we are told that the church regularly shared hymns as part of their worship gatherings. Ephesians 5:19-20 also says we should be “addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with [our] heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” These were doxologies me thinks. Since then a doxology has been an important part of the church since its beginning, a practice continued throughout history, and of valuable importance today.

Back to the Lord’s Prayer, it is justified therefore that it ends in that manner of giving due praise and honour to the Father from whom we have been petitioning all those things.

The end of the Lord’s Prayer is a plea to enforce the foregoing petitions. Job 23: 4 suggests that it is our duty to plead with God in prayer, to fill our mouth with arguments not to move God, but to affect ourselves; to grow our faith and to excite our fervency.

Needless to say the best prayers are those that are taken from God himself, and from that which he has made known of himself. We must wrestle with God in his own strength, both as to the nature of our pleas and the urging of them.

Let me say as the late Father Possenti would say in closing High Mass GLORIA PATRI, et Filio, et Spiritu Sancto. Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

Share This:

Survey


We value your opinion! Take a moment to complete our survey

This will close in 20 seconds