“This time, I will praise the Lord.”
That’s what Jacob’s wife Leah said in Genesis 29 as she named her fourth baby Judah, which means “praise.”
“This time, I will praise the Lord.”
This time. Because she named her first three boys for her pain: Reuben (“see, a son”) because “surely now my husband will love me;” Simeon (“God has heard” that she’s hated); and Levi (“joined”) because “this time my husband will be joined to me.” She named them out of her gaping, longing heart that wanted nothing but the one thing she didn’t have, her husband’s love.
Maybe this time he’ll love me, she thought as she bore him one son after another. Yet still he doted on her sister.
Somehow Leah came to terms with heartbreak. But not somehow — you can see it as she names her boys. At some point she determined to drop her complaint and praise the Lord instead, right in the middle of her pain. Judah means praise! With her fourth child, Leah took her eyes off of herself. She looked to the Lord and found her peace in him.
Sometimes Christmas brings out pain we cover the rest of the year. It can come as a sudden stab when we see a child, hand-in-hand with laughing parents, picking out a Christmas tree. If we can’t be with our family, or if our family is anything but happy, every Christmas song and Hallmark TV special hurts. Even other people’s joy can seem to mock us. That’s why the Christmas Star is such a gift. It calls us to lift our eyes and hearts up out of the darkness, and sing in praise. Even if we don’t feel like it.
Maybe that’s why the angels appeared in the sky too, over Bethlehem — they show us how to praise, they lead the way. Because the act of praising God can lift your heart!
Photo source: Pexels.com
This time, I will praise the Lord, Leah said. This time, when your situation gets you down: make the effort to follow that star. Determine to praise until it leads you to the One who entered our pain and is able to give us peace and joy, however dark things seem.
Let Hannah and Mary teach you to praise
Today’s readings give us two beautiful examples of praise: Hannah’s song when the Lord gives her a son in answer to her prayer, and Mary’s Magnificat, sung when the Lord surprised her with the gift of his Son. God does “lift the needy from the dust,” as Hannah said. He “fills the hungry with good things,” as Mary sang. Proclaim his greatness with one of these songs and allow it to lift your heart to the One who is able to fill it. Learn, like Leah did, the power of praise.
© 2018 Sarah Christmyer
My favorite Magnificat hymn is John Michael Talbot’s song, Holy is His Name. Here’s a lovely version of it by Kitty Cleveland.
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Come to the Manger and Find Peace! This 30-minute talk draws inspiration from the shepherds, the magi, and others who made their way to the manger that long-ago Christmas.
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Thank you Sarah!
And just like Leah. . .with each new babe our Lord seems to teach us something more about His character. . . I used to wonder why anyone would name their baby “Leah”. . . but no more!