This 30-something couple was surprised by what they encountered one evening along the East Coast of the U.S. at a concert in 1972. That’s probably because Bill and Gloria Gaither had been told, behind the scenes of the stage that they occupied that night, that this crowd would likely be rather cool. So the reaction the Gaithers had to the unexpected events of that evening was to tell future crowds “Let’s Just Praise the Lord”, rather than allow admiration for their presentation to morph into acclaim for themselves. The words Gloria first suggested they adopt for the song’s message turned out to be not just for that one occasion, but more or less a reflective notion that they wanted to suggest to their audiences. ‘In what circumstances should I commend His work in my life?’, they might ask you and me to consider. That’s a question that Bill and Gloria might tell you is more important to answer than any other.
The Gaithers had already had some life experiences that would enlighten their musical praise toward God when they sang on stage in 1972, but the many years since that night have deepened their appreciation of the words that He gave them to sing on a bus following that night’s concert. They sang other songs that night that had stories which resonated with audience members – ones like ‘Because He Lives’ and ‘There’s Just Something About That Name’ (see other entries in this blog for those stories); and ‘The King is Coming’ (see Gloria’s book referenced below for this story). Maybe it was the background of those stories that helped Bill and Gloria stay humble, and be able to draw upon a deeper truth as they fought the temptation to drink in the crowd’s praise for them at the end of the concert. They didn’t want to disparage the enthusiastic believers who cheered their talent, but they felt a need to deflect what the crowd was expressing. So, aboard their bus after the concert’s conclusion, Bill said something that he probably didn’t realize, in that moment, would become the first verse of ‘Let’s Just Praise…’. It was Gloria who captured the words emerging from Bill’s mouth, and recorded them – words that would thank listeners for their reactions to the music, but redirect the praise toward the Giver of all good things. And, as Gloria shared some 35 years later in her book, not only the good things, but also the difficult things, can be avenues for finding and appreciating Him in one’s life. She shares that God’s processes are not mere methods to get us to a goal, but that the processes we meet in life are the goal. He uses these events to ‘crowd us into a relationship with Him’. So, the word ‘just’ in their song is not an accident. When the tough episodes especially envelop us, what else can one do, except ‘just’ praise the Lord?
Were Bill and Gloria thinking of the ancient believer Job (see Job 1:20-22), perhaps even subliminally, when they pondered what to convey in ‘Let’s Just Praise…’? He’s there, but when He’s silent, that’s when it is hardest to cling to Him. Gloria says her perspective – and yours and mine, too – must broaden before we can acquire the endurance needed in the hardest times. It seems that Bill and Gloria had the ‘Let’s Just Praise the Lord’ experience in a good time that also helped them see the ‘just’ part of praising Him. When I’m feeling bereft in a valley, what else have I got except to look forward to Him and Glory? Alternately, how often might I feel I’m on the mountaintop, and that things look pretty awesome here on Earth, and so who needs Him? Is it harder for you to see Him in the valley or on the mountaintop? The Gaithers say He’s in both places.
The primary source for the song’s story is the book Something Beautiful – The Stories Behind a Half-Century of the Songs of Bill and Gloria Gaither, by Gloria Gaither, Faith Words of Hachette Book Group, New York, 2007.
See the song story here also: https://dianaleaghmatthews.com/lets-just-praise-the-lord/#.YPqrT0ApCUk
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Gaither_(gospel_singer)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloria_Gaither
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