O Worship the King
Paraphrasing Psalm 104. God is infinitely glorious, loving, protective, eternal, majestic, and worthy of all praise.
1 O worship the King all-glorious above,[1]
O gratefully sing his power and his love:
our Shield and Defender[2], the Ancient of Days[3],
pavilioned[4] in splendor and girded with praise.[5]
[1] refers to God being above all creation and any earthly king, in terms of majesty and supremacy.
[2] comes from Psalms.
[3] comes from Daniel 7, referring to how God has no beginning or end; He existed before time itself.
[4] pavilioned = to be covered, like a tent, in splendor.
[5] girded with praise = for God to be enveloped, wrapped, and clothed in praise from His people. Referring to one of our roles in heaven, how our worship will be like the robe that covered Jesus; our praise that surrounds and clothes Him.
2 O tell of his might and sing of his grace,
whose robe is the light, whose canopy space.[6]
His chariots of wrath the deep thunderclouds form,
and dark is his path on the wings of the storm.[7]
[6] Psalm 104, and thus this song, speaks to creation; this stanza to days 1 & 2 of light and the sky.
[7] this speaks of God’s awe-inspiring power and His tender love. As an example, storms and such can happen as a form of God’s judgment, yet that terrifying strength (when channel as grace) is also used to save us.
3 Your bountiful care, what tongue can recite?[8]
It breathes in the air, it shines in the light;
it streams from the hills, it descends to the plain,
and sweetly distills in the dew and the rain.[9]
[8] God cares for us in ways we don’t even know, e.g. sparing us from disasters we may only learn of when we get to Heaven.
[9] this stanza focuses on acknowledging God’s provision for us, in terms of creation when He created the air, light, land, and rain, and also, every day when we enjoy these things.
4 Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail,[10]
in you do we trust, nor find you to fail.
Your mercies, how tender, how firm to the end,
our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend![11]
[10] The climax of God’s creation in Genesis 1 was creating humans, in His image. We’re frail and feeble, yet in God’s mercy, those who trust Him are strong.
[11] God is our maker, defender, redeemer; and, our friend. In John 15, Jesus says that those who believe in God and obey Him, we are friends in addition to being slaves. Let’s look forward to being able to fully enjoy that relationship intimately when we’re in heaven.