December 4: Mighty God | The Almighty
♫ Music:
Day 5 - Thursday, December 04
Title: Mighty God | The Almighty
Scripture #1: 1 Chronicles 29:11-13 (NKJV)
Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power and the glory, the victory and the majesty; for all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and You are exalted as head over all. Both riches and honor come from You, and You reign over all. In Your hand is power and might; in Your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. “Now therefore, our God, we thank You and praise Your glorious name.
Scripture #2: Zephaniah 3:17 (NKJV)
The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.
Poetry & Poet:
“11 Addresses to the Lord (4)”
by John Berryman
If I say Thy name, art Thou there? It may be so.
Thou art not absent-minded, as I am.
I am so much so I had to give up driving.
You attend, I feel, to the matters of men.
Across the ages certain blessings swarm,
horrors accumulate, the best men fail:
Socrates, Lincoln, Christ mysterious.
Who can search Thee out?
except Isaiah & Paul, who saw,
I dare not ask that vision, though a piece of it
at last in crisis was vouchsafed me.
I altered then for good, to become yours.
Caretaker! take care, for we run in straits.
Daily, by night, we walk naked to storm,
some threat of wholesale loss, to ruinous fear.
Gift us with long cloaks & adrenaline.
Who haunt the avenues of Angkor Wat
recalling all that prayer, that glory dispersed,
haunt me at the corner of Fifth & Hennepin.
Shield & fresh fountain! Manifester! Even mine.
Mighty God, The Almighty
One of my favorite modern hymns of Christmas is “Mary, Did You Know?” That hymn and the two paintings encapsulate the incarnation, the miracle of Christmas. The image from the hymn and from the illustration Mary Holding Jesus, is Mary holding her son, a tiny baby, the ultimate expression of vulnerable humanity. Yet He is so much more than a human baby; he is the Mighty God, the Almighty. As the first line asks, “Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day walk on water?” And later, the song says, “Mary, did you know that your baby boy would calm a storm with His hand?” The second illustration, Jesus Walking on the Water, depicts Jesus as a man walking on the Sea of Galilee in the midst of a storm. This event reveals his divinity to his disciples who cowered fearfully in the boat as the waves tossed them to and fro. Their fear increased as they saw Jesus walking toward them on the water because they thought He was a ghost. (Matthew 14:22-33; Mark 6:45-53; John 6:15-21). In this event, we can see his divinity because only God has power over nature, the ability to calm a raging sea, and then supernaturally walk on that sea.
The hymn continues with the story of salvation.
Mary, did you know
That your baby boy
Would save our sons and daughters?
Did you know
That your baby boy
Has come to make you new?
This Child that you delivered
Will soon deliver you.
God became a man and dwelt on the earth to live a perfect life, become the sacrifice for our sins, and then rose from the dead and returned to Heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father where He is today.
The last stanza of the hymn declares that he is the Almighty God:
Mary, did you know
That your baby boy
Is the Lord of all creation?
Mary, did you know
That your baby boy
Will one day rule the nations?
Did you know
That your baby boy
Was heaven's perfect Lamb?
And the sleeping Child you're holdin'
Is the Great I Am!
Jesus was the same God spoken of in the Old Testament, I Chronicles 29:11-13 and Zephaniah 3:17. One day at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow. Those in Heaven will sing, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty!”
Prayer:
Lord, during this Christmas season may we remember that although you entered the world as a tiny baby, you are the Mighty God, the Almighty! May we spend time reflecting on your greatness and praising you as the Creator, our Savior, and the Ruler of all Nations!
Amen
Dr. Alicia M. Dewey
Professor of History
Biola University
About the Artwork #1:
Mary Holding Jesus (left)
Phil Boatwright
1998
Illustration from the publication entitled
Mary Did You Know?
Written by Mark Lowry
Published by Waterbrook Press
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Used with permission from the artist
About the Artwork #2: (right)
Jesus Walking on the Water
Phil Boatwright
1998
Illustration from the publication entitled
Mary Did You Know?
Written by Mark Lowry
Published by Waterbrook Press
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Used with permission from the artist
These two images are from a little jewel of a children’s Christmas book entitled Mary Did You Know?, featuring Mark Lowry’s lyrics to his popular song by the same name. Artist Phil Boatright created the illustrations for the book in his trademark sensitive style of finely rendered and detailed images that transcend time and space.
About the Artist:
Phil Boatwright (b. 1962) is an American fine art artist and illustrator. He enrolled in the art program at East Texas State University, where he majored in illustration with a minor in fine art. After graduating college in 1986, he started his career in freelance illustration. Boatwright worked for such clients as American Airlines, Pepsi, Fossil Watches, and magazines such as National Geographic, Esquire, Arizona Highways, D, and Yankee. Boatwright also illustrated books for publishers Houghton Mifflin and Random House, among others. In 1992, he decided to transition to fine art portrait painting. He spent the next five years building up a portfolio of portraits between his illustration jobs and by 1999, Boatwright was painting portraits full-time. His painting technique is inspired by artists such as Rembrandt, Velazquez, Turner, and Andrew Wyeth, among many others.
https://www.philboatwright.com/about
About the Music #1: “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty”
Lyrics #1:
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee.
Holy, holy, holy! merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!
Holy, holy, holy! all the saints adore thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea.
Cherubim and seraphim, falling down before thee,
Who was and is and evermore shall be.
Holy, Holy, Holy! though the darkness hide thee,
Though the eye of sinful man thy glory may not see,
Only thou art holy; there is none beside thee,
Perfect in pow'r, in love, and purity.
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All thy works shall praise thy name, in earth, and sky, and sea;
Holy, holy, holy! merciful and mighty!
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity.
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity.
Amen.
About the Composer #1:
Reginald Heber (1783–1826) was an English Anglican bishop, a man of letters, and hymn-writer. After sixteen years as a country parson, he served as Bishop of Calcutta until his death at the age of forty-two. The son of a rich landowner and cleric, Heber gained fame at the University of Oxford as a poet. He also wrote hymns and general literature, including a study of the works of the seventeenth-century cleric Jeremy Taylor. A handful of Heber's hymns have survived into popular use in the twenty-first century, including “Brightest and Best” and “Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reginald_Heber
About the Performers #1: First Baptist Dallas Church and Orchestra
First Dallas Orchestra is an auditioned group that plays each week and accompanies the choir during Sunday worship services at the First Baptist Dallas Church. In addition, the ensemble has performed at Carnegie Hall and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and continues to reach out to the community through musical performances of all musical genres.
https://firstdallas.org/ministries/orchestra/
https://firstdallas.org/choir-orchestra-led-worship/
About the Music #2: “Mary Did You Know?” from the album The King’s Men Christmas
"Mary, Did You Know?" is a Christmas song addressing Mary, mother of Jesus, with lyrics written by Mark Lowry in 1985, and music by Buddy Greene in 1991. It was originally recorded by Christian recording artist Michael English on his self-titled debut solo album in 1991. The song has since gone on to become a modern Christmas classic, recorded by hundreds of artists over the years and across multiple genres.
Lyrics #1:
[Verse 1]
Mary, did you know
That your baby boy will one day walk on water?
Mary, did you know
That your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?
Did you know
That your baby boy has come to make you new?
This child that you've delivered
Will soon deliver you
[Verse 2]
Mary, did you know
That your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?
Mary, did you know
That your baby boy will calm a storm with His hand?
Did you know
That your baby boy has walked where angels trod?
And when you kiss the little baby
You've kissed the face of God
Mary, did you know?
[Bridge]
The blind will see
The deaf will hear
And the dead will live again
The lame will leap
The dumb will speak
The praises of the Lamb
[Verse 3]
Mary, did you know
That your baby boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary, did you know
That your baby boy will one day rule the nations?
Did you know
That your baby boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?
This sleeping child you're holding
Is the Great I Am
[Outro]
Oh, Mary, did you know?
About the Composer #2:
Mark Alan Lowry (b. 1958) is an American singer, comedian, minister, and songwriter. He is best known for co-writing the song "Mary, Did You Know?" with Buddy Greene and being a member of the Gaither Vocal Band from 1988 to 2001, and 2009 to 2013, along with Michael English, Guy Penrod, David Phelps, and Bill Gaither. Lowry has recorded twelve albums, both music and comedy. In 1984, Lowry wrote the lyrics to the song "Mary, Did You Know?" when asked to write a script for a church Christmas play. He wrote a series of questions that he would have liked to ask Mary, the mother of Jesus. Over the next decade, Lowry tried to find music that would complete the song. Eventually, musician and songwriter Buddy Greene wrote the music to the song. The song has become a popular Christmas classic and has been performed by more than thirty artists, including CeeLo Green, Clay Aiken, Kenny Rogers, Wynonna Judd, Michael English, Natalie Cole, Michael Crawford, and Dolly Parton, among others.
https://marklowry.com/about
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Lowry
About the Performers #2:
The King’s Men were a six-member vocal a cappella ensemble from the Conservatory of Music at Biola University in La Mirada, California. Their director, Walt Harrah, arranged most of the music that they sang. They represented Biola University in concerts throughout Southern California and beyond.
About the Poetry & Poet:
John Berryman (1914–1972) was an American scholar and professor as well as a poet. Berryman is best-known for The Dream Songs (1969), an intensely personal sequence of 385 poems for which he received both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. Berryman suffered a great loss at twelve when his father shot himself outside the boy’s window. This event haunted him throughout his life and recurred as a subject in his poetry. Berryman graduated from Columbia University in 1936, then went to study at Cambridge University for two years on a scholarship. He published his first important book of poetry, The Dispossessed, in 1948. In 1955, after teaching stints at Harvard and Princeton, Berryman took a position at the University of Minnesota, where he remained until his death. The poet’s lifelong struggles with alcoholism and depression ended in 1972, when he jumped off a Minneapolis bridge in the dead of winter.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/john-berryman
About the Devotion Author:
Dr. Alicia M. Dewey
Professor of History
Biola University
Alicia Dewey received her doctorate from Southern Methodist University and has taught at Biola University since 2007. Her courses include the History of the American West; California History; American Democracy, Civil War, and Reconstruction, 1800–77; the Rise of Modern America (1877–1920); Research Methods in History; the U.S. History Survey; and U.S. History Since 1865. When she is not teaching, researching, or writing, she enjoys the outdoors and experiencing the American West through hiking, camping, canoeing, bird-watching, and landscape painting, as well as spending time with her Maltese dog, Ranger. She is a member of Kindred Community Church in Anaheim Hills, California.