Saturday, March 15
Read: Psalm 27, Psalm 118:26-29, Matthew 23:37-39
How Can I Say, Hallelujah?
There is a contemporary folk-rock band from Northern Ireland called Rend Collective. Drummer Gareth Gikeson describes the band as “a bunch of us trying to figure out life.” They have a song popular on Christian radio called, “Hallelujah Anyway.” The song addressed the struggle between the dark, hard days of life with the desire to live by faith with hope. The chorus goes like this:
Even if, my daylight never dawns.
Even if, my breakthrough never comes.
Even if, I’ll fight to bring You praise.
Even if, my dreams fall to the ground,
Even if, I’m lost. I know I’m found.
Even if! My heart will somehow say,
“Hallelujah, anyway!”
The psalmist in Psalm 27 knows the stress and the dilemma of the proclamations of faith and the reality of the difficulties that life brings. The poet knows the presence of God overwhelms the wickedness of his enemies. He knows that the strength of his enemies is not to be minimized. He is not a stranger to the feelings of abandonment by God. He knows the isolation of family brokenness and hurt cause by those who tell lies about him.
Nevertheless, the psalmist never gives into the troubles around him. He begs God not to “turn his face from him.” The Psalmist knows that his hope, his victory, his confidence, his security his strength, lies in God in whom he puts his trust. No matter how difficult life gets, he refuses to give into despair. His “heart will somehow say, “Hallelujah, anyway!”
Prayer: Oh God, keep my hope of faith grounded in You! Do not let my heartache, my brokenness, my disappointments, my failures keep me from being open to Your redemptive, restorative, healing grace. Hallelujah! Amen!
The Reverend Dr. Ken Dunivant is a retired ordained elder in the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church and serves on the Huntingdon College Board of Trustees.
