“Yours, O Lord, are the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heavens and on the earth is yours; yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all.” 1 Chronicles 29:1
I love our liturgy because of the embedded Scripture. It plants Scripture in my heart and mind. When I found this in the Old Testament, I was surprised. The Old Testament does that to me. It also seemed to be a run-on list of the Lord’s attributes at first, but the more I hear it and go over it in my heart and mind, I have grown quite fond of this verse. Looking up the context in Chronicles, there is even more to love about it! (Go ahead, do it now!)
Everything belongs to God. What a relief to know we are not in charge of it all. Like a weight off my shoulders, that gives me peace. Still, why do I find that I tend to hold so tightly to everything, knowing this?
This Scripture assists me using the prayer mnemonic A.C.T.S. It is beautiful, moving me to count the ways I Adore the Lord of the universe. It also moves me to Confession. Scripture is “sharper than any two-edged sword” (Hebrews 4:12), moving me to reject any notions of self-importance and pride. The Lord of the universe is this incredible, but still laid down the life of His son, Jesus, for me to stand before HIS throne spotless, and that leads me to be very Thankful. For others, my prayer and Supplication is that they also know His greatness, powerfulness, glory, majesty, and splendor and also bow before HIM with reverence and awe.
Emily Wilson-McCrea
Emily is a founding member of Servants of Christ and serves on the vestry.