Forever, O LORD, Your Word is firmly fixed in the heavens. Your faithfulness endures to all generations; You have established the earth, and it stands fast. By Your appointment they stand this day, for all things are Your servants.

   - Psalm 119.89-91

O God of the earth, O God of fire, O God of the excellent waters, O God of the tempestuous and rushing air, O God of the many languages round the circuit of the earth, O God of the waves from the bottomless house of the ocean, O God of the constellations and all the bright stars...O heavenly Father Who art in heaven, have mercy upon us.

   - Mugrón, Litany of the Trinity, Irish, 14th -15th century

How mind-boggling is this? The God Who made heaven and earth, Who sustains all things by the Word of His power, Who commands fire and rain and wind and seas, and makes all His creatures to serve Him – this God, this Almighty Sovereign, is pleased to take us to Himself as His children.

As great and unfathomable as the sovereignty of God is, it cannot compare with the depths of His mercy toward the likes of you and me. God does not need us. He is complete, perfect, and filled with joy within Himself. But it pleases Him to allow us to share in that glorious celebration of divine being. There is nothing in us to explain or justify such unmitigated grace; it is only the good pleasure of our good and loving God.

Amazing grace, indeed! I love to pray with Spanish-speaking people. In my experience, typically a Spanish-speaking pastor begins his prayer with a long list of vocative superlatives – a little like these ancient Irish litanies – in which the attributes and wonders of God are exalted and extolled in a way that lifts everyone praying into the very presence of the divine glory.

Then, when the prayer turns from celebration to address, the speaker will say, “Tú” – the familiar form of “You.” Whereas we might expect to grovel and plead in the presence of such a glorious God, at the very least, to use the formal, “Ustéd,” no, we come to our Father on familiar terms, terms arranged through the good offices of His Son, our Savior, even Jesus.

Let us not take this for granted, dear friends. What a great, grand, amazing, wholly unbelievable privilege, that we should be called the children of this God, and such is what we are!

Psalm 149.5-9 (Toulon: “I Greet Thee, Who My Sure Redeemer Art”)
Sing to the Lord, exult with great delight!
Sing on your beds with joy to God by night!
Sing praise and take His Word into your hand;
Publish His grace and wrath and every land!

O Lord, the King Who rules over all things, Father, watch over me! Adapted from Saltair na Rann