Hymn #52 in Celebrating Grace Hymnal — “O Worship the King”
[pullquote_center width=”60%”]Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail,
In thee do we trust, nor find thee to fail;
Thy mercies how tender, how firm to the end,
Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend.[/pullquote_center]
One little verse of this 19th subjects. We get reflections on human nature, divine nature, and a statement on attributes of God. First we are reminded that we are children, both feeble and frail. I am reminded of the biology I learned way back when, that (unlike most other live births) human babies are born far before they are able to fend for themselves. They remain, for a long period, totally dependent on the nurturing of a parent. As helpless infants, unable to care for our own needs, we are dependent on the care and nurture of a God whose mercies are both firm and tender. These mercies, we find, do not fail us. In a fresh restatement of the Trinitarian attributes of God, we call out to our Maker and Defender, our Redeemer, and our Friend.
As God’s children, we can trust in the tender mercies of a loving Maker and Defender; feeble and frail, we have no other choice.