Great is the Lord Almighty -- Dennis Jernigan

This 59-year old calls Muskogee his home in Oklahoma (see the map here) currently, so that might have been where Dennis Jernigan first penned the words that he still often sings today, nearly 30 years after he wrote them. Dennis had a lot of great reasons to exclaim that “Great Is the Lord Almighty” in 1991 as a 32-year old. By the time he wrote the words, Dennis had begun to hear lots of stories – perhaps many from people who could not have imagined that they would be sharing them – as a result of his own example. Jernigan often describes himself as a ‘reborn’ person, a ‘new creation’, and perhaps that’s what he imagined a group many centuries earlier might have thought about themselves, as conquerors rather than as beaten-down reform projects. Get in touch with these old biblical stories, he says, and understand He’s still the Almighty in our century.

Dennis doesn’t share too many precise details about how each of the more than 2,000 songs he’s written have evolved since his ‘rebirth’ in the early 1980s, but knowing his very personal redemption story helps contextualize most of what he’s composed since that time. Freedom is another very key word that Dennis emboldens in his testimonial (see website link below), using it as an umbrella to cover all that has happened over the last few decades. In short, Dennis’s life has been an about-face from the homosexual lifestyle that he was in until the early 1980s. A 1981 concert and a close friend’s help at the same time helped Dennis begin the process of turning around, a progression that culminated in his marriage to his wife Melinda in 1983 and the beginning of a life with her and the nine children they would eventually have together. He might have said ‘Great is the Lord Almighty’ right then, but that moment would actually happen several years later, after Dennis began sharing his ‘rebirth’ in church settings. Was it the ensuing events that perhaps inspired Dennis to call out to the Almighty musically? He relates that many people confessed their own hurts and struggles as he made himself vulnerable beginning in 1988. A community had been hidden, but now were openly calling upon the same Almighty, in a way that they witnessed Dennis model for them. Dennis’ verses in ‘Great Is the Lord Almighty’, in a parallel way, speak of a people needing their Almighty at the Red Sea, at ‘the brink’ (v.1), and while marching around Jericho in the Promised Land (v.2). You can hear Dennis personalize his redemptive state in the words ‘…since He took my blame’ (v.3), and for others like him who were formerly ‘…dying and lost in their sin’. Proclaiming Him as the Almighty and seeing His redemption transform yourself and scores, even hundreds of people, would be something to witness! That’s where Dennis was in 1991.  
     

Dennis’ other words in ‘Great…Almighty’ are in the present tense, emphasizing that this God is still busy today re-birthing people. ‘He is a mighty God’, ‘great is the Lord Almighty’, Jernigan asserts repeatedly in the song. He’s not finished with you and me, including especially if you feel as damaged as Dennis did in 1981. You and I can be ‘lifting up a mighty joyful sound’, the same way an ancient generation did, and which is related in a bestselling book we can all read – the bible. It’s not just book stuff, however. Dennis is living proof.  

Hear a recording and see all the words of the song here: https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=great+is+the+lord+almighty

See testimony of author here: https://www.dennisjernigan.com/djs-story

See biography of author here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Jernigan

And, see this book:  Giant Killers: Crushing Strongholds , Securing Freedom in Your Life, by Dennis Jernigan. WaterBrook Press, 2005.

God Holds the Future in His Hands -- James Rowe

What would a transplanted Englishman-Irishman ponder after fifty-some decades of living and seeing a few twists and turns in his path? That would have been a sensible question to ask James Rowe in 1922, but maybe he already answered that query with the words he penned in “God Holds the Future in His Hands”. Perhaps while he was in Colonie, New York (where James may have lived, or maybe nearby, see its seal here), James might have responded when asked that there’s lots of valleys, but also some peaks. And what of the years to come – are you anxious? What James Rowe would have said about the oncoming years should be pretty apparent, given how he titled this song. ‘Don’t fret, He’s got this!’ That would be James’ short riposte or contemporary rewording of his song title. If your future is looming, rather than materializing like a beautiful sunrise, what might make you see things differently, the way James did?  

James Rowe was 57 when ‘God Holds the Future…’ was written in 1922, and had been in plenty of different places and vocational situations, allowing him to voice an opinion with some confidence about what lay ahead. Or, more precisely, James felt assured about who is there in the future. His first verse reflects the sense that he’d seen plenty of adverse times, since he writes of ‘dread’, ‘burdens’, ‘sinking sands’, and ‘thorns’. Had James struggled, before leaving his homeland (Ireland; he was born in England) and later working for the railroad and a humane society in New York state, prior to making song-writing and music-publishing his life’s work? Whatever had transpired in Rowe’s ventures, he had come to terms with his life’s import in 1922. Rowe reportedly did not begin his song-writing career until he was in his early 30s, making his eventual output of some 9,000 published works (hymns, poems, and other expressions of his thoughts) pretty noteworthy. It’d been a quarter-century since he’d begun expressing himself in this way, and ‘God Holds the Future…’ was but one of many forms he was using to articulate what he’d discovered. Verse one might have been the younger fellow who noted all the troubles, but James’ refrain and verses two, three, and four sound more like a seasoned, veteran Christian who wasn’t beaten down, despite some gloomy events. A ’storm’ and ‘sun’, ‘good’ or ‘ill’ (v.2) occupy the same space, as do ‘zephyrs’ and ‘storms that rage’ (v.3). No matter what, He’s the future, as if it’s all just something like malleable clay in his larger-than-life hands.

What explicit circumstance James experienced to prompt this poetry is unknown, or is it? Rowe’s words cover with a broad brush just about anyone’s encounters by the time 50-something rolls around. And, he must have had his share of both ups and downs, as his poem’s words indicate. Were the ‘Roaring 20s’ the same for Rowe as they were for others? Had the recent world war damaged him or members of his family, instead? What do you suppose James would have said about what lay just a few years ahead, in the Great Depression? Perhaps he suspected something cataclysmic could ensue. But, ‘what good’s it do to be anxious’…that’s a James Rowe verse-response to the up or down arrow on the sign that warns me of what’s up ahead on the roadway. Seeing around or beyond that next ditch or speed bump to a blissful existence isn’t Pollyanna. God is real. He is truth (John 14:6). Better check Him out.    

         

 See the following links for brief biography of the author:

https://hymnary.org/person/Rowe_James

http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/r/o/w/e/rowe_j.htm

See the following link for all the song’s original verses: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/g/o/d/h/godholds.htm

Come Let Us Sing – Anonymous

He was a priest or at least one of the descendants of Levi, and was thinking about what might spur all the people of his generation to celebrate and worship on a special day, perhaps even as some of them gathered near the steps of the temple in Jerusalem (see them here, in May 2009). He and perhaps others were engaged in the formulation of several musical numbers for this and probably other special occasions. This was his and his compatriots’ special calling – music. In our contemporary way of speaking, he might have been called the worship minister, or in a classical music sense in a royal dominion, maybe the court musician. Jewish by birth and experience, this poet also was steeped in liturgy. So, there was an expected standard, too. How does one craft something special to underscore the experience for all the participants on such an occasion? How did the poet finally settle on the words “Come Let Us Sing” and the others that followed in that period (perhaps around 1,000 B.C.)?

The 95^th Psalm’s first five verses form the word-for-word content of ‘Come Let Us Sing’. Since the New International Version (NIV) translation of the bible’s words of Psalm 95 match the words of the song, we can also safely presume that the 20^th Century version of the song is attributable to someone who read from this particular bible translation. Someone as early as the 1970s, when the NIV first emerged, was the author of ‘Come Let Us Sing’, borrowing the original words and thoughts written by the ancient psalmist some 2,500 – 3,000 years ago. This and other psalms of its genre (Psalms 93-100) are believed to have their origin in the era before the Israeli people, in two separate groups (Samaria and Judah), were forced into exile by foreign conquerors (the northern kingdom, Samaria, fell around 722 B.C. to Assyria; the southern kingdom, Judah, fell to Babylonia around 586 B.C.). Before these unhappy times, Israel would have celebrated as a free people, basking in the light of their God’s goodwill and His providence. All their history had taught this psalmist and his contemporaries that their God was unique, ‘the great God, the great King above all gods’ (v. 3 of Psalm 95). These people’s ancestors had been saved by Him, from the Egyptians and various other peoples who had tried to deny them the inheritance in Canaan that God pledged was theirs. They had much for which to be thankful, and probably had been celebrating their relationship with Jehovah-God annually for decades or even hundreds of years, by singing this and other Psalms at one or more of the festivals – Passover, Firstfruits, Pentecost, Tabernacles, or maybe another. He’s the earth’s Creator, Sustainer, and Owner, this ‘Rock of our salvation’ (v.1). The Levite tribe were the keepers of the temple and those who would have been most familiar with its practices, including the ‘high’ worship they were in charge of developing. They intrinsically understood what made sense in the music they formulated – what emotions and mental state they were aiming to stimulate. This was, after all, their job. Tap into the history of our people, tune in our God-given musical talent, and throughout all of this inject God’s Spirit to infuse ‘Come Let Us Sing’ with a mood that bonds everyone together. Sounds like a pretty reasonable formula, right?   

The psalmist knew for whom and what setting he was writing. ‘Us’ is spoken three times in the opening verses, a must if one crafts something for a crowd to sing and edify one another and prompt God’s presence. He inhabits not just the temple, but abides in our nation. But, even the nation is too small for this God. He made all the universe, so how does one address Him adequately? It would take more than one psalm with 11 verses (Psalm 95), and more than could be contained in several created by this writer and his associates. Only all time and all creation could give us a clear picture of this God. Psalm 95’s author gave us a good start.      

The following is the only source for comments in the above story: The NIV Study Bible, New International Version, edited by Kenneth Barker (General Editor) and others, Zondervan Bible Publishers,1985.