1 From all that dwell below the skies, Let the Creator’s praise arise; Alleluia! Alleluia! Let the Redeemer’s name be sung Through ev’ry land by ev’ry tongue. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
2 In every land begin the song, To every land the strains belong: Alleluia! Alleluia! In cheerful sound all choices raise And fill the world with joyful praise. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
3 Your lofty themes, ye mortals, bring, In songs of praise divinely sing; Alleluia! Alleluia! The great salvation loud proclaim, And shout for joy the Saviour’s name. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
4 Eternal are Thy mercies Lord; Eternal truth attends Thy Word; Alleluia! Alleluia! Thy praise shall sound from shore to shore Till suns shall rise and set no more. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Let praise come from everywhere, from everyone. In every language. This is praise as it would be in response to the great commission to spread the Good News of Jesus around the globe. This is a Psalm that encourages the embracing of diversity. This is global salvation, for Jews, for Gentiles, for all people in all ages. It is such a simple Psalm, but its very simplicity has power: Praise God for God’s love and faithfulness.
The original Psalm that this hymn is based on is only 2 verses, the shortest Psalm, and if you’re counting the chapters it’s in the very middle of the Bible. Nowhere escapes, nowhere misses out from every shore to every other shore into the far distance, and forever, until the time when any sun anywhere in the entirety of the heavens neither rises nor sets, on the day when heaven encompasses and welcomes all.
Our praise should be joyful and be in our own words, we don’t need to impress God with eloquence. God delights in our simple, innocent and honest delight in all we see God giving to us.
Maybe some of the impact of this Psalm is in what it doesn’t say. There isn’t a mention of doing things that will please God, nor does it list a catalogue of woes, the writer doesn’t ask God for anything, there’s no request to smite any enemies. It is purely and unashamedly devotional.
For those of us who preach or lead any form of worship, let its brevity be a lesson too. There are no wasted words, it gets to the point quickly.
Are we challenged to praise God for God’s love and faithfulness in our day and age?
Prayer
From all that dwells below the skies Let our prayer & praises rise on high Hallelujah Amen
We use cookies to optimise our website and our service.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.