“Romans Doxology”

Christian Life, Faith, God, God's Love, Grace, Gratitude, Lovingkindness, Mercy, Music, Praise, Reconciliation, Redemption, Romans, Salvation, Wisdom, Worship, , Leave a comment
Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! FOR WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? OR WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN? For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.
Romans 11:33–36
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Romans is a letter of God’s grace, cháris (χάρις). Paul mentions grace far more often than any other writer in the New Testament, and his letter to the Romans contains the most references. In Romans 9, he begins to speak of God’s mercy, éleos (ἔλεος), and writes of it extensively in Romans 9–11. Mercy is also mentioned by Paul more often than any other writer. Only Luke in his Gospel mentions mercy more often than Paul does in Romans.

After dwelling on God’s grace and mercy for eleven chapters, at the end of Romans 11 Paul bursts into this beautiful doxology1 of praise to God. In it he quotes from several passages in the Old Testament.

Who has encompassed the Spirit of Yahweh,
Or as His counselor has informed Him?
With whom did He take counsel and who gave Him understanding?
And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge
And made Him know the way of understanding?
Isaiah 40:13–14 LSB
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If you are righteous, what do you give to Him,
Or what does He receive from your hand
Job 35:7 LSB
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Who has given to Me that I should repay him?
Whatever is under the whole heaven is Mine.
Job 41:11 LSB
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“Romans Doxology” is a song by John Elliott drawn from these verses. In his lyrics he also refers to several other Old Testament passages: Isaiah 55:8–9, Psalm 103:12, and Lamentations 3:22–23.

May the Lord bless you and bring joy to your heart and His praise to your lips through His Word and as you listen to this song.

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Sky 49: Nancy Anburaj. (CC BY-SA 4.0).
John Elliot, “Romans Doxology,” #136, Maranatha! Music Praise Chorus Book, Expanded 3rd Edition, compiled by George Baldwin, Andrea Whitaker, Jo Bonilla, Tommy Coomes (“Romans Doxology,” BMG Songs, Inc.: 1989).
1Doxology a long word with a simple definition. In his sermon, Doxology: Praise for Salvation, John MacArthur explained, “It comes from two Greek words: Doxa which means glory and logos which means to say or a word or a saying. It is a saying about God’s glory. That is to say it is praise or it is offering God thanks. It is saying thanks by means of praising God. A doxology is a praise saying.” John MacArthur, Copyright 1994, Grace to You. All rights reserved.  Used by permission. This Grace to You sermon, “Doxology: Praise for Salvation,” originally appeared here.
For more on God’s mercy in Romans, please see my posts, Romans 9–10: God & His Mercy and Romans 11–12: God’s Mercies & Our Response. Most of my posts on Romans can be found on Sunday in the Winter Quarter 2023 of Read the Bible in 2023.

Copyright ©2026 Iwana Carpenter

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