Exegeting the Hymns #86 - All Creatures of Our God And King

All Creatures of our God and King
w/m - St. Francis of Assisi
 

All creatures of our God and King
Lift up your voice and with us sing
O praise Him, Alleluia
Thou burning sun with golden beam
Thou silver moon with softer gleam
O praise Him, O praise Him
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia

Thou rushing wind that art so strong
Ye clouds that sail in Heaven along
O praise Him, Alleluia
Thou rising morn in praise rejoice
Ye lights of evening find a voice
O praise Him, O praise Him
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia

And all ye men of tender heart
Forgiving others, take your part 
O sing ye, alleluia
Ye who long pain and sorrow bear
Praise God and on him cast your care
O praise him, O praise him, 
alleluia, alleluia, alleluia! 

Let all things their Creator bless
And worship Him in humbleness
O praise Him, Alleluia
Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son
And praise the Spirit, three in one
O praise Him, O praise Him
Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia

As we continue our series of the favorite hymns ever sung by God’s church, this one is number 8. It was written in 1225 in Italy, and other than “Be thou My Vision” which was written in the 6th century, it is the oldest one in our list. You may ask how these songs have endured for so long, and that is because they were written by skilled musicians to be timeless. These melodies are instantly recognizable, easily teachable, and aren’t dated by the recording styles of the day. There is a place for songs that speak specifically to today, but there is also a place for songs that speak across generations.

All creatures of our God and King, lift up your voice and with us sing, O praise Him, Alleluia. Throughout God’s Word, especially in the psalms, we see the call for all of creation to cry out in praise to the Lord (Psalm 96:11-12 is a good example). Now, we know that these creatures and created objects do not have a physical, literal voice. Nor do they have the will of man, but they do speak. “The heavens declare the glory of God”. All one needs to do is look at what God has made and, as they say, “A picture is worth a thousand words.”  

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” We can know that there is a Creator by what is created. Songwriters use “poetic license” the way God uses anthropomorphisms in Scripture. Often, as in this song, we will attribute human qualities to a created object, (the will, a voice) to sing praise to God.

Thou burning sun with golden beam, thou silver moon with softer gleam, O praise Him. God created the sun, moon, and the stars on the fourth day of creation. They give praise to God every time they appear in the sky and function exactly the way God intended.

Thou rushing wind that art so strong, ye clouds that sail in Heaven along, O praise Him. Jesus said in John 3 that, “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” The wind seems completely random, but there is nothing random with God. The wind blows exactly where it is intended to blow and the clouds move and give rain exactly where God means for them to.

Thou rising morn in praise rejoice. Ye lights of evening find a voice. The very first day of creation, before anything else was made, God made day and night, evening and morning. From the beginning, this cycle has been constant (with the exception of one day during Joshua’s time). Again, it gives praise to the Creator when the creation does what it was created to do. And all ye men of tender heart, forgiving others, take your part. This third verse speaks now directly to us. We can’t rightfully praise and serve God, when we have an unforgiving attitude. Even when people have wronged us and treated us unfairly, it is our job to forgive. Then, regardless of their response, we can rightly join in true worship.

Ye who long pain and sorrow bear, praise God and on him cast your care. There are always times of pain and hurt. The cares of this life will weigh us down. It is part of living among sinful people in a fallen world. But when we cast our care on Him, it frees us up to focus on the worship of the Almighty.

Let all things their Creator bless and worship Him in humbleness. One of the Greek words translated “Worship” is proskuneo. It means to kneel or bow down. One who is humble is in the right position spiritually to worship.  

Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son, and praise the Spirit, three in one. One of the salvific doctrines that a true Christian must have right is a belief in the Triune God. All three persons of the Trinity deserve our praise and worship. We don’t need to, and can’t fully understand the concept of the Trinity, but as I’ve often quoted, “Define the Trinity and lose your mind… deny the Trinity and lose your soul.” The one God in three Persons deserves the eternal praise from all the creatures of our God and King.

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