The Mystery of the Trinity
Minds much greater than mine have tried to probe the mystery of the being of God. We do well to grapple with the propositions of the great creeds, but ultimately reason must give way to worship.
The Creed of Athanasius
We worship one God in trinity,
and trinity in unity;
neither confusing the persons
nor dividing the nature of God.
For there is one person of the Father,
another of the Son,
and another of the Holy Spirit;
but the Godhead of the Father,
of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is all one –
the glory equal,
the majesty co-eternal;
what the Father is, so is the Son,
and so is the Holy Spirit.
And so we worship
I love the simple articulation of Isaac Watts:
To God the Father, God the Son,
And God the Spirit, Three in One,
Be everlasting glory given,
By all on earth, and all in heaven!
The Trinity of His Sacred Persons
Majestic are the words recorded at the beginning of Spurgeon’s Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit sermons:
To the One God of Heaven and Earth
In The Trinity of His Sacred Persons,
Be all Honour and Glory,
World without end, Amen
To the Glorious Father, as the covenant God of Israel;
To the Gracious Son, the Redeemer of His people;
To the Holy Ghost, the Author of Sanctification;
Be everlasting praise for that Gospel of the Free Grace of God herein proclaimed unto men
(From the prologue of the Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit—Sermons preached by Charles Haddon Spurgeon)
A Trinitarian Hymn
Below are words of a hymn that I learned in my high school in Africa. To the tune Mannheim, it may be sung meditatively and in a worshipful way. Its words make an excellent prayer for us to pray as we tread the pathways of life to which God calls us:
1 Lead us, heavenly Father, lead us
O’er the world’s tempestuous sea;
Guard us, guide us, keep us, feed us,
For we have no help but Thee:
Yet possessing
Every blessing,
If our God our Father be.
2 Saviour, breathe forgiveness o’er us;
All our weakness Thou dost know;
Thou didst tread this earth before us;
Thou didst feel its keenest woe;
Lone and dreary,
Faint and weary,
Through the desert Thou didst go.
3 Spirit of our God, descending,
Fill our hearts with heavenly joy;
Love with every passion blending,
Pleasure that can never cloy:
Thus provided,
Pardoned, guided,
Nothing can our peace destroy.
James Edmeston, 1791-1867 (More information here)
