“From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise.” Psalm 8:2a
Is there anything more precious than the voice of a little child singing? A couple of years back, my daughter sang “Happy Birthday Jesus” in church at Christmas. I know that I am biased, but it was almost angelic sounding!
I always love to sit around a group of children at church. When children have never been made to feel that praising the Lord is anything to be ashamed of, they can belt out the most beautiful songs with all the gusto they can muster up. The strength of their voices puts most adults to shame.
Traditionally on this day in the Passion Week narrative is when we read that Jesus became angry in the temple. He had discovered that it was being used to pad the pockets of the temple leaders, rather than as a house of prayer. The beautiful part of the story that many times gets overlooked is the role that the children played in that story.
Of course, the same religious leaders who had been overseeing the misuse of the temple had a problem with the praises coming from the lips of the children. Jesus reminded them what the Old Testament said in Psalm about God having ordained the praises to come from the children. It’s almost as if He causes the children to praise Him to overshadow all of the evil being done by the adults.
I’ve always wondered what Jesus’ reaction to our modern day churches would be? Would He be more pleased with the young children than He would with the Christians who had been following Him for decades? Would He be overwhelmed with praise from His people, or bewildered by all of the things we do in His house that in no way brings glory to Him?
I don’t know about you, but I want my Lord to be able to walk into the house of worship that I attend on any given Sunday and feel pleased about what is taking place. I want Him to hear my praises and know that they are coming from the depths of my heart.
Perhaps you and I need to take some time to identify with the children in this passage. They had it right. They were praising the Son of God with their voices and with their lives, even when everything going on around them was wrong.
Stop and ask God to show you where you are more like the temple leaders than the children. If God needs to overturn some tables in your heart, there’s no better day for Him to do it than today.
Is there anything more precious than the voice of a little child singing? A couple of years back, my daughter sang “Happy Birthday Jesus” in church at Christmas. I know that I am biased, but it was almost angelic sounding!
I always love to sit around a group of children at church. When children have never been made to feel that praising the Lord is anything to be ashamed of, they can belt out the most beautiful songs with all the gusto they can muster up. The strength of their voices puts most adults to shame.
Traditionally on this day in the Passion Week narrative is when we read that Jesus became angry in the temple. He had discovered that it was being used to pad the pockets of the temple leaders, rather than as a house of prayer. The beautiful part of the story that many times gets overlooked is the role that the children played in that story.
Of course, the same religious leaders who had been overseeing the misuse of the temple had a problem with the praises coming from the lips of the children. Jesus reminded them what the Old Testament said in Psalm about God having ordained the praises to come from the children. It’s almost as if He causes the children to praise Him to overshadow all of the evil being done by the adults.
I’ve always wondered what Jesus’ reaction to our modern day churches would be? Would He be more pleased with the young children than He would with the Christians who had been following Him for decades? Would He be overwhelmed with praise from His people, or bewildered by all of the things we do in His house that in no way brings glory to Him?
I don’t know about you, but I want my Lord to be able to walk into the house of worship that I attend on any given Sunday and feel pleased about what is taking place. I want Him to hear my praises and know that they are coming from the depths of my heart.
Perhaps you and I need to take some time to identify with the children in this passage. They had it right. They were praising the Son of God with their voices and with their lives, even when everything going on around them was wrong.
Stop and ask God to show you where you are more like the temple leaders than the children. If God needs to overturn some tables in your heart, there’s no better day for Him to do it than today.
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