The Top 10 Favorite Hymns--All Creatures Of Our God and King
#10
I’m sitting in a McDonalds in St. Simons Island because our hotel room doesn’t have wifi.
(I laughed when I received an email from the hotel while I was sitting here that wanted me to review the check-in at this hotel. I don’t think they really want me to do that).
LIke I said yesterday, I am intrigued by a list of all-time favorite hymns that floated through my media feeds the other day.
When I looked into it–I realized it was one of those “listicles” that somebody put together to snag me and every other Christian eyeball to look at ads for Scope, Rolaids, and L’Eggo waffles.
(How did they know?) 🙂
Plus, the list wasn’t arranged in any kind of way so that I could figure out what makes one hymn more popular than the other.
I took the top 10 hymns listed and then ranked them by number of views on Youtube and it doesn’t match the list.
The tenth most popular hymn on this list has 2.4 million views. The most popular hymn has 103 million views.
And it’s not the one you think. 🙂
The tenth most popular hymn is All Creatures of Our God and King with 2.4 million views (The Tabernacle Choir).
I realize that WHO sings the hymn makes a difference on how many views there are. If Carrie Underwood sang this St. Francis of Assissi’s hymn based on Psalm 145, it would probably have over 100 million views.
It starts:
“All creatures of our God and King,
lift up your voice and with us sing,
"Alleluia! Alleluia!"
Thou burning sun with golden beam,
thou silver moon with softer gleam,
O praise Him, O praise Him!
alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!”
St. Francis of Assissi was blind by the time he wrote this meditation on Psalm 145 in a hut by the sea. He could barely tolerate sunlight.
The sun was painful to him and yet St. Francis, like David, exalted God for His greatness.
When I read all of Psalm 145, (while listening to the hymn on repeat), I noted way down at the end, that there is a stark warning among all the praise.
Psalm 145:20 The Lord watches over all who love Him, But He will destroy all the wicked.
God will protect and care for His faithful followers, but He will also mete out consequences for the unrighteous.
As Bradley Baugham writes in A Universal, Unending Song Of Praise to God the King:
“Therefore, be warned you who see yourself as king and ruler over your life. Give homage to Jesus, God’s King, lest he be angry, and you perish.”
I pray that I will have one final breath, whether I’m in pain or not, to offer up praise to Him.
“Thou rushing wind that art so strong,
ye clouds that sail in heav'n along,
O praise Him! Alleluia!
Thou rising morn, in praise rejoice,
ye lights of ev'ning, find a voice,
O praise Him, O praise Him!
alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!”
Lord, grant us the grace to love You will all of our hearts, minds, and souls. Help us to live in a way that honors You, turning away from wickedness.
Lord, we pray for those who are far from You, that they may come to know Your love and seek Your protection.
Amen.
PS. The McDonalds computers are down too but the ladies took pity on me and poured me a coffee anyway.
God is great!