A New Hymn Preys on my Mind

A dear friend introduced me this week to a hymn I'd never heard before, "God of the Sparrow." It's a sweet little song, and at first it seems a bit flimsy, almost silly --

"God of the sparrow, God of the whale,
God of the swirling stars.
How does the creature say Awe,
How does the creature say Praise?"

This Lutheran hymn is not in our staunch and starchy Reformed Presbyterian hymnal. Nor was it in the local Methodist hymnal. I had to look in the PCUS hymnal -- the more liberal branch of Presbyterians, the ones more likely to sing about sparrows and whales. I wondered what the rest of the lyrics would be like. Could I add this to our hymns sung at our church?

The song continues --

"God of the earthquake, God of the storm, God of the trumpet blast,

How does the creature cry Woe; How does the creature cry Save?

God of the rainbow, God of the cross, God of the empty grave,

How does the creature say Grace; How does the creature say Thanks?

God of the hungry, God of the sick, God of the prodigal,

How does the creature say Care; How does the creature say Life?

God of the neighbor, God of the foe, God of the pruning hook,

How does the creature say Love; How does the creature say Peace?"

What an amazing hymn! It's words have been preying on my mind all week. It pierces into some dark, difficult parts of the Christian's heart. Our God is all these things; all these things He is God of. Each item in the hymn is clearly from Scripture. How painful but necessary to remember that God is the God of storms as well as sparrows, of both cross and empty grave, of the sick one who dies but of the prodigal who comes home. He is the God of our neighbor whom we love, but He's also the God of our foe with whom we are angry. What cutting words! 

And look at the words that we, the creatures, are asked to respond with! When we think of the whales and stars, we sing awe and praise. When we are in earthquake and storm, we cry save! But God sends rainbows after storms and resurrection after death, and we respond with grace and thanks! 

For the hungry, sick, and lost we plead for care and life. And when we think that God loves our enemy just as He loves us? We are to say LOVE and PEACE. Peace with our foe. What powerful words!

The hymn ends with this stanza:

"God of the ages, God near at hand, God of the loving heart,

How do your children say Joy; How do your children say Home?"

This hymn is so different from the norm, so true to both Scripture and the Christian life. It is soul-baring. It reminds us of how complex and astounding the God is whom we worship, and how we are to respond to Him. How do we respond as we should? The hymn doesn't answer that question, but we all know -- we cannot respond as we ought. But the Holy Spirit, constantly retooling us, constantly picking out the death in our souls and putting in the life, He changes us so that we learn to respond with Awe, Praise, Thanks, Care, Peace, Joy, Love.

Here's a Youtube video of a choir singing this hymn: