Te Deum or not Te Deum...

Well, yesterday was "Black Friday," which tells us we've now entered the official Christmas shopping season. Retailers across our land are hoping consumers will thumb their noses at the economy and drive themselves deeper into debt. Children are busy compiling voluminous tomes they simply refer to as their "Christmas wish lists." The lists usually consist of "just-have-to-haves" that will become outdated, boring and "old-school" before the rubbish man has picked up its packaging and wrapping paper from the trash.

If we are not careful, our prayers can sometimes resemble a wish list or shopping list. "God, I want this. God, I want that. God, give me, give me, give me............ And, oh, yeah, in-Jesus'-name-amen!" I think you know what I mean. Although there is a place for bringing our needs (not our selfish desires) and holy petitions before God, the greatest focus of prayer should be worship, with the object of prayer being God, Himself. After all, it is all about Him, not all about us.

Below is a fourth century prayer or hymn known as the Te Deum laudamus, which simply means, We Praise You, O God. It is considered by many to be one of the greatest non-biblical hymns of the Christian church. By the way, non-biblical doesn't always mean unscriptural. (I thought I'd throw that in for free) Though you will notice certain requests are made of God toward the end of the prayer, the requests are made on the basis of God's greatness and mercy and not on the basis of our need (or whim.) What follows is my paraphrase of the version found in the 1549 Book of Common Prayer. I tried to remain true to the text while smoothing out some of the awkwardness of the archaic spellings and wordings.

Prayers like this are never outdated, boring or "old-school." They are continually fresh and rich because their goal is simply to worship Him who alone is worthy.

Te Deum laudamus

We praise You, O God; we acknowledge You to be the Lord.
All the earth worships You, the Father Everlasting.
To You all angels, the powers of heavens, cry aloud with the
cherubim and seraphim who continually cry,
"Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts. Heaven and
earth are full of the majesty of Your glory."
The glorious company of the apostles praise You.
The goodly fellowship of the prophets praise You.
The noble army of martyrs praise You.
The holy church throughout all the world acknowledges You:
the Father of infinite majesty;
Your honorable, true and only Son;
and the Holy Ghost, who is also our Comforter.
You are the King of Glory, O Christ
You are the everlasting Son of the Father.
When You took upon Yourself to deliver mankind, You did not despise the Virgin's womb.
When You overcame the sting of death, You opened the Kingdom of Heaven to all believers.
You sit at the right hand of God, in the glory of the Father.
We believe that You will come to be our Judge.
Therefore, we pray that You would help Your servants, whom You have redeemed with Your precious blood.
Make them to be numbered with Your saints, in everlasting glory.
O Lord, save Your people and bless Your heritage.
Govern them and lift them up forever.
Every day we will be mindful to magnify You.
And we will worship Your name forever in a world without end.
In Your gracious favor, keep us from sin today.
O Lord, have mercy on us; have mercy on us.
O Lord, let Your mercy rest upon us, because our trust is in You.

O Lord, I have trusted in You. Let me never be confounded.