We continue a series that seeks to take inspiration from the words of newer hymns and songs.
Praise the Lord Forever
Oh, let all that is within me bless His holy name
For His love endures forever and His mercy’s new today
We will enter with thanksgiving and fill His courts with praise
Come on, church, lift your voice and sing
Chorus:
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord
Praise the Lord forever
Bless His name, let all within me sing
Praise the Lord forever
If your life’s been resurrected by the war that Jesus won
If you wait in expectation for a kingdom yet to come
All you citizens of heaven, sons and daughters of the king
Come on, church, lift your voice and sing
We will praise the Lord, praise the Lord
Chorus
For the one who’s brokenhearted
And it’s hard to sing this song
‘Cause you’ve been walking through the valley
And your faith is feeling small
I pray peace and love surround you
From the God who understands
As the family all around you lifts your arms up when you can’t
Join the choir of creation with the song of the redeemed
Oh, come on, church, lift your voice and sing
Chorus
Songwriters: Jonathan Lindley Smith / Phil Wickham / Ben Smith / Benjamin William Hastings / Joseph Patrick Martin Barrett
Praise The Lord Forever lyrics © Capitol Cmg Genesis, Vamos Publishing, Housefires Sounds, Bread & Wine Sounds, Bread And Wine Sounds, Also Also Industries Publishing
You can listen to the song here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chGsvFIHf8w
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In Exodus 17 we read a curious story of how the Israelites triumphed in a battle against the Amalekites: As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. Exodus 17:11-12)
There are echoes of that story in the lines of this song. We are reminded there are times in life when it feels like your battles are going to overwhelm and defeat you. That’s when it’s good to know that you are not alone but part of a family who are all around you in support and who are there to ‘lift your arms up when you can’t’.
Thus, in singing or listening to this song, we are pointed to three core truths.
- God is good and the goodness and love of God stretches through all eternity as should our praise and worship.
- We are the people of God (citizens of heaven, sons and daughters of the king) who are forever changed (resurrected by the war that Jesus won) and whose praises are joined with those of all creation (the choir of creation with the song of the redeemed).
- But that doesn’t mean our lives will always feel triumphant. There will be times when we don’t feel like praising because we feel brokenhearted; or we’re ‘walking through the valley’ or we feel like our faith is small or non-existent. Those times are precisely when we need to know that our family, the body of Christ, is all around us.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, you understand our situations and so I pray your peace and love may surround us and that we might know and feel that right now. May our arms be lifted up and our strength renewed, either through your direct action or through the family of your church acting in your name. Amen.