Holiness

Last week I bought the Lutheran Book of Prayer. I don’t usually have trouble coming up with something to talk to God about when I pray, but there is something about written prayers that can help me focus. In particular, they can help me focus on the holiness of God.

A fellow blogger recently wrote something that has gone through my mind several times this week. She wrote, “Being what I am, I simply do not know much about holiness.” Thorns and Myrtles. As much as I would like to understand God’s holiness, I simply do not. I gain a bit more understanding as I grow older, but I will never understand it completely this side of Heaven.

And so to express the holiness of God I sometimes turn to the prayers of others who have been able to express it better than I can. In this way, I grow a little closer to the understanding of God’s holiness that I desire. Here is a prayer from the Lutheran Book of Prayer called Te Deum Laudamus:

We praise You, O God; we acknowledge You to be the Lord. All the earth now worships You, the Father everlasting. To You all angels cry aloud, the heavens and all the pow’rs therein. To You cherubim and seraphim continually do cry: Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth, heaven and earth are full of the majesty of Your glory. The glorious company of the apostles praise You. The goodly fellowship of the prophets praise You. The noble army of martyrs praise You. The holy Church throughout the world does acknowledge You: The Father of an infinite majesty; Your adorable true and only Son; also the Holy Ghost, the Comforter. You are the king of glory, O Christ; You are the everlasting Son of the Father.

Martin Luther, I think, understood the holiness of God better than I do. I pray that this prayer will help you and me come closer to understanding the holiness of God. I look forward to the day when we will experience His holiness fully and completely in His glorious presence.