The
writer Anne Lamott claims that a great deal of her prayer life can be
summarized by the alternating prayers “Help me, help me, help me”
and “Thank you, thank you, thank you.” Probably this is true of
most of us. And, of course, we also need to say “Sorry, sorry,
sorry” in confessing our sins. But we all recognize that we are
forever bringing God our needs and then—in appropriate
response—closing the loop with a prayer of gratitude.
Thanksgiving
is wonderful and necessary. But so is doxology—and it’s not
always clear that we do much of this. Doxology is praising God for
who he is. It is giving God the glory that is due him for his radiant
holiness. In thanksgiving we offer up gratitude for something we have
received. But in doxology we honor the very being of God. We exalt
and praise the Lord simply because he is God.
The
word doxology
comes from Greek and literally means “glory word.” We see God’s
glory, and we speak a word of amazement as we send that glory to God.
Doxologies
erupted from Paul quite often in his New Testament letters—and
usually near the end, as we find here in Philippians 4. Doxologies of
many kinds should regularly flow from our hearts and lips too!
Our
glorious God is worthy of all the glory we can beam back to him!