All Y’all
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow
Praise God, all creatures here below
Praise God, above ye heavenly host
Creator
Savior
Holy Ghost
Amen.
That word host can also be found in our Bibles to mean “army” as in some translations of Psalm 148:2.
But perhaps “assembly” is a more accurate translation, or even “thousands upon thousands.”
The same might be said of St. Luke’s version of the great announcement to some shepherds about Christ’s birth, as found in Luke 2:13.
The idea in both Old and New Testaments is what a child told me about angels in the middle of a rehearsal for a Christmas program: “There’s lots of ’em! Everywhere!”
And in both Scripture references I mentioned here, their essential job description is praising God.
Or as some of us might say it, Praise God above, all y’all.
joescheets 
As I read a couple of hymns and analogies came to mind. First was ” Onward Christian soldiers…with the cross of Jesus going on before.” Then mine (and John Wesley’s according to the late Dr. Leonard Van Camp) came to mind, “Oh for a thousand tongues to sing our great Redeemers praise…” Not sure if it is still the case, but in the front of the hymnal you will find John Wesley’s instructions on singing and the first hymn, “Oh for a thousand tongues to sing” is always that first hymn. With their innocence, children see more of those angels everywhere than we jaded adults; I’ll spare you the analogies from my life and work.
LikeLike
All Y’all indeed!
LikeLike
On a second note, I know about those singing instructions and the first hymn being Wesley’s favorite is because (from my freshman year until I married and moved away), at the beginning of choir rehearsals every fall, Dr. Van Camp would have us turn to the instructions and read them, wanting us to follow them! He always told the story about Wesley and the hymn as well!!
LikeLike
Aren’t JW’s rules priceles?!?!
LikeLike
Quite! He is priceless in my book and the biggest reason I will stay in this denomination.
LikeLike