Source : PNG Of People In Church
Today’s hymn from sing praise is to go with the 6th Advent antiphon, ‘O rex gentium’ (‘O King of the peoples’) and is ‘All nations of the world’ by Edwin Le Grice, a new name to me among hymn-writers. It’s not specifically an Advent hymn, rather a setting of Psalm 100, which is one of the most joyful of all the psalms.
Its theme is finding joy in serving God. To put that into context, think of all that a ‘secular Christmas’ comprises, at least in ‘normal times’, although this year people are being more reflective as Covid-19 continues to take its toll on society. Buying and exchanging gifts more out of duty than love, watching whatever the TV companies choose to put forward as entertainment, putting up with our less lovely relations, and maybe eating rather more than is good for the digestion.
Such things, while not wrong in themselves, don’t usually lead to the sort of joy that the psalmist calls on the nations of the world to seek. Rather we are to serve God willingly, bringing every aspect of our lives to him in prayer, ‘approaching his courts with song’ (i.e. entering fully into worship as a pleasure and not a duty), and adoring him for his ‘gracious mercy, truth and love for evermore’. That needs to be at least part of our Christmas observance if it is to be truly joyful.