O for a Thousand Tongues

“O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.”  Psalm 51:15

September 22, 2022

Old familiar hymns sung hundreds of times over the years have a way of coming to mind out of the blue. One such hymn came to mind in looking through the Psalms with reference to the mouth, tongue, and lips. If the various themes in the Psalms were compared to water falls, this theme would be the Niagara Falls. The lips were made to offer praise to God. All of the verses available can’t be mentioned here, but through a personal examination (a good way to study the Psalms) of them here are some highlights: Our tongues are turned loose when the shame of a violated conscience is removed in forgiveness (51:15). Let the tongue praise God when He has brought us through a hard place and time. “Suffering taps the spring of a deeper desire”; trials can trigger our tongues to be unleashed to praise God. The thought of God’s inexhaustible mercies make the mouth a geyser of praise to God. The contemplation of the delights of sharing Christ’s kingdom on earth with Him calls for thousands of tongues. I think we might agree that we ought to be using our tongues more to offer praise to God. This is what Charles Wesley thought when he penned the memorable lines, “O for a thousand tongues to sing My great Redeemer’s praise, The glories of my God and King, The triumphs of His grace.” This is one of five verses of wonderful theology to roll off our tongues. Find the hymn and sing it. H