Early
in the morning our song shall rise to Thee.
Holy,
holy, holy! Merciful and mighty!
God in
three Persons, blessed Trinity!
---Reginald Heber, 1826
I will admit it. I have always been a bit put off by
descriptions of God as powerful. It seems in this world that being powerful is
an invitation to mistreat or take advantage of the weak and poor. For every “good
King Wenceslas”, there are hundreds of “Ivan
the Terribles”. Power seems so
intoxicating, and so easy to abuse. So my vision of a powerful, almighty God is
colored by the lens of the world in which I live, and the one I read about in
history books. Reginald Heber, in the mid-1800’s, caught the essence of God’s
power with one short phrase: “merciful and mighty.”
In a world where might is often used to man-handle and
menace, and strength to strong-arm and subdue, we the faithful shine a light on
a God who stands in contrast to those faulty human ideals. We worship a God who
is strong and tender, who is limitless and approachable, who is Law and Love.
Merciful and mighty, God, we worship you.
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