Good morning!

The next hymn is #78, and it has 14 stanzas. Since there are so many, I will share with you my favorite 4 stanzas out of the 14.

Praise of the Lord-His Name

Day  23 – 78

1. Gracious Lord, Thy name “I AM” is,

Precious name, how rich and full ’tis,

All-inclusive, faithful too ’tis –

All we need, Thou art!

The opening of this hymn begins with a declaration of who the Lord is – the I AM. This is a reference to the Hebrew record in the Old Testament of the Bible in which God self-identifies as the I AM. God is mysterious, great, and incomprehensible to the mind alone. However, His name is also precious, rich, full, all-inclusive and faithful. It is yes, paradoxical, if you think too hard about it, but there is such joy to read such a description of God who supplies all these and more to meet our every need (see stanza 14 to come below!)

5. Thou art wisdom and the way, Lord,

Thou our lives dost plan each day, Lord,

Grace to us Thou dost convey, Lord,

In Thy path to walk.

This is my “today” and “every day.” It is also my specific prayer today when I definitely need not my own wisdom, but that of the Lord to deal with problems I know are ahead of me today. Amen, His grace is sufficient for me. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

7. Thou art life and Thou art light, Lord,

Death hast swallowed, banished night, Lord,

Thou hast quickened, given sight, Lord;

We are now set free.

In the inevitable instance that at some point in the day, troubles might get you or me down, it is good and even prudent to declare these divine facts in this stanza #7. You are life, You are light, Lord. You swallowed and banished night. The reference to quickening, giving sight, and setting free are all examples in the New Testament in which the Lord turned a situation of death or weakness into something of life and light.

14. What Thou art – eternal, boundless,

Full and perfect, rich, exhaustless –

Meets our need to utter fullness

And from us o’erflows.

This is a good summary of the hymn, and is inclusive of the sentiment of the other 10 verses I didn’t share here with you. The addition here is that when we are enjoying all the precious attributes of the Lord by appropriating by prayer, by faith, by believing and declaring, there is something visible and tangible in our demeanor that shows a little something that has overcome the day’s burdens and come out victorious and with a flavor of life and enjoyment. I’ve seen this principle at work in some people I know. It is refreshing.

Enjoy the I AM who meets our need to utter fullness today!

Until next time,

BlueBoots