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Awake, My Soul, and With the Sun

Awake, My Soul, and With the Sun. Introduction. You may not recognize the song by name Often we only sing the last stanza of the song Called “Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow” or simply “Doxology” (song #561) “Doxology” means “word of praise” Refers to short hymns praising God

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Awake, My Soul, and With the Sun

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  1. Awake, My Soul, and With the Sun

  2. Introduction • You may not recognize the song by name • Often we only sing the last stanza of the song • Called “Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow” or simply “Doxology” (song #561) • “Doxology” means “word of praise” • Refers to short hymns praising God • Most often sung to a tune called “Old 100th” • Because it is most often associated with Psalm 100 (“All People That on Earth Do Dwell”, song #57)

  3. Introduction • Written by Thomas Ken in 1673 as the first in a 3-part series of hymns called “Morning, Evening, and Midnight Hymns” • He worked at Winchester College and prepared a “Manual of Prayers” for the students • The hymns were first written as a part of the manual to be hymns for private devotional use • All 3 hymns ended with the same last stanza, “Praise God from whom all blessings flow; Praise Him, all creatures here below; Praise Him above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.” • The Morning Hymn had 14 stanzas, so we’ll only look at 6 of the commonly used stanzas

  4. The writer • Thomas Ken was born in 1637 (grandson of a little known English poet) • Orphaned at a young age and raised by his older sister, Anne • Anne was married to Izaak Walton the original author of The Compleat Angler (1653) –yes, the fly-fishing book • In 1661 received a BA from Oxford • Became the private chaplain to Princess Mary until he took a stand against immorality • Later chaplain to William of Orange until he insisted that William honor his promise of marriage of his son to an English lady • Later became chaplain to King Charles II, until he refused to let the royal mistress stay in his home • Later sent to the Tower of London for refusing an order of James II he felt would compromise Scripture

  5. Stanza 1 • “Awake, my soul, and with the sun Thy daily stage of duty run; Shake off dull sloth, and joyful rise To pay thy morning sacrifice.” • As the sun rises each day, we should wake prepared to carry out our Christian duty • Rom 13:11-12 • The Jews had sacrifices to God to be made at the start and end of each day • The song suggests we too could joyfully begin each day with a sacrifice (not animal, but a sacrifice of praise in song) – Heb 13:15 • The song itself was written to be such a day starting sacrifice

  6. Stanza 2 • “By influence of the light divine Let thy own light to others shine; Reflect all heaven's propitious rays In ardent love and cheerful praise.” • We need to begin the day remembering to walk that day in God’s light (1 Jn 1:5-7) • And we are to be a light for the world (Mt 5:16) • One way we reflect God’s love for the world to see is by our love for God and others • Jn 13:34-35; Mt 22:37-39

  7. Stanza 3 • “Wake and lift up thyself, my heart, And with the angels bear thy part, Who all night long, unwearied, sing high praise to the eternal king.” • In every act of worship (individual or collective) we should put our hearts into what we do • Mt 15:7-9 • The angels in heaven also worship (Heb 1:6) so our worship is a joining of our worship with their’s which continued even while we slept • Thus, it’s good to begin each day with praise to God (Ps 148:1-14)

  8. Stanza 4 • “All praise to Thee, who safe hast kept, And has refreshed me while I slept; Grant, Lord, when I from death shall wake, I may of endless light partake.” • With the Lord’s promise to watch over us, we can sleep peacefully (Ps 4:8) • Even if our sleep leads into the sleep of death, we have no reason to fear (1 Thes 4:13-18) • For from death we will wake to the light of God’s presence for eternity (Rev 21:23)

  9. Stanza 5 • “Lord, I my vows to Thee renew; Disperse my sins as morning dew; Guard my first springs of thought and will And with Thyself my spirit fill.” • The “vows” here is our personal commitment to obey God • We should remember our vows as we did when we first made them (Eccl 5:4-5) • And ask God to forgive those times when we have failed (Mt 6:12) • And asking God’s help in guarding our thoughts so that our spirits may be filled with Him (Eph 3:16-19)

  10. Stanza 6 • “Direct, control, suggest, this day, All I design, or do, or say; That all my powers, with all their might, In Thy sole glory may unite.” • We want the Lord to direct us (Prov 3:5-6) • Not by some voice or physical control • But by His word in our heart and lives • So we submit all our thoughts to God’s control (Phil 4:8) • As each of us surrenders to His will, we are uniting to God’s glory (Eph 3:20-21)

  11. Conclusion • “Praise God from whom all blessings flow; Praise Him, all creatures here below; Praise Him above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.” • The final stanza • We acknowledge all our blessings as coming from God and give God all praise • Thomas Ken died March 19, 1711 • At dawn the next day his friends buried him singing, “Awake, My Soul, and With the Sun”

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