Derived from the Greek words doxa, meaning 'glory,' 'splendour,' or 'grandeur,' doxology is any expression in praise of God's glory.
As an ideal all of the Christian life is a doxology, for motivated by what God has done for us, we will mould all that we are and all that we do to His glory: from cleaning up after dinner when everyone else has adjourned to the living room for "fellowship" to formulating the precise wording for a paragraph for a sermon. Doxology of this kind, however, is impossible without the filling and enabling of the Holy Spirit. Doxology is, therefore, the fullest expression of a life filled by the Holy Spirit and rooted in our existence in Christ.
At a more mundane level, however, the word also refers to any short statement of praise or short passage, often set to music, that are used in Christian worship. In particular the word refers to three doxologies that have found wide and well-known popularity, and often referred to simply as "the doxology." The one most familiar is the composition by the 17th Cent Anglican bishop and hymn writer Thomas Ken; it is almost always sung rather than recited:
Praise God from whom all blessings flow,
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Amen.
It has been set to several different tunes. Here are two of the more common ones:
Two older doxologies are more often recited rather than sung. The Gloria is used in Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran, and Anglican liturgies:
Glory be to God on high, and on earth peace to men of good will. We praise thee, we bless thee, we worship thee, we glorify thee, we give thanks to thee for thy great glory, O Lord God, heavenly King, God the Father Almighty. O Lord, the only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ; O Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, that takest away the sins of the world, receive our prayer. Thou that sittest at the right hand of God the Father, have mercy on us. For thou only art holy; thou alone art the Lord; thou only, O Christ, with the Holy Ghost, art most high in the glory of God the Father. Amen.
The Gloria Patri is shorter:
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
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