Lord's Prayer--1 Chronicles 29:11

Day 8

At the very end of the Lord’s Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13), Protestants add on this doxology:

For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Sort of like a vestigial tail. 🙂

I’m used to saying that part too in Mass, but after the priest gives a brief prayer emphasizing our deliverance from the evil one:

“Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil, graciously grant peace in our days, that, by the help of your mercy, we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress, as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our savior, Jesus Christ.” 

Then, after that prayer we all say:

“For the kingdom, the power and the glory are Yours now and forever.” 

J.John notes in The Lord’s Prayer Course:

“If this clause is omitted you are left in a very uneasy situation where the last thing you pray refers to ‘the evil one’. I think it’s important to remind ourselves in praying that here, as in history, the devil does not have the last word.”

I like this explanation for the add-on.  It’s commonsensical.

In The Kingdom Of God In The Old Testament, Martin Selman clarifies and theorizes where the doxology came from:

“Furthermore, it has become usual in some liturgical quarters, especially among our separated brethren, to conclude "The Lord's Prayer" with the doxology: "for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever, Amen." This is certainly a later addition, one that may have been from the liturgy. It may have been particularly influenced by David's prayer of thanksgiving regarding the offerings for the temple in 1 Chron 29:11-13.” 

Selman name-checks Protestants as “our separated brethren”.  I can’t decide if that’s a pejorative term or not.

Are Catholics still sore about the Reformation stuff?

But besides that little dig, he references David’s prayer of thanksgiving in 1 Chronicles:

1 Chronicles 29:11  Yours, Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and on the earth; Yours is the dominion, Lord, and You exalt Yourself as head over all.

David is celebrating the building of the Temple or more accurately, David is celebrating procuring the funds (estimated at billions of dollars in today’s market), for Solomon to build the temple.

David was forbidden to lay hands on the Temple because of all the blood he spilled in warfare.

So even though David planned the Temple, Solomon built it.

Even though my purchases and successes yesterday weren’t at the grand scale of Solomon’s Temple, I still thrilled and celebrated God and His kingdom at my new desk chair and a new suit jacket, shirt,and pants (my tie still fits) for an upcoming wedding in Chicago.

When life goes to my liking, I’m reminded that His kingdom should be the priority in my life.

If I don’t center my purpose for life on how to build God’s kingdom for His glory then getting a new suit and a new chair means exactly what?

Yay–I got new stuff.  I’m a consumer!

That’s like being a cow in the field, chewing cud and waiting for the next thing to happen.

The cow doesn’t know what’s going to happen next, does it?

Mmmm.  Burgers.

To try to live out the Lord’s Prayer as laid out by Jesus is impossible.  Just the forgiving part is well past my ability–even on good days–but I can see, through much conversation with Karen and prayer, that forgiveness comes easier to me now.

The only way to even TRY to live out the Lord’s Prayer is to celebrate and acknowledge God’s power in our lives and let the Holy Spirit show us the way.

Like Solomon’s Temple, He is the center of all that is bright and blessed in my life–even the small stuff like pants that fit and a new rolling chair.

God’s kingdom is largely incomprehensible to me in its grandeur and majesty, but not in the same way that a slaughterhouse is incomprehensible to a cow.

Moo!

Lord, help us recognize that Your kingdom is above all earthly kingdoms and Your authority surpasses all human authority.

Lord, we pray that You would continue to use us as instruments of Your glory in Your kingdom.

Amen.

PS.  I’m starting a new reflection tomorrow based on The Boniface Option by Andrew Isker which, to me, is a curious blend of Rod Dreher’s The Benedict Option and snarling snark and aggressive pushback against today’s society.

So who knows?

Might be the first reflection I’ve ever stopped mid-book. 🙂

Onward!