Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow

 

“𝙃𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙈𝙤𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙃𝙮𝙢𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙙𝙚𝙫𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙡𝙮, 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙋𝙨𝙖𝙡𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙩, 𝙪𝙥𝙤𝙣 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙮 𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚, 𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙇𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙃𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙩𝙝 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙣𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣.”

 

Born in Hertfordshire, Thomas Ken, coined as “England’s first hymnist”, was orphaned as a child and was raised by his half-sister Anna and her husband Izaak Walton. 

 

When Ken was fourteen years old, he entered Winchester College. While he was there, Ken wrote hymns including Morning Hymn, Evening Hymn, and Midnight Hymn, to encourage the devotional habits of his friends. Both the Morning Hymn and Evening Hymn end with the doxology that begins, “Praise God from whom all blessings flow.” He instructed them to sing the Morning and Evening Hymn in their chamber devoutly, remembering that the Psalmist, upon happy experience, assures that it is a good thing to tell of the loving kindness of the Lord early in the morning and of His truth in the night season.

 

Ken established an excellent reputation at Winchester, and was eventually appointed chaplain to King Charles II. When the king decided to visit Winchester, he sent word to Ken that Nell Gwynne, the king’s mistress, was to be lodged at Ken’s house. Ken not only mounted loud objections, but also hired workmen to remove the roof to his house so that the king could not enforce Nell’s lodgment there. In that time and place, an act of rebellion against the king could cost a person his head, but King Charles was impressed with Ken’s courage. Not only did he allow Ken to live, but he even appointed him sometime later to be the Bishop of Bath and Wells.

Years went by, Ken was one of seven bishops who refused to sign the next king, King James II’s Declaration of Indulgence, a decree designed to promote the king’s Catholic faith. For this act of rebellion, he was imprisoned in the Tower of London – but he was later tried and acquitted. 

 

Living the rest of his life at the home of his friend, Lord Weymouth, at Longleat, Wilshire, he died of natural causes in 1711. He was buried at sunrise, while the Doxology was sung at his funeral.

 

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;

Praise Him, all creatures here below;

Praise Him above, ye heav’nly host;

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Amen.

 

“𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗚𝗼𝗱, 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗺 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄”

James 1:17 says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights.” God is worthy of our praise because He has created everything, and is the source of every blessing we have ever received, or will receive in the future.

 

“𝙋𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙨𝙚 𝙃𝙞𝙢 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙬”

The word “creature” simply means, “that which is created”. Everything that God has created gives evidence that God is real, and gives Him glory. As the crowning achievement of God’s creation, it is our responsibility as people to lead the way in praising God.

 

“𝙋𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙨𝙚 𝙃𝙞𝙢 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙩”

In passages like Isaiah 6 and Revelation 4, we see that God is constantly worshiped by angels in heaven. Someday, believers from every tribe, nation, and language will join with the angels to worship Him forever. What a day that will be!

 

“𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗲 𝗙𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿, 𝗦𝗼𝗻, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗛𝗼𝗹𝘆 𝗚𝗵𝗼𝘀𝘁”

God exists as a “Trinity”. When we talk about God, we talk about three distinct “Persons”, united as one God. There is only one God, but He exists as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each has separate roles, but all are equally worthy of our praise because all are equally God.

 

“𝗔𝗺𝗲𝗻”

This word means simply, “I agree!” When we agree with something true that has been said about God, we reply “Amen” to voice our affirmation. This is why you will often hear people say “Amen” during a really good sermon! We see this word a lot in the Bible, usually when God is being praised, because people who love God want everyone to know that we agree that He is worthy of our praise!