Focus Scripture: Psalm 150:6 (NLT)
Let everything that breathes sing praises to the Lord! Praise the Lord!
While I stood in my kitchen listening to the news on the radio, I heard a variety of grim reports. All were depressing, all sad. The only thought I could think was “Have mercy, God.” When the news was over, a song began to play. The lyrics went something like this: “There’s a day we all face that depletes our strength, and our hearts can hold no more weight. When the source of our faith is not sure anymore, nothing left to do or to say . . . Have no fear. God’s in control! God has the last say so!” I broke out in a smile, and my spirit soared. God, indeed, has the last word.
I believe that God touches us in indescribable ways through music. We communicate with God through music and prayer. And often, it is through music that God answers us and delivers us from our afflictions. That morning in my kitchen, a song blessed me. In return for such a wonderful gift, I believe we should praise God through our grief, our gladness, and our gratitude.
Thomas A. Dorsey understood this when he wrote “Precious Lord,” a song in which he praised God through his grief. Throughout his early years, Dorsey felt torn between the sacred and the secular. Filled with wanderlust, young Dorsey left Georgia as part of the Great Migration. When he settled in Chicago, his schedule was hectic and his lifestyle unhealthy. At age 21, he suffered a nervous breakdown. After undergoing a spiritual transformation, however, Dorsey recovered from his condition a few years later and turned his attention exclusively to sacred music. Then another tragedy struck.
One evening while he was playing at a revival in St. Louis, he received a telegram informing him that his wife had died in childbirth and that their child had died soon after. Consumed by grief, the young artist stopped writing for a while, reporting that he felt he had been abandoned by God. A friend visited Dorsey one night and arranged for him to be left alone in a music room with a piano. The grieving musician spent some time in the solitude of that room. And after a while, Dorsey recalled feeling at peace: And I quote: “I felt as though I could reach out and touch God. I found myself playing a melody, one I’d never heard or played before, and words [from “Precious Lord”] came into my head—they just seemed to fall into place.”
Today, Thomas Dorsey’s “Precious Lord” has been called “the greatest gospel song of all time.” For so many people, including myself, the song expresses a profound message of hope and faith. You remember how it goes, don’t you?
Precious Lord, take my hand, lead me on, let me stand,
I am tired, I am weak, I am worn.
Through the storm, through the night, lead me on to the light.
Take my hand, precious Lord, lead me home.
Prayer
Thank you, God, for revealing to me the many ways I can praise you with the gifts you have given me. Amen.
From Reflective Renewal: Grace at the Crossroads
