Cheering for the Lord

Perhaps it's because it is "College Gameday," I don't know, but this is what came to me as I read Nehemiah 12 today. It is talking here about the celebration that happened at the dedication of the wall around Jerusalem after it had been rebuilt.

For long ago, in the days of David and Asaph, there had been directors for the singers and for the songs of praise and thanksgiving to God... At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, the Levites were sought out from where they lived and were brought to Jerusalem to celebrate joyfully the dedication with songs of thanksgiving and with the music of cymbals, harps and lyres. The singers also were brought together from the region around Jerusalem... I also assigned two large choirs to give thanks.

One was to proceed on top of the wall to the right... [along with] some priests with trumpets... with musical instruments, prescribed by David the man of God.

The second choir proceeded in the opposite direction.

The two choirs that gave thanks then took their places in the house of God... The choirs sang under the direction of Jezrahiah, [standing opposite one another] to give praise and thanksgiving, one section responding to the other, as prescribed by David the man of God...

And on that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced. The sound of rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard far away.

After reading that and picturing the scene, this is what I wrote in the margin of my Bible:

"We love Jesus, yes we do... We love Jesus, how 'bout you?!"

OK, like I said, I may be influenced by the 'game day' mentality, (ha) but that's what I saw... and I'm not trying to be irreverant at all. It's actually a pretty neat scene in my mind - people who love God, standing on opposite towers of an immense wall, singing, playing instruments and shouting joyfully to one another their praise of God. I would have enjoyed being there. :)

And then it brought to mind a moment from Impact a couple of summers ago. Our junior high kids standing together on a brick wall at Lipscomb singing together and shouting out to the crowd that had gathered, waiting to go in for the next session --- "If you love Jesus, clap your hands... "


So, as we gather around our televisions today, or perhaps in a stadium somewhere, and cheer on our favorite football teams, maybe this scene from long ago will come to mind and we can take a moment to offer up a cheer for the One who deserves it the most!