Hold onto Your Palm Fronds

It's palm Sunday the beginning of the Passion Week. On a day like this, over two thousand years ago, Jesus rode on a donkey into Jerusalem to the welcome and shout of a joyful crowd. They took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him. And as they went, they kept shouting, Hosanna! Blessed is He and praise to Him Who comes in the name of the Lord (John 12:13).

Today, instead of a fiesta, our roads are deserted. There are no processions; no cutting and waving of palm fronds. The excitement in the air has fizzled into foreboding clouds. The passion week is on lockdown. Stricken with morbid fear, we are cowered behind closed doors. We are like those who are weary of singing the Lord's song in a strange land (circumstance). We sit in misery, milling out conspiracy theories, and unfounded stories that compound our calamities. Perhaps, we have forgotten that our Maker gives songs, in the darkest hour (Job 35:10).

Let's stop draining our courage with tales of woes. Hammer your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Train even your weaklings to be warriors (Joel 3:10). Like ancient Greek and Roman champions (of battle or athletic contest) in triumphal processions, brandishing palm fronds as emblems of victory, let's raise our voices in shouts of victory, "Hossana!", to the Lord of our Salvation and our Peace. Let's hold onto our palm fronds.

This songwriter reminds us:

When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will, He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.

Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies,
But His smile quickly drives it away;
Not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh or a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey.

The Psalmist motivates us in Psalms 89:15-17:

Blessed [happy, fortunate and enviable] are those who know the joyful sound [have learned to acclaim God], who walk in the light of your presence [they are aware, they acknowledge and affirm the Lord's presence even in peril]

They rejoice in your name all day long [they recount the testimonies of God's faithfulness in history, in contemporary times and in providence]; they celebrate your righteousness [Your saving power and prerogative of justice on their behalf]. For you are their glory and strength, and by your favor, you exalt our horn [You are the Source of our strength, you strengthen us].