"...the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."
At my brother's funeral last April, we sang three congregational songs: "I Love to See the Temple," "Sing Praise to Him," and "Press Forward Saints."
"Sing Praise to Him" has much of the sentiments of Job 1:21. Job has just learned that all his sons and daughters have been killed in an accident. He rends his garments, shaves his head, and falls down to say, "...the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."
Consider these lines from the 2nd verse:
What his almighty pow’r hath made
His gracious mercy keepeth.
and
But I digress. Back to Job. If God has made something, his mercy will keep it. All is just and all is right, even for Job who lost his health, his family, his worldly goods, etc. Why? Well, I'm not sure exactly why, but in part, it's because God is perfectly just and perfectly merciful. There are challenges we must pass through that are leading us to a greater glory. All that is unfair in this life will be made up, not least of all by molding us into who we are meant to become. This is why we can say, "blessed be the name of the Lord," and, "To him all praise and glory!"
My dad said people probably thought we were really weird for picking Press Forward Saints and Sing Praise to Him to sing at a funeral. More often people sing things like, "Oh My Father" and "Each Life That Touches Ours for Good." You know, songs about departed loved ones, and what it's like in heaven, and such. Instead, we sang, "Press forward," (ie. "move along.") and, "Alleluia!" "...rejoicing in his might," and "To him all praise and glory!"
When dad said this, he had a bit of a twinkle in his eye. I think that's because he understands Job, and why Job can say, "Blessed be the name of the Lord" at a time when it seems he has no reason to praise.
Plus, those Alleluias at the end of that final hymn? They felt so good to sing. I think Michael would have loved it.
Within the kingdom of his might,Some of the brethren sitting on the stand were holding it together so well until we got to the part in verse three:
Lo! all is just and all is right.
To him all praise and glory!
As with a mother’s tender hand,Something about seeing a grieving mother there at the front of the congregation and singing about a mother's tender hand was pehaps just too much. I think that was one of my Dad's favorite parts of the whole funeral.
He leads his own, his chosen band.
But I digress. Back to Job. If God has made something, his mercy will keep it. All is just and all is right, even for Job who lost his health, his family, his worldly goods, etc. Why? Well, I'm not sure exactly why, but in part, it's because God is perfectly just and perfectly merciful. There are challenges we must pass through that are leading us to a greater glory. All that is unfair in this life will be made up, not least of all by molding us into who we are meant to become. This is why we can say, "blessed be the name of the Lord," and, "To him all praise and glory!"
My dad said people probably thought we were really weird for picking Press Forward Saints and Sing Praise to Him to sing at a funeral. More often people sing things like, "Oh My Father" and "Each Life That Touches Ours for Good." You know, songs about departed loved ones, and what it's like in heaven, and such. Instead, we sang, "Press forward," (ie. "move along.") and, "Alleluia!" "...rejoicing in his might," and "To him all praise and glory!"
When dad said this, he had a bit of a twinkle in his eye. I think that's because he understands Job, and why Job can say, "Blessed be the name of the Lord" at a time when it seems he has no reason to praise.
Plus, those Alleluias at the end of that final hymn? They felt so good to sing. I think Michael would have loved it.
