“Joyfully Praise God In Loud Voices!”

“”Joyfully Praise God In Loud Voices!”(Lk.19:37-40).
“When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen: ‘Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ‘Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!’ Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, rebuke your disciples!’ ‘I tell you,’ he replied, ‘if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.'”
It is an unwritten job description of an African griot to sing the praises of the king. Copying from the griots, African music talents take the mentioning of names of important personalities in songs as a means of massaging their egos and getting something out of them.
Folk wisdom says, “When you pick a shelf of cola-nut, you should look up to see if there is a cola-nut tree.” Looking up is a mark of appreciation to the tree. However, a tree does not nourish itself, so the appreciation is to the one who resides above the sky, far higher than the cola-nut tree.
The leaves of almost all plants face upwards in perpetual praise of their Maker and Nourisher.
The early morning song of the clock bird is not our alarm settings. It is its song of praise thanking God for a new day. I recall the days of yore when the late Sir O. E. Elonge was our music teacher at PTS, Kumba. He taught us one of his compositions inspired by the sound of the pecking of the woodpecker bird: “Kooroong, kooroong, kong, kong, kong, kooroong…”
Songs of praises are what we must ever give to the LORD; especially for saving us through the blood of the risen Lord Jesus Christ.
When we look around and within, we realise the need to “give to our God immortal praise” because “wonders of grace belong to him…”
So you see, it was not an overstatement when Jesus replied to the Pharisees, “If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” God who made all things has a way of extracting his praise even from the inanimate objects that he created.
My friend, the light of each new day ushers us into the wonders of God’s grace for the day. We witness these miracles daily, and the Lord deserves our joyful praise in loud voices!
Oh yes! “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
The peace in heaven is the peace that Christ has brought. It is peace that passes human understanding! Let us sing that peace, share that peace, and live that peace!
Prayer: Holy Trinity, may you be praised and glorified forever and ever. Amen!
Have a blessed day! Peace be with you!
Rev Babila Fochang.
21/05/2025.