A Lenten Journey: Climbing to the Cross – Day TWENTY-FOUR

Just a few scenes from my part of this glorious world that make me want to jump and shout. Let’s make today a day for jumping and shouting (quietly, of course {smile})
Psalm 100, English Standard Version

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! 
Serve the Lord with gladness!
     Come into his presence with singing. 
Know that the Lord, he is God!
    It is he who made us, and we are his;
    we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.  Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
    and his courts with praise!
    Give thanks to him; bless his name! 
For the Lord is good;
    his steadfast love endures forever,
    and his faithfulness to all generations.

Psalm 100, The Message 
On your feet now—applaud God! Bring a gift of laughter,
      sing yourselves into his presence. 
Know this: GOD is God, and God, GOD.
      He made us; we didn’t make him.
      We’re his people, his well-tended sheep. 
Enter with the password: “Thank you!”
      Make yourselves at home, talking praise.
      Thank him. Worship him. 
For God is sheer beauty,
      all-generous in love,
      loyal always and ever.
_______
I have a confession to make.
At this point in Lent, I am tired of Lent.
There. I’ve said it. I’ve put it in black and white (or black on blue on this particular blog).
Lent is long.
It’s intentionally long.
And it needs to be long.
It’s just that…well, I don’t do long very well sometimes.

Which, of course, is EXACTLY why I need Lent in my life.
BUT…today, I’m breaking a ‘rule.’
Yes, I am. Proud of it, too. (Well, very humbly proud – in the true Lenten spirit.)
During the days of Lent – most especially the six Sundays of Lent – the church abstains from alleluia.
That’s what I said.
NO alleluias during this journey to Holy Week.
The idea behind it is a good one, I think.
We’re not supposed to be depressed during Lent (though sometimes I think that’s what people believe), but we are supposed to be thoughtful, quieter than usual and to reflect on the cost of the cross.
The joyful resounding praises are to be stowed carefully away, 
     put into safe-keeping – 
and then let loose with a loud AMEN on Easter Sunday morning.
And I LOVE Easter Sunday morning worship – with brass instruments, choirs (if you’ve got them), familiar hymns.
But…
right about now, I could really use a little bit of alleluia in my life.
How about you?
So today’s selection of devotional readings included Psalm 100 – one of my favorites for lots of reasons, not least of which is – ta da! – it’s short. 
Short enough to memorize. 
Or to put to song.
And many have done that over the centuries. 
“Old 100th” is the familiar doxology tune and that’s a setting for this psalm. 
“All People Who On Earth Do Dwell” is another familiar hymn with its roots in this psalm, to say nothing of a whole lot of praise choruses of the last 30 years or so.
But one of my very favorite settings is a choral one, for women’s voices, by Rene Clausen. 
And I’m putting in a YouTube version (with no video – go figure!) for your listening and rejoicing pleasure. 
It’s just FULL of alleluias. 
And they go by very fast in lots of moving parts. 
So, just for today, we’re going to let the alleluias out of their box and sing with the psalmist. 
Because some days, you just gotta sing.

_______

Let this song be your morning prayer today. Close your eyes and let your heart sing along. (And don’t be afraid to join the applause at the end of this particular version – that’s the way Professor Peterson begins his paraphrase of this beautiful gem of a psalm and I think he’s right on target):


Get a personal letter from Diana twice a month

Sign up for *More Wondering. . . * a monthly personal letter from Diana to you, available only to email subscribers. As thanks, receive a copy of Diana's new ebook,30 Ways of Aging Gracefully.

powered by TinyLetter

To receive blog posts in your inbox, sign up below.


Comments

  1. Kerichojoy says

    Stunning scenery. It’s scenes like this that make me want to shout out to God in praise too. Thank you for sharing.

  2. Kerichojoy says

    P.S. I haven’t heard the Psalm sung before. They sing with exuberance. Thanks for sharing. Please come by and hear my song selection for today also. It is very moving by the Soweto Gospel Choir.  http://snapthatpenny.blogspot.ca/2012/03/i-bid-you-goodnight.html

  3. You know what? I needed the alleluias, too. Lent IS long. Last week I skipped Lenten services on Wednesday. It was beautiful outside — 80 degrees and sunny…and Rowan begged me to play badminton in the backyard, so I did that instead of church. It was kind of an alleluia in itself, I think.

    I thought of you today as I was driving home from work – you just popped into my head, and I thought, “I can’t imagine writing for 40 days straight!” You are doing a great job with this series, Diana – it must be a tremendous amount of work. I know it’s worth it…but it’s still work {when I visit I read through several posts in one sitting, so you are getting some bang for your buck with me! :)} 

  4. You bet playing with your kid is an alleluia – and one I’m sure you both needed! 40 days is a good, long time – to say nothing of the 6 Sundays added to that. But a lot of folks manage to do this and it does stun me, actually. Ann Voskamp comes to mind – she posts every day, all the time. I don’t think I’m quite up to that, but remembering that she does it helps me to just keep plugging away. And you did it for 29 days, kiddo – and each one was a gem. Thanks for stopping by and thanks for commenting – encouragement helps.

  5. And thank you for commenting!

  6. diazepam 5mg effects of valium addiction – drug interactions neurontin valium

  7. buy diazepam online diazepam dosage dogs seizures – genuine diazepam online

  8. buy xanax valium online florida xanax quotes myspace – ritalin xanax drug interactions

  9. xanax anxiety order cheap xanax no prescription – can you pass drug test xanax

  10. buy ativan ativan after alcohol – ativan withdrawal numbness

  11. buy xanax online no rx can buy xanax online us – 0.25 xanax and alcohol

  12. buy ativan ativan birth defects – ativan dosage much

  13. buy diazepam buy diazepam from egypt – diazepam 5 dosage

  14. buy carisoprodol online soma drug real – carisoprodol overdose

  15. buy ambien online ambien cr free coupon – ambien cr costco

  16. buy valium online buy valium no rx – generic pictures of valium

  17. buy ambien online zolpidem sleeping tablets side effects – will overdose ambien do

  18. carisoprodol buy carisoprodol 350mg – carisoprodol vs cyclobenzaprine

  19. valium no prescription online cheapest place buy valium online – valium vs xanax for mri

  20. buy ambien online ambien highest dose – order ambien overnight

  21. order soma carisoprodol 75mg – best place buy somatropin

  22. carisoprodol 350 mg buy soma india – buy soma no script

  23. buy somas buy soma louisiana – carisoprodol daily dosage