Oh, Praise Him!

Autumn Saturday mornings back in the days of my youth sometimes brought a parade. At least once, and probably two or three times, the band would march in these parades. Ours was a fairly respectable band of about 100 or more marchers from a small town, but we were also far from the largest marching band. Now, imagine a band of 10,000 marchers. No, not the one of now or even back then, the one where the middle would be out of step with the front and the back would be running to catch up because of the accordion effect. No, this band steps out at the same time and maintains perfect lines and rows. This band has no need of sheet music, for at the drum major's command it plays an anthem of praise composed right on the spot as it marches. Instruments and percussion accompany the voices of the crowd along the parade route as all work together to praise the Lord Jesus, the parade marshal.

Of course this is nothing but a dream right now. To coordinate such a large band now would be beyond our abilities. If you have ever marched in a large military parade, you know that the effort at practice required is tremendous just to get a battalion of several hundred marching in a military manner. In a division parade, which would be about 10,000 marchers, there is only one band, and it is quite a small part of the parade. Even physics would seem to be against us as it would seem to the crowd that the back of the band was playing a different tune from the front as it would take a couple of seconds for the 'oomp' of the tuba at the back to reach the 'toot' of the trumpet in the front. And to compose the tune on the spot? Yikes, try not to imagine the cacophony of 10,000 individuals making up their own music as they marched.

A praise parade is a vision for the days when we are marching up God's holy mountain in a time that has not yet come. It doesn't work now, but it will then. We are separated now by duties, jobs, and circumstances, many beyond our control, which conspire against such a unified effort at praise. We live and labor in a fallen world with plenty of enemies seeking our ruin. But it won't always be that way; we have our Lord's word on that.

Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised
In the city of our God,
In His holy mountain. (Psalm 48:1)

Have a blessed Saturday!

In Christ Jesus,
Bucky