Song Spotlight: Gloria Patri
by Makayla Guzman
History nerds, rise up! This is your time to shine. Pop quiz - do you know what a doxology is and why they have been important to the church throughout time?
If you said that a doxology is a short song or prayer that ascribes praise and glory to the Lord, then you would be correct! They have been used in church tradition as a response by the people of God to His character and actions for thousands of years. Sometimes we will see them incorporated through music, through a call-and-response time, or through gathered believers reciting it from memory. They are important because they call believers to a unified expression of praise to the Lord as we fix our eyes on Him, and they summarize our response to Him as our Creator, Savior, and King.
We see doxologies all over Scripture, especially in the psalms! It’s why so many of the chapters end in this way:
“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen.” Psalm 41:13
“Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.” Psalm 150:6
Written in the 4th century, the Gloria Patri is a song that has been sung for almost two millennia by Christians around the world. Its name is a Latin phrase that means “Glory to the Father”. New Life Worship took these ancient lyrics and set them to a contemporary melody, which is a beautiful reminder of how our God does not change! What a privilege for us to sing the same words that have echoed throughout church history and have them still hold the same truth as they contained when they were first written.
The chorus of this Worship Initiative version uses the traditional words of this doxology:
Glory to the Father
Glory to the Son
Glory to the Holy Spirit
As it was in the beginning
As it is right now
And will be forever world without end, Amen
There are two things I want us to meditate on as we consider these lyrics.
This song calls us to remember the triune nature of our God. He is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Three persons in one nature, existing in perfect relationship. This truth is one of the most mind bending foundations of our faith. It is a difficult concept to grasp, and yet we can trust in what God has said in His Word and praise Him for it! (2 Corinthians 3:14, John 1:14, Matthew 28:19)
The fact that God is three in one means that we have the capacity and calling to love those around us because it is built into our DNA as God’s creation made in His image. As we seek to love those in our lives, we can look to how the Trinity has existed in perfect harmony and pray for the Lord to give us that kind of love for those around us!This song calls us to remember the eternal nature of our God. In His perfect communion as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, our God has existed for all of eternity. This means that He did not have a beginning and He will not have an end. He is the Creator of all things, and that includes time. Talk about another mind blowing truth! (Isaiah 40:28, Revelation 22:13, 2 Peter 3:8)
What does this mean for us as children of God? It means that we can surrender all of our anxiety about the timing of our lives to the Creator of time itself. We spend so much of our lives worrying about if we are falling behind, what if we don’t get into our dream college, what if we never fall in love, what if we can’t beat the sickness, what if we make the wrong choice. In those moments when your heart is prone to wander, choose instead to wonder at the greatness of God. Draw near to Him. Seek Him in His Word. Spend time in nature and marvel at His creation. Choose to surround yourself with other believers who will bear your burdens and remind you of who God is. He is bigger than your worry, and He has been for all of eternity.
When I think about those two attributes of God, I truly can’t help but respond in wonder. Recognizing my own limitations to comprehend His eternal, triune nature leads me to a posture of humble praise to the God who loves even me.
REFLECTION
Listen to Gloria Patri and spend some time in reflection.
What aspects of God’s nature cause you to wonder? Where do you see those written in Scripture and reflected in the world around you?
Every time you read through the psalms, highlight the doxologies as you see them (the short prayers and songs of praise to the Lord at the end of the longer chapter/song).
Consider taking the lyrics to this song and mediating on them as a prayer, rewriting it in your own words. Example: “God, I praise you for being three in One. I give you all the glory as the God who has existed forever as the Father, Son, and Spirit. I am amazed that you are unchanging, from before the beginning of creation through the end of time. Make me aware of your power and presence in the world around me! I pray that you will fix my eyes on you and help me to respond by praising you in all circumstances. Amen.”