When I was thinking about what hymn to feature today, I wanted to find something that was as dark and dreary as I felt. The world is burning before our very eyes, and we feel powerless to stop it. I was flipping through an old hymnal for inspiration, and the book kept opening to the section of praise songs. I tried three times. Praise, praise, praise.
On Palm Sunday, I made a post on my personal Facebook page talking about the sadness of missing out on celebrating the lead-up to Easter. I closed the post with the line “All glory, laud, and honor anyway.” When I wrote that line, it was more in defeat. I was trying to get across a “ho, hum, what can I even do?” feeling. But one of my friends who reposted it said she loved it because the line sounded defiant – praising God even in the midst of hardship.
It’s not what I meant when I wrote it, but I like the reinterpretation, and I’m trying to live up to that now. So today’s hymn is Praise to the Lord, the Almighty. Because even in the midst of hardship, God is praiseworthy. It’s easy to praise God when things are going well; it’s harder when things are going badly. But, defiantly, I’m going to praise God anyway.
2 Responses
Hey, I love that hymn! It was always one of my favorites to play on the piano, but not terribly well known. One spring my ward choir director asked us for suggestions of what we’d like to sing, and I recommended that one. She picked it, we sang it at Easter, and I’m pretty sure it’s the best song we ever sang. She thanked me after for choosing it, so I’ve always felt connected to it, mostly because it was my ward choir song picking debut. 🙂 I’d love to hear it sung more often in meetings!
I love the thought of defiant praise!