Weekly devotion no 16

Weekly Devotion no 16
17 July 2020

Bible reading – 1 Chronicles 29:11-13

¹¹ Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power

    and the glory and the majesty and the splendour,

    for everything in heaven and earth is yours.

Yours, Lord, is the kingdom;

    you are exalted as head over all.

¹² Wealth and honour come from you;

    you are the ruler of all things.

In your hands are strength and power

    to exalt and give strength to all.

¹³ Now, our God, we give you thanks,

    and praise your glorious name.

Reflection - For Thine is the kingdom

This week we come to the end of the Lord’s Prayer:

For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

This ending reminds us of the beginning, giving God the glory and seeking his kingdom. It also teaches us to take our encouragement in prayer from God alone: the kingdom we seek is his. This conclusion teaches us in our prayers to praise him, ascribing kingdom, power, and glory to him. This echoes David’s prayer in 1 Chronicles above. David was about to die and before he handed over the kingship to his son Solomon, with the express purpose of building the temple, he acknowledged that everything he had came from God and God alone. He was handing over an earthly kingdom, but he knew that the kingdom actually belonged to God. He knew, and he wanted his son to know, that all glory was due to God.

There is a time coming when we will no longer need the petitions of the Lord’s Prayer. When we will be in God’s presence solely to worship him. We will be entirely satisfied. And so, at the end of this prayer, we once again consider God, in whose presence we will be for all eternity – our great, powerful, majestic and glorious God – and we worship him.

And in testimony of our desire, and assurance to be heard, we say ‘Amen’.[1]

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[1] Westminster Shorter Catechism

Hymn

Verse 1

O Lord my God when I in awesome wonder

Consider all the works Thy hand hath made

I see the stars I hear the mighty thunder

Thy pow'r throughout the universe displayed

Then sings my soul my Saviour God to Thee

How great Thou art how great Thou art

Then sings my soul my Saviour God to Thee

How great Thou art how great Thou art

Verse 2

When through the woods and forest glades I wander

And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees

When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur

And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze

Then sings my soul my Saviour God to Thee

How great Thou art how great Thou art

Then sings my soul my Saviour God to Thee

How great Thou art how great Thou art

Verse 3

And when I think that God His Son not sparing

Sent Him to die I scarce can take it in

That on the Cross my burden gladly bearing

He bled and died to take away my sin

Then sings my soul my Saviour God to Thee

How great Thou art how great Thou art

Then sings my soul my Saviour God to Thee

How great Thou art how great Thou art

Verse 4

When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation

And take me home what joy shall fill my heart

Then shall I bow in humble adoration

And there proclaim my God how great Thou art

Then sings my soul my Saviour God to Thee

How great Thou art how great Thou art

Then sings my soul my Saviour God to Thee

How great Thou art how great Thou art

CCLI Song # 14181 Stuart Wesley Keene Hine © Copyright 1949 and 1953 Stuart Hine Trust CIO Stuart K. Hine Trust (Admin. by Crossroad Distributors Pty. Ltd.) CCLI:69198      

Prayer

O God, our true life,

to know you is life,

to serve you is freedom,

to enjoy you is a kingdom,

to praise you is the joy and happiness of the soul.

I praise and bless and adore you, I worship you, I glorify you.

I give thanks to you for your great glory.

I humbly beg you to live with me, to reign in me, to make this heart of mine a holy temple, a fit habitation for your divine majesty. Amen.

St Augustine (354-430)