DAILY DOSE OF HOPE – BLOG – NAIMA LETT
HOLLYWOOD HILLS CRYING OUT! | Day 34 of 40 (LENT)

It’s 4 AM and I’m rockin’!

I’m listening to Maurette Brown Clark’s “No Rocks” because today’s passage is where Jesus says, ‘If they (disciples) keep quiet, the stones will cry out!’

When I got to that verse, I immediately heard Maurette’s song:

You don’t have to pump and pry me
For I know just how good You have been
You don’t even have to bribe me
Because You’ve proven Yourself over and over again

I love to praise You
In my praise, I find liberty
If I don’t praise You
The rocks will cry out for me
Don’t need no rocks crying out for me…
(c) 1998 Maurette Brown Clark, Zomba Enterprises

I love that. It’s not perfect English, but hey, I don’t need no rocks crying out for me!

I’m a visual person. The artist in me hears that phrase and sees the Hollywood Hills shouting and worshiping God. Can you see it?

Two wonderful friends recently invited me to hike up to Griffith Park Observatory where you can see Mount Lee and the HOLLYWOOD sign in the distance. It was amazing. I’m still trying to find my legs, but what if I stood on the mountaintop and silenced those peaks:

“Shhhh, it’s my turn to praise God! You’ve been hollerin’ all day. Give a sister a chance to get a shout in, please!”

Can you see it?

I’ve never had a problem with vision. I see stuff – in 6-D, high definition, super-technicolor. I see it! Every peak shouts God’s glory!

Whether in Hollywood Hills, Beverly Hills, the Grand Canyon or Stone Mountain (shout out to my GA fam!), I hope that every time you pass a mountain in the future, you’ll say,
“Shhh! It’s my turn!”

Let’s look at the text.
Day 34:
Look below or CLICK: LUKE 19: 37-40
Entire passage: LUKE 19: 28-44

37 When he [Jesus] came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
38 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

Jesus is making His triumphal entry into Jerusalem on the back of a borrowed colt. Throngs of people spread their coats and palm branches along the road. As He descends near the Mount of Olives, all the disciples start shouting and praising and blessing their King.

This is no cute hand pump or whatever we’re doing in church these days. The word used for “cry” is like screaming or croaking. One scholar describes it as the sound a woman gives in labor. Another says that word describes a war cry. This is not composed. It’s full-fledged, all-out hollering.

Yesterday, we talked about blind Bartimaeus hollering for Jesus in order to be healed and gain his sight. Well, this display is Bartimaeus times a thousand.

The Pharisees have had enough. This is blasphemous to them. They tell Rabbi Jesus to stop His disciples from this public praise party.

Maybe Jesus would have, if it wasn’t His final entrance. Up to this point, He has been telling His disciples, many of the people He’s healed, even demons, not to tell His true identity as the Christ, the Messiah, the King. But now, Jesus’ answer is different.

He tells the Pharisees, “If they (my disciples) keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”

Certainly the Pharisees, who knew the Scriptures inside and out, would’ve heard a reference to Habakkuk’s prophecy that the very stones and wood of the houses the arrogant Babylonians built off the destruction of others would cry out against them: “Surely the stone will cry out from the wall, and the rafter will answer it from the framework.” (Habakkuk 2:8-11)

This idea of God’s creation testifying against God’s created beings runs deep.

And Jesus, Maker of the world (John 1:3), makes it clear that if man stops rendering Him praise, what He’s made (stones, rocks, hills) will keep on going. There is no interruption on the glory that is extolled upon our God. There is a continual chorus going on in the heavenlies even as I write this. I just want to get in on it.

I don’t need no rocks crying out for me.
Move over Hollywood Hills.
“Shhhh! It’s my turn!”

What about you?
Got a praise?!
Let’s tell the rocks to hush so we can bless our King.
Naima

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Our weekends through LENT are times of reflection and thanksgiving. Traditionally, during Lent, SUNDAYS are considered mini-celebrations (symbolizing Christ’s resurrection) following FRIDAYS’ special times of fasting (symbolizing His death). Thus, LENT starts on Ash Wednesday and goes for 46 days ending Easter, but the 6 Sundays are excluded, equaling 40 days. We make a sacrifice of something meaningful for the entire 40 days, but Sundays are excluded. So, Saturday, you’ll get a devotional that you can meditate on for the entire weekend. If you have any questions, please let me know. Thanks.

DAILY PRAYER (LENT):
1) Confession & Repentance – Let’s confess our wrongs and ask forgiveness
2) Complete transparency – Let our guard down and talk to God about our lives.
3) Listen – Let’s quiet and listen to God’s Spirit re: the scriptures, etc.
4) Intercession for others – Let’s pray for our family, friends, coworkers, church, etc.