Soli Deo Gloria!

You may not be familiar with every song from Georg Friedrich Handel’s Messiah–it’s divided into 3 parts and 53 movements–but it’s a safe bet to say that you’re familiar with “The Hallelujah Chorus.”

There is a tradition that audience members stand up for the “Hallelujah Chorus.” The back story is that, supposedly, when King George II heard Handel’s glorious composition for the first time, he was so moved that he stood erect until it had finished. And when the monarch stands, everybody stands. Great story. Possibly not true. No matter.

Handel wrote the music for Messiah in just 24 days, with very little sleep and very little food. At the end of the Messiah manuscript, Handel wrote the letters “SDG”–Soli Deo Gloria, “To God alone the glory.” This inscription, along with the speed at which he had written the entire composition, encouraged the belief that Handel wrote the music in a fervor of divine inspiration.

When Handel finished the movement that became known as the “Hallelujah Chorus,” his servant discovered him with tears in his eyes, and he exclaimed, “I did think I did see all Heaven before me, and the Great God Himself seated on His throne, with His company of angels.”

What a vision that must have been! Handel’s words made me wonder if I have ever glimpsed “all Heaven before me.” Oh, yes! I’ve been awestruck by God’s glorious sunsets over the Mediterranean, His fall landscapes in Alaska, His winter snowscapes in my own back yard.

I’ve been overwhelmed by manmade, God-inspired artworks: Michelangelo’s David in Florence, Italy, and Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia Basilica in Barcelona, Spain.

Two years ago, I attended an Emmaus Walk a 72-hour spiritual renewal program intended to strengthen the local church through the development of Christian disciples and leaders. During the second day of my “walk” (FYI–there is no walking involved), one of the events gave me a tiny glimpse of what I imagine Heaven to be. I was at a loss for words.

Have their been moments in your life when you, like Handel, felt that you had glimpsed the glory of God? Have you ever been wonderstruck, gobsmacked, or overwhelmed by glory? That’s God showing Himself to you–embrace Him!

Soli Deo Gloria!

If you enjoyed this article, then please REPOST or SHARE with others; encourage them to follow AFNN. If you’d like to become a citizen contributor for AFNN, contact us at managingeditor@afnn.us