“Holy God, We Praise your Name," ELW 414 and LBW 535
1 Holy God, we praise your name;
Lord of all, we bow before you.
All on earth your scepter claim,
all in heav’n above adore you.
Infinite your vast domain,
everlasting is your reign.
2 Hark! The glad celestial
angel choirs above are raising;
cherubim and seraphim,
in unceasing chorus praising, fill the heav’ns with sweet accord:
“Holy, holy, holy Lord!”
3 Lo, the apostolic train
join your sacred name to hallow;
prophets swell the glad refrain,
and the white-robed martyrs follow;
and from morn to set of sun
through the church the song goes on.
4 Holy Father, holy Son,
Holy Spirit, three we name you,
though in essence only one;
undivided God we claim you
and, adoring, bend the knee
while we own the mystery.
Devotion
My favorite children's sermon for Holy Trinity Sunday involves the three forms of water: ice, liquid and steam. We understand how they can be the same element, transformed into three distinct phases. Each has a separate function. Each serves a different purpose. But in essence, they are all the same. It's a tangible way to try and get one's mind around a vexing concept.
This hymn doesn't try and explain how it is possible that we claim "one God in three persons." But the last verse points to our role in trying to understand it: "undivided God, we claim you; and, adoring, bend the knee, while we own the mystery." The nature of the divine is a mystery to us. Someday, when we are reunited with our Lord, we might begin to understand. But for now, it's enough to offer our worship and to claim that that we don't know how or what or why; we just believe that God is.
Prayer
Your ways are not our ways, O Lord, and your thoughts are not our thoughts. Yet still, you claim and care for us. Help us to be satisfied and secure in that. Amen.