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Pastor Scott Onque

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Lift every voice and sing.

"Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing" – often referred to as the "Black National Anthem" – is a song written as a poem by James Weldon Johnson in 1900 and set to music by his brother John Rosamond Johnson in 1905.

It was performed for the first time by 500 school children in celebration of President Lincoln's Birthday on February 12, 1900 in Jacksonville, FL.

After the poem was set to music by Johnson's brother, John Rosamond Johnson, it was soon adopted by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) as its official song. Today “Lift Every Voice and Sing” is one of the most cherished songs of the African American Civil Rights Movement.

The words to this anthem speaks of the hope and faith of the African American people and their dependence on an all powerful God. When you think of the time frame of the writing of this anthem you must consider that the Negro was just 37 years out of slavery and were in this mist of what we now Jim crow era. where every right they thought the received by the emancipation proclamation was quickly being scaled back through fear, intimidation and unjust laws that still prevented them from equal access to the America that enslaved them for 242 years.

Its James Weldon Johnson who saw hope of a delivering God. The same God the psalmist reflected on in .

History[edit]

Shout for joy to God, all the earth;

2 sing the glory of his name;

give to him glorious praise!

3 Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! ().

Lift every voice and sing Till earth and heaven ring, Ring with the harmonies of Liberty; Let our rejoicing rise High as the listening skies, Let it resound loud as the rolling sea. Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us, Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us, Facing the rising sun of our new day begun Let us march on till victory is won.

So during this Black History month we also should do as the psalmist says Shout for joy to God or as James Weldon Johnson put it Lift every voice and sing!

Or as the Psalmist said in psalm 81 1 Sing aloud to God our strength;

(). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

1 Sing aloud to God our strength;

shout for joy to the God of Jacob! or as says 95 Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! or as puts it 4 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises!

4 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth;

break forth into joyous song and sing praises!

and if you are not familiar with those psalm i know Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!

let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!

Which leads me to my first point

God deserves a collect praise!

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

The psalmist says a Shout for joy to God all the earth.

Everything that God made aught to praise him. We have a requirement to praise him through audible sounds. The sounds are to motivated by gratitude and center with joy. There should be an overwhelming level of gladness and happiness in us that we dig down and get our best praise and let it out! We should we equate our praise with what we were designed to do. Our very make up is created for praise. Lips and tongue to form words that are connected to our vocal chords which generates sound. We have hands that can come together to applaud God. We have arms that can way to celebrate God we have feet to stand on to ovate God. So a shout for joy is required. Say to God Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! Now if he never did anything for you then I guess you don’t owe him praise. Yet the psalmist says differently because he says All the earth worships you and sings praises to you; they sing praises to your name

and sings praises to you;

they sing praises to your name

James Weldon Johnson understood that God deserved praise becuase it was God who brought us through.

Stony the road we trod, Bitter the chastening rod, Felt in the days when hope unborn had died; Yet with a steady beat, Have not our weary feet Come to the place for which our fathers sighed? We have come over a way that with tears has been watered, We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered, Out from the gloomy past, Till now we stand at last Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast.

God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, Thou who has brought us thus far on the way; Thou who has by Thy might Led us into the light, Keep us forever in the path, we pray.

This is a reminder God has brought us through so tough times. He has seem us through some up and downs. We have to appreciate what God has done.

The pslamist said in verse 5

Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man.

We need to remind our children, our friends, our neighbors and anyone who will listen that God has been awesome! ().

he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man.

Still to this day the Jewish remind their children of what God has done. Verse 6 gives you a reminder that The Lord showed up at the Red Sea in and allowed the Children of Israel to passover on dry land. They retell that on the night the Lord sent the last and final plague that he instructed them to paint lambs blood over the door post and the death angel would passover their house.

(). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

We have to do the same thing. We don just come the church on New Years Eve because we werent invited to a party we come because we celebrate watchmeet service where the slaves who were waiting for the New Year to come in because at the stroke of midnight their status would change. They would go from slave to free at the stroke of the clock. We don’t reflect how that had to feel. to be born in slavery sold and stripped of all human rights the hope now is that you would be free.

Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us, Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us, Facing the rising sun of our new day begun.

At the darkest point of our life we should still be able to face a new day with new hope!

I dont know about you but God has been good to me. That why I praise should not only we collective but selective.

God is the one who deserves our praise. Make the right selection when you are handing out credit.

Look at the verse 8 through 12.

Bless our God, O peoples;

let the sound of his praise be heard,

9 who has kept our soul among the living

and has not let our feet slip.

10 For you, O God, have tested us;

you have tried us as silver is tried.

11 You brought us into the net;

you laid a crushing burden on our backs;

12 you let men ride over our heads;

we went through fire and through water;

yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance.

(). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles. The psalmist realizes what ever difficulties they might have experience it was for their good. I dont care where you are keep this in mind God will bring you to a place of abundance. Thats why our praise should be selective. Keep your praise on HIM.

Finally your praise should be reflective. As you consider what God has done for you it should motivate you do do something for the Lord.

13 I will come into your house with burnt offerings;

I will perform my vows to you,

14 that which my lips uttered

and my mouth promised when I was in trouble.

15 I will offer to you burnt offerings of fattened animals,

with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams;

I will make an offering of bulls and goats. Selah

Yes when your praise is reflective you will be like the psalmist and make it personal. Say make it personal. The Psalmist uses the pronoun I and the adjective my. He says what HE will do for the Lord! I am not looking for the next person to do for the Lord what he has given me the ability to do!

16 Come and hear, all you who fear God,

and I will tell what he has done for my soul.

17 I cried to him with my mouth,

and high praise was on my tongue.

I don’t know hat you come to do but I come to give him praise ! I come to clap my hands, I’ve come to stomp my feet!

You should have that same attitude. I’ve come to give God my best praise! Best Praise!

18 If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,

the Lord would not have listened.

19 But truly God has listened;

he has attended to the voice of my prayer.

20 Blessed be God,

because he has not rejected my prayer

or removed his steadfast love from me! (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

(). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, Thou who has brought us thus far on the way; Thou who has by Thy might Led us into the light, Keep us forever in the path, we pray. Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee, Lest, our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee; Shadowed beneath Thy hand, May we forever stand. True to our God, True to our native land.