He might not have thought so at the time, but maybe having a rough time finding and keeping a decent job was a blessing for Leonard Smith. He was trying to help others express faith in God and learn to study, and soon found this zeal made others frown. He soon found himself frowning too, because of the blows he endured. But, that’s when he found there was an ultimate truth, contained in the song “Our God Reigns”, that would not disappoint him. It was something that would always be true, something meant to reach beyond what happens here. If you or I could get our hands on that kind of truth, wouldn’t that be something! Step into Lenny Smith’s shoes for a moment, and let’s see how he came through this.
It was in the 1973-74 period, and Smith had lost his way vocationally. He’d been a high school teacher, but his instructional methods, the way he reached out to teenagers, was risky, according to his supervisors. ‘Stop spreading God’s message’ was what he heard, and so he lost teaching jobs three times in the same number of years as he followed his heart. Relegated to painting houses and doing other jobs working with his hands, he felt miserable. How was he supposed to provide for his family without being able to use his college degree? Was his enthusiasm for God supposed to leave him destitute or struggling to make ends meet? Smith didn’t walk away from his faith, however, and the grip of God’s message on him was what led him to a discovery that gave him renewed hope. Isaiah’s prophecy showed him something that was happening centuries ago to a nation, and what they heard that caused them to re-think their despair. ‘God reigns!’ And, not only that, He comes with good news. Good news? Isn’t that kind of an understatement? What the prophet means is really so much more, Smith realized as he read the ancient prophecy. It’s amazing, breathtaking news. It was so powerful that Smith wept at reading it and realizing its import.
What would good news and knowing God reigns mean to me? After a rotten, stressful day at the office, what can I take from this, the way Smith did in 1974? If traffic woes eat away at my energy-level, or I hear disappointing, crushing news someday, what keeps my chin up? Leonard Smith found that it was considering the life and experiences of Jesus that kept him from wallowing in his own gloom. He wrote one verse in 1974, and then wrote four more in 1978 to try to encompass the Savior’s existence. They capture what things Jesus might have dwelled upon, particularly in the middle three of five verses that he wrote. He was ignored and scorned, unfairly convicted and responsible for my wrongdoing, and finally executed for things He never did. If anyone ever had a reason for despair, it was Jesus! But, verses one and five of Smith’s song bookend the bad news, with the electric, history-changing message. He knew the good news, and He didn’t keep it to Himself. My crummy job, my depressing life, and even death cannot steal from me what awaits me. This news has the power to overwhelm anything else that dogs me. God makes these rules, because He said so…He reigns. Now go shout it to anyone else who’ll listen!
“The Complete Book of Hymns – Inspiring Stories About 600 Hymns and Praise Songs”, by William J. and Ardythe Perersen , published by Tyndale House in 2006; and the book “Our God Reigns (The Stories Behind Your Favorite Praise and Worship Songs)”, by Phil Christensen and Shari MacDonald, Kregel Publications, 2000 are the sources for this song story.
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