"Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
    praise him in the heights above.
Praise him, all his angels;
    praise him, all his heavenly hosts.
Praise him, sun and moon;
    praise him, all you shining stars.
Praise him, you highest heavens
    and you waters above the skies."
PSALM 148:1-4

Strictly speaking, a doxology is any praise to God composed specifically for organized corporate worship.  It comes from the Greek word doxologia, from doxa which means "appearance, glory." The text that I've set for this song comes from one of the most famous doxologies written by Thomas Ken in 1674 for Winchester College. I was motivated to include this doxology on the album because it emphasizes the Trinity of God, and I've been learning how better understanding the Trinity can help us to better understand God as a creator. 

This doxology opens with the line "Praise God from whom all blessings flow." All blessings are created by God, for "every good and perfect gift is from above" (James 1:17). I praise God because I know that he continually provides everything that sustains my life. He is a good, generous and thoughtful creator. He is a limitlessly creative creator. He knows about the blessings that I will need before I know that I need them. 

The next line is "Praise Him all creatures here below," and indeed we praise God because he has created us, and he has created us to praise him. Then we are instructed in the song to "Praise Him above all heavenly hosts." We praise him above all else because nothing else deserves greater glory and adoration, because what created thing could deserve more glory than the thing that gave it existence? 

But where I really want to focus is on the last line. This doxology ends with the crucial phrase "Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost." Why reference the Trinity to conclude a doxology focused on God as the creator of blessings, of creatures and of all heavenly beings? I believe this is the appropriate conclusion for this doxology because the Trinity helps us to understand God as the creator. 

One of my favorite books is The Mind of the Maker by Dorothy L. Sayers. I won't attempt to condense this entire thought-provoking work into a few paragraphs of insufficient summary, but I will try to briefly encapsulate one basic idea: God, as "Father, Son and Holy Ghost," manifests for us the pieces of the creative process that we as earthly creators experience when we create art. As earthly creators, we can better understand our heavenly creator by seeing how each person of the Trinity has a hand in the creative process. 

Painters, songwriters, poets and playwrights all experience the "trinity" of the creative process. The "Father" is the timeless idea. It is the piece that has always been; it is the unlimited creative potential. Our Father in heaven existed before time, and from him come all the ideas contained within the universe. For the human artist, the "Father" is all the potential ideas that come from our minds. 

The "Son" is the physical manifestation of the Father. The Son is the expression of the Father bound by time and place. The Son is Jesus Christ, born in time and body on earth. For the human artist, "the Son" is his or her book, song, painting or play. It is the physical manifestation of our boundless ideas written down. 

The "Holy Ghost" is the spirit of the Father and Son that continues to spread and take hold of hearts and minds across time and space. The Holy Spirit lives inside those who have grasped the idea of the Father through the manifestation of the Son. For the human artist, the "Holy Ghost" is the way in which our art (our books, songs, paintings and poems) has an impact upon others. Once the artist releases control of the art, it can go on to capture and impact the hearts and minds of other people. 

If God is the ultimate creator, then the Trinity can show us how this creative process works in heaven and on earth. I want to understand the creator more as I strive to create art that is good and true. 

Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

Lyrics:
Praise God from whom all blessings flow
Praise Him all creatures here below
Praise Him above yea heavenly hosts
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost

Praise God from whom all blessings flow
Praise Him all creatures here below
Praise Him above yea-heavenly hosts
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost