Great Doxologies

Leon L. Combs, B.S., M.A., M.Div., Ph.D.

The term doxology is derived from the Greek “doxa” (glory, praise, honor) and logos (utterance) and denotes an ascription of praise to the three persons of the Blessed Trinity. Its common form is known as the Gloria Patri or “Lessor Doxology” and is stated as: “Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen”. The basic form such as “Blessed be the Lord” is then followed by a statement of the attributes motivating the utterance. Among the qualities attributed to God are:

Glory(Rom 16:27; Gal 1:5)
Honor, dominion (1 Tim 6:16; 1 Pet 4:11)
Salvation, power (Rev 19:1)
Majesty and authority (Jude 25)

Rom 16:27to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen.
Gal 1:5to whombe the glory forevermore. Amen.
1Ti 6:16who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.
1Pe 4:11Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Rev 19:1After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God;
Jud 1:25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

In the OT doxologies most frequently occur in the Psalms such as Ps 28:6, 31:21, 41:13, 68:19, 72:18, 89:52, and 106:48. But they are also found at the end of songs or hymns (1 Chr 16:36 and as prayers 1 Sam 25:32. A number of standard forms occur most commonly describing God or God’s actions as “blessed”:

Psa 28:6Blessed be the LORD, Because He has heard the voice of my supplication.

Psa 31:21Blessed be the LORD, For He has made marvelous His lovingkindness to me in a besieged city.

Psa 41:13 Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, From everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen.

Psa 68:19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden, The God who is our salvation. Selah.

Psa 72:18Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, Who alone works wonders.

Psa 89:52 Blessed be the LORD forever! Amen and Amen.

Psa 106:48Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, From everlasting even to everlasting. And let all the people say, "Amen." Praise the LORD!

1Ch 16:36 Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, From everlasting even to everlasting. Then all the people said, "Amen," and praised the LORD.

1Sa 25:32Then David said to Abigail, "Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me,

In the NT doxologies may begin with exclamations of “hallelujah”, “glory to God in the highest”, or “Hosanna to the Son of David”. A doxology used by many Christians was written in 1674 by Thomas Ken, a priest in the Church of England:

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 use of such praise occurs at the end of Psalms from the fourth century:

Psa 150:1-6 Praise the LORD! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty expanse. (2) Praise Him for His mighty deeds; Praise Him according to His excellent greatness. (3) Praise Him with trumpet sound; Praise Him with harp and lyre. (4) Praise Him with timbrel and dancing; Praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe. (5) Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with resounding cymbals. (6) Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!

This then is a symbol of the duty of Christianizing the Psalms and serves at the same time to connect the unity of the Godhead as known to the Jews with the Trinity as known to Christians.

The Greater Doxology is the Gloria in Excelsis, “Glory be to God on High” that is taken from:

Luke 2:14 "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased." This doxology is of Greek origin from the fourth century and used first as a morning canticle but later became part of the Latin Mass.

In the NT the object of the doxology appears to have been almost exclusively God rather than Christ (Rom 11:36 For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen) although such praise of God is occasionally “through” Christ (Rom 16:27 to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen.) Possible doxologies directed to Christ can be found such as in

Gal 1:3-5Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, (4) who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, (5) to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen.

Although the word doxology is not found in the Bible, the themes expressed in doxologies are certainly scriptural. Praising God for His blessings (Ephesians 1:3), ascribing to Him all glory (Romans 11:36; Ephesians 3:21), and affirming the Trinity (Matthew 28:19) have always been integral parts of true Christian worship.

Eph 1:3Blessedbe the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

Eph 3:21to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.

Rom 11:36 For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.

Mat 28:19-20"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, (20) teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

It is now agreed that the doxology at the end of Matt 6:13 'And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.]'is not part of the original text and is understood as an ancient addition to the prayer adopted by the Greek churches but not by the Latin.

*Rom 8:38-39 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, (39) nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

What a wonderful way to end a chapter of this wonderful book! When we have these verses as our life verses we should never be anxious about anything. Death will lead us directly into the presence of God. The problems of life can be very severe but Paul has already addressed such and concluded that we will indeed be conquerors of such and thus should never fear what life brings. Angels are very powerful beings but they serve God and certainly cannot and would not try to separate us from God. The evil angels might want to separate us from God but God is all powerful and easily thwarts their efforts. Powers are probably the evil forces in the world under the influence of Satan and of course God is over all of them. Principalities are probably the ruling people in the world who might want to separate us from God but God will not allow that to happen. Some scholars interpret “nor height, nor depth” as the ascension of the stars and their declinations considering that Paul has in mind the fatalism of astral religion. Nothing that exists now or that will exist in the future is able to separate us from God. God is the Creator and creation cannot overcome the Creator!

*Rom 11:33-36 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! (34) For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? (35) Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN? (36) For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.

There is no way any human can even begin to understand the creations of God and we cannot begin to properly understand exactly how He works out all of His justice to His creation. We cannot offer any help to the Creator in His justice! How arrogant of us to presume to judge His judgment! Certainly none of us has first given to God so that He can then give some back to us! We have absolutely nothing to give to God, we can only humble accept His glorious gift of life through Jesus Christ. What a glorious cycle! God created everything that is visible to us and what is invisible to us and He then gave all to His chosen people through Jesus and then all of His chosen people then give it all back to Him! What majestic glory is to be given to Him! These verses remind us of:

Isa 55:8-11 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," declares the LORD. (9) "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts. (10) "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; (11) So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.

God has not had to depend upon some other being for advice so He is not indebted to mankind. He is the source, the means, and the goal of all things.

*Rev 5:12-13 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing." (13) And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, "To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever."

Now the scene becomes even more remarkable! He looked first and then he heard the singing as though it was one voice as they all sang in perfect unison. People have tried to determine the exact number but that seems to be a waste of time. Suffice it to say that there were an innumerable number of angels. Just as we cannot count the stars but there are indeed a certain number of them, we also cannot number the angels praising God.

The angels state in agreement with the others concerning the fact that he was slain to receive honor. The angels use seven (the perfect number or the number of completion) attributes of Jesus to state His worthiness: power, riches, wisdom, might, honor, glory, and blessing. The first four state His qualities and the last three are what are given to Him by all people. Authors remind us that all of these qualities are described of Jesus elsewhere in the New Testament:

1.)Power

1Cor 1:24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

2.) Wealth

2Cor 2:8 Wherefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him.

Eph 3:8To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ,

3.)Wisdom

1Cor 1:24 but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

4.)Strength

Eph 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.

2Th 1:9 These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,

5.)Honor

Heb 2:9 But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.

Php 2:11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

6.)Glory

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

7.)Blessing

Rom 15:29 I know that when I come to you, I will come in the fullness of the blessing of Christ.

Soon, in the vision, this group will march into the world to carry out the orders of God upon the world. John now tells us that all of creation joins the others in praise. The praise is for the Father and Jesus as they are inseparably linked. The Spirit has also been included indirectly with attributes of Jesus. Thus the Trinity is praised by this huge grouping of all creation! They offer blessings and honor and they state that God will have glory and dominion forever.

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It is now the responsibility of all Christians to praise God wherever we are since we are the temple of God:

1Cor 3:16-17Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? (17) If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.
1Cor 6:19Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?
2Cor 6:16Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, "I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.
2Cor 6:16-18 Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, "I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. (17) "Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE," says the Lord. "AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you. (18) "And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me," Says the Lord Almighty.

Becoming a Christian is becoming a new person with new desires and new actions toward others.

2Cor 5:17 Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

Col 1:13 For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son,

Being a new creature is a radical transformation. There are two categories of people in the world: the ones destined for wrath and those freed from eternal wrath or the lost and the saved. The two categories are totally incompatible. We once were members of the lost people:

Eph 2:1-3 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, 2in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. 3Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

But God made us alive (Eph 2:4-7) and now we do not want to be affiliated with the world of the lost. We are often commanded to not participate in the things of the world:

Rom 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
James 4:4You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

We are not to remove ourselves totally from the world (monasticism) but to not associate with any professing Christians who are walking in the world so that perhaps they might come back to the church: