The Rocks Will Cry Out: When You Can’t Not Praise God
Sometimes what God has done in our lives is so completely worthy of praise, but we don’t notice it, and we miss the opportunity for sweet worship with the Lord. Not today. Today we’re going to take time to notice and praise God.
We sat at a rare dinner out, the three of us eager to tell the others what was going on in our lives. I started and wasn’t more than a sentence in when my 10-year-old niece said, “I have something to say.”
“Just a minute. When I’m finished,” I replied. I went on, gushing about what God was doing in my life.
Then her other aunt started talking, explaining what she had prayed for and how God had answered.
“Is it my turn yet?” Isabella asked. “Because I want to tell you about my report.”
“We’re almost done,” one of us said. She might have rolled her eyes and let out a big sigh that blew wisps of hair off her forehead.
Eventually, it was her turn. “Finally!” she exclaimed. “I’ve been waiting forEVer,” and she launched into an enthusiastic explanation of her school report and what she had discovered in her research. Had we not let her talk at that point, she would have burst in, unable to contain herself any longer.
Have you ever felt that way with God? Unable to contain your praise because of all He’s done?
Well, it’s time to get your worship on and praise God this week, even if you have to grope through some dark moments to find the praiseworthy nugget.
Sometimes what God has done in our lives is so completely worthy of praise, but we don’t notice it, and we miss the opportunity for sweet worship with the Lord. Not today. Today we’re going to take time to notice and praise God.
Our Bible reading for today takes us back to Palm Sunday. When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a colt of a donkey, the people shouted, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” (John 12:13).
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” Jesus answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out” (Luke 19:39-40).
Now, it wasn’t that Jesus was saying the stones would actually come alive and shout with conscious praise (see the Extra Info below). Rather He was saying, “Don’t you get it? They have to praise me. They have recognized the significance of me riding into Jerusalem on a never-before-ridden colt, what it really means, and they cannot contain their joy!”
Even if, especially if, you are going through a rough patch today, find it: Find the reason to praise God. Then praise Him with all you have left in you, and see if it doesn’t make you feel better.
What has God done in your life that is worthy of praise?
Digging into God’s Word: When You Can’t Not Praise God
I know you’ve sung your Easter songs and put the plastic eggs away until next year, but now that the hustle and bustle is over, you can really relish these moments that occurred on Palm Sunday. Let God’s Word fill you with hope, because you know the end of the story! Catch Jesus’ reference to stones in the very last verse of today’s reading.
Luke 19:28-40 (ESV)
The Triumphal Entry
28 And when he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. 29 When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, 30 saying, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’” 32 So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them. 33 And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” 35 And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36 And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road. 37 As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, 38 saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”
Digging Deeper: When You Can’t Not Praise God
Enjoy this time with the Lord. Reflect on or journal about the following questions, listening for what God has to say to you.
1. What if you don’t feel like praising? Some days life is so hard that praise is the last thing we want to do. We feel like we have little to be thankful for. Although the two are closely intertwined, praise can be distinguished from thanksgiving. Think of praise as saying back to God who He is. “I praise you for your faithfulness. I praise you that you are holy and true. You are my rock and my salvation.” If you’re struggling to praise today, open up your Bible or Bible app to Psalm 147 and read it out loud. Let it remind you who God really is.
2. Go ahead and give thanks! What are you thankful for today? Take time to quiet your soul and let God bring to mind the things He has done in your life. Do any surprise you? Thank and praise God for all He is and all He is doing in your life and the lives of people around you.
3. It’s time to get your worship on! Choose one or all of the songs to listen to, or come back to these songs throughout the week. They are sure to lift your spirits!
Beautiful Day (Jamie Grace) Seriously, you can dance to this one!
This Is Amazing Grace (Phil Wickham)
The One Who Saves (Hillsong)
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Extra Info: Would Stones Really Cry Out?
It’s not that God couldn’t cause stones to cry out. In fact, God uses creation in amazing ways in the Bible. When Jesus breathed His last on the cross, the earth quaked. But in today’s passage, which recounts the events of Palm Sunday, Jesus is speaking proverbially.
From Barnes’ Notes on the Bible:
“The sense is, that his coming was an event of so much importance that it ‘ought’ to be celebrated in some way, and ‘would’ be celebrated. It would be impossible to restrain the people, and improper to attempt it. The language here is strong proverbial language to denote that fact. We are not to suppose, therefore, that our Saviour meant to say that the stones were ‘conscious’ of his coming, or that God would ‘make’ them speak, but only that there was ‘great joy’ among the people; that it was ‘proper’ that they should express it in this manner, and that it was not fit that he should attempt to repress it.”
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Find Past Series
You can find Past Devotions from other series on the website under the Devotions menu or at www.diggingdeeperwithgod.com/past-devotions/.
Two of the most popular have been Hope Springs Eternal and All In: A Study of Elisha.
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Free Printable on Psalm 103
A few weeks ago, we finished a series on Leaving a Legacy, which focused on living out the characteristics that God models for us in Psalm 103. For a printable on What Psalm 103 Tells Us About God, click this link:
What Psalm 103 Tells Us About God
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It was also a reference made by HIM to what the Pharisees would have surely known.
In Joshua 24, before Joshua passes away, he gathers the 12 tribes together and:
25 On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people, and there at Shechem he reaffirmed for them decrees and laws. 26 And Joshua recorded these things in the Book of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak near the holy place of the LORD.
27“See!” he said to all the people. “This stone will be a witness against us. It has heard all the words the LORD has said to us. It will be a witness against you if you are untrue to your God.”
HE was echoing the words of Joshua that if the people did not give HIM worship and were quiet as HE rode past, the stone(s) would be a witness against them.
The Pharisees would certainly have known what HE meant. HE was reminding them yet again that HE and GOD were ONE of which we know they did not like.
Yes! Those who studied the Torah and writings as much as the Pharisees would have known that exact reference right away and would have known Jesus was declaring Himself to be YHWH. To be Echad, one. The Bible is full of these amazing connections. It had hyperlinks before hyperlinks were a thing!
It is in our PRAISE and WORSHIP that our Savior breaks our chains and heals us and refreshes and delivers us!!!! It is in his PRESENCE that he comes in flooding us with his love and filling us with his sweet Holy Spirit. I am so grateful for the relationship I have with Jesus, it is a love like no other.
Phil.4:4-7
REJOICE in Him always, again I say “Rejoice!!”
Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.
Kim Walker-Smith just dropped a new album called Wild Heart. The opening track is called “Stones”, which is what led me here today. This is such an awesome explanation, and the hyperlink mentioned in the comments is strong supporting evidence that Jesus always had a meaning behind His words. I highly recommend you check out this song at the end of this study. You can’t help but praise!
“I will praise you, something in me has to. I won’t let the stones cry! I won’t let the stones cry out!”
Praises unto you Oh Mighty Lord… You deserve all Oh God. Your praises would never seize on my lips
“Sing unto the LORD!.. a New Song!” I Love this site! NO rocks are going to Sing for Me!
Our vision at first goes to stones becoming animated, maybe even growing faces and singing praises to God! Most feel the verse is proverbial rather than literal, but what happens when we can praise and choose to not praise, then what? We think of rocks speaking, but what if we are already hearing them? What if they cry out through explosions from volcanoes? Or earthquakes such as mentioned in diverse places? Or meteors crashing to earth? Or landslides? We think of God speaking in English or a heavenly language, but what about groanings??? Just something to think about!!
And ,as time passed, Mary said to her husband Joseph, come we must journey to the mountains to visit my cousin Elisabeth for I know she is with child as am I.
And so they made the long journey to the mountains and when Mary approached to her cousin , Elizabeth said, in great surprise, how is it that the mother of our savior comes to me? And she said to Mary the moment you approached the baby in my womb leapt for joy! And they knew the baby Elisabeth carried was ,indeed, to be known as John the Baptist, the herald of the Messiah.
What a beautiful joyous union that Mary and Elisabeth were privileged to share and so we also may revel in their happiness and be thankful for their shared humility.