Remember Patrick, and drink to the Lord.

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

Though you have not seen Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

   - 1 Peter 1.8, 9

Thus the hated foe deals as he wearies our hearts,
And by ill temptations shakes the inward hearts with rage.
Let your mind, my men, recalling Christ, sound Ho!

   - Columbanus, “A Boat Song,” Irish, 7th century

It is difficult for us to imagine the tremendous hardships faced by Irish peregrinati as they undertook their missions of evangelism for the Lord.

In Gaul, Columbanus, anticipating the rigors of sailing on contrary rivers, wrote this boat song for his men to sing so that they could combat the temptation to give up and turn back as their strength began to fail. Columbanus knew that the devil can use our weaknesses to thwart the Lord’s plans, but only if we fail to look to a strength beyond our strength – the strength which comes from contemplating the risen Christ.

As Peter commended the Asian churches for keeping their focus on Christ during their time of hardship, so Columbanus prepared a means for his men to do the same, so that the work of the Kingdom could go on in spite of their weariness.

This is the way God works to renew us and take us beyond ourselves.

When we are at the end of our strength, there is yet strength to be found in contemplating Christ and His sufferings on our behalf. Every day we must expect God to take us beyond where our natural strength – whether of body or soul – might go, by enabling us to draw on the strength of Jesus, exalted at the Father’s right hand.

Learn to contemplate Christ, dear friends. See Him in His glory, seeing you in your weakness. Reach out to Him and receive a strength of glory you never knew possible – exceeding abundant above all you’ve ever dared to ask or think.

He will meet you there, where you are weak, and take you beyond.

Psalm 118.7-9 (Windsor: “Come, Ye Thankful People, Come”)
For the Lord stands next to me; He will give me victory!
Over all who hate my life I will triumph through the strife!
In His grace I refuge find; in His steadfast love so kind.
Trust not princes, trust not men – Christ shall be our haven then!

Lord, deliver me through all my fears and weakness to love You as I ought, and help me to carry out all Your will. Adapted from Rule of Comghall