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Praise the Lord anyway.

April 5, 2022

Numbers 21:4–9 | John 8:21–30 | Psalm 102:15–22

“Let this be written for a future generation
So that a people yet unborn may praise the Lord”

Sometime around the  9th – 5th century before Christ was even born the psalmist wrote those words. Three thousand years later we are still reading: “Let this be written for a future generation so that a people yet unborn may praise the Lord”.

This sentiment is very near and dear to me as it brings up a favorite memory of catching the T to Boston for the ordination of the Rt. Rev. Barbara Harris (the first woman ordained bishop in the Anglican Communion.) She had a faith that was alive and contagious. One of her favorite responses was “Praise the Lord anyway”.

A common thread running through all readings is that they were all about God’s people (Israelites, Jews, later Christians). They were also grumbling about life and, in the back of my mind I can hear Bishop Harris saying: “Praise the Lord anyway.”

God delivered the Israelites from oppression in Egypt; God gave Moses a serpent in bronze that people who got bit could look at and be delivered; and Christ laid down his life so that we could be delivered from our sins. God who was, and is, and will be, forever unchanged. Praise the Lord anyway.

That day in 1989 as I hurried to her ordination, seven months pregnant, yes, I grumbled. As she danced down the aisle towards the altar the next generation within me was kicking in time to the music of an ancient spiritual song of praise. Praise the Lord anyway.

The next time we gather may we be grateful for our blessings, joyous in our deliverance, may we say “yes” to serving our Lord and praise His Name in all things! Hosannah to the Most High!

Let this be written for a future generation,*
so that a people yet unborn may praise the Lord.

 

For the Lord looked down from his holy place on high; *
from the heavens he beheld the earth.

 

That he might hear the groan of the captive *
and set free those condemned to die;

 

That they may declare in Zion the Name of the Lord, *
and his praise in Jerusalem;

 

When the peoples are gathered together, *
and the kingdoms also, to serve the Lord. 

 

Psalm 102:18-22

Cynthia Lovejoy