URC Daily Devotion Wednesday 24 June 2026
Hymns 3 How Shall I Sing That Majesty
Rejoice and Sing 661
How shall I sing that majesty
which angels do admire?
Let dust in dust and silence lie:
sing, sing ye heavenly choir.
Thousands of thousands stand around
thy throne, O God most high:
ten thousand times ten thousand sound
thy praise; but who am I?
Thy brightness unto them appears,
while I thy footsteps trace;
a sound of God comes to my ears;
but they behold thy face;
I shall, I fear, be dark and cold,
with all my fire and light;
yet when thou dost accept their gold,
Lord, treasure up my mite.
Enlighten with faith’s light my heart,
inflame it with love’s fire,
then shall I sing and take my part
with that celestial choir.
They sing, because thou art their Sun;
Lord, send a beam on me;
for where heaven is but once begun,
there alleluias be.
How great a being, Lord, is thine,
which doth all beings keep!
Thy knowledge is the only line
to sound so vast a deep:
thou art a sea without a shore,
a sun without a sphere;
thy time is now and evermore,
thy place is everywhere.
Public Domain
John Mason. You can hear the hymn sung here.
Revelation 15: 2-4
I saw what looked like a sea of glass shot through with fire. Standing beside it and holding the harps which God has given them were those who had been victorious against the beast, its image, and the number of its name.
They were singing the son of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb:
Great and marvellous are your deeds,
O Lord God, sovereign over all;
just and true are your ways,
O King of the ages.
Who shall not fear you, Lord,
and do homage to your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations shall come and worship before you,
for your just decrees stand revealed.
Reflection
Once again a poem, this time by the eighteenth century John Mason, has been turned into a hymn. It has been given a rich melody, Coe Fen, by Ken Naylor. Mason contrasts what he has to offer by way of praise with the music of the celestial choir. They are the gold standard of praise, against which we have only a tiny coin to offer. Since we are only dust we might as well keep quiet. Then Mason reminds himself and us that by the light of faith we may be able to take a small part in the song of the immortals. They are in the full sunlight of God but perhaps a sunbeam might be spared to shine on a heart full of love for God, enabling the faithful believer to take a small part in the eternal chorus of praise.
This link with the praises offered in Heaven is not unique to Mason, and once made aware of it, we may trace it in many hymns. Like George Herbert, John Mason sees the human heart as the ultimate source of praise to God. Hymns may be sung by anyone who chooses, but that may result in mere repetition if the intention to draw near to God is not there. The old rituals of singing hymns at football and rugby finals is simply that, a ritual which does not chime in with the eternal chorus. At an uncle’s funeral we sang ‘The old rugged cross’, as he had requested. I say sung; the two or three of us who knew it sang. Others stood around without even attempting it and one small child looked up at me in wonderment at what was happening. I have seen people moved to tears by John Mason’s hymn but something more than knowing the words and the tune is required if we are to enter into what a hymn is about.
Prayer
Great and marvellous are your deeds, O Lord our God, sovereign over all. We know our praise is faltering and feeble. We acknowledge that we are worldly people, whose minds are not always turned towards your presence and purpose. In asking forgiveness we also look to strengthen our faith and inspire our praise with new life and imagination. You have shared your creative gifts generously and shown us in Jesus Christ the ways in which to live our lives; how ever much we may shrink from your holy light may we find a beam to illumine us. May we stand with all your redeemed people in the new Jerusalem where the songs of praise are without end.