URC Daily Devotion Thursday 25 June 2026

Hymns 4 Fill Thou My Life, O Lord My God

Rejoice and Sing 406

Fill thou my life, O Lord my God,
in every part with praise,
that my whole being may proclaim
thy being and thy ways.

Not for the lip of praise alone
nor ev’n the praising heart
I ask, but for a life made up
of praise in every part.

Praise in the common things of life,
its goings our and in;
praise in each duty and each deed,
however small and mean.

Fill every part of me with praise,
let all my being speak
of thee and of the love, O Lord,
poor though I be and weak.

So shalt thou, glorious Lord,
from me receive the glory due;
and so shall I begin on earth
the song for ever new.

So shall no part of day or night
from sacredness be free;
but all my life, in every step,
be fellowship with thee.

Public Domain
Horatio Bonar.  You can hear the hymn here.

Psalm 120:169-172

Let my cry of joy reach you, Lord;
give me insight as you have promised.
Let my prayers for favour reach you;
be true to your promise and save me.
Let your praise pour from my lips,
for you teach me your statutes;
let the music of your promises be on my tongue,
for your commandments are justice itself.

Reflection

Bonar’s hymn takes us back to George Herbert and his sense that even sweeping a room might be a response to God. In the longer poem from which these verses are taken Bonar suggests that returning good for ill and acting unselfishly were also acts of praise. There is also an echo of John Mason in the thought that our praise on earth marks the beginning of singing the new song in the heavenly Jerusalem. The editors of New Church Praise called one of the sections ‘All one in God’s eternal praise,’ underlining this idea. It is a theme which can be discovered in many of the hymns we sing. It is good to find times for devotion and to give our whole attention to prayer and praise. Equally, we must not fall into the trap of thinking the rest of our life has no relation to our devotions. An old text often found on parlour walls was ‘Thou God see’st me.’ Put that way it can sound rather threatening. On the other hand, it might equally be reassuring, that God is with us in our joys and sorrows and the everyday routines of life.

Prayer

God ever-present, I confess the emptiness in my life which you are trying to fill. May I be more sensitive to the people and events around me through which you are speaking. Thank you for the times when I am full of life and ready to give thanks and praise, feeling you are near. You also speak to me in times of depression and anxiety though I am deaf to your voice. May I also then find the praise which is already within me.