As Your Name, So Your Praise

“We have thought on your steadfast love, O God,
    in the midst of your temple.
As your name, O God,
    so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth.
Your right hand is filled with righteousness…
Tell the next generation
     that this is God,
our God forever and ever.
    He will guide us forever.” Psalm 48:9-10,13-14

“From the rising of the sun to its setting,
    the name of the Lord is to be praised!” Psalm 113:3

In the temple of God’s creation, the sanctuary of firmament with ceiling of endless sky, we think on God’s steadfast love. He didn’t have to make His world so beautiful- the limitless textures, temperatures, hues of color, and all the sounds- we would never have known differently. But in infinite love He designed this world for us, so we could glimpse His glory through it, His power in it, and exercise our wills in working and experiencing all He made. (Romans 1:20)

Contemplating God’s love in His world, we see His signature imprinted everywhere on earth and proclaimed in the skies. The name that identifies Him and His eternal attributes is known and resplendent in all He has made, and its praise spreads as far as its renown. (Psalm 19:1-4)

Who can we tell? Who will we tell, of the infinite greatness of our God? To whom in the next generation can we point to both age-old structures and transient life and explain that God is God from everlasting to everlasting, and is their God forever? Let us proclaim these great truths, and praise His name! “Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.” (Psalm 90:1-2)

“The love of God is greater far
than tongue or pen can ever tell;
it goes beyond the highest star,
and reaches to the lowest hell.
The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled
And pardoned from his sin.

When ancient time shall pass away,
and human thrones and kingdoms fall;
when those who here refuse to pray
on rocks and hills and mountains call;
God’s love so sure, shall still endure,
all measureless and strong;
Redeeming grace to Adam’s race—
The saints’ and angels’ song.

Could we with ink the ocean fill,
and were the skies of parchment made;
were ev’ry stalk on earth a quill,
and ev’ry man a scribe by trade;
to write the love of God above
would drain the ocean dry;
nor could the scroll contain the whole,
though stretched from sky to sky.

O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure—
the saints’ and angels’ song.” ~Frederick M. Lehman (1868-1953)

Lord, tune my voice with the angels’ to sing unending praise. From the rising of the sun to its setting, and to every generation I can, may my life- every thought, action, and word- proclaim that You are God.