Episode 581: Lift Every Voice

We continue this week with some devotionals related to the celebration in the United States of Black History. We would argue that this month is a necessary reminder that the citizens of the United States, from the very beginning and continuing until this very day, have not lived up to the professed vision of “liberty and justice for all.” Also, as Christians, it’s a chance to celebrate the creative brilliance of the God who “made from one man every nation of mankind” (Acts 17:26), and the redemptive beauty of his Son who, with his own blood, “ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9).

In today’s episode we focus on examining a poem written in 1900 by James Weldon Johnson, which has come to be known as the Black National Anthem. “Lift Every Voice and Sing” is a demand for faith. It is also a clarion call for justice. It invokes images of the past while at the same time acknowledging signs of progress.It suggests that people should be joyful and angry, grateful for the change that has already occurred, yet mindful that the struggle is not yet over, embracing of the country’s bedrock values and yet bearing witness to hypocrisy and promises unfulfilled.

Additional scriptures referenced include Isaiah 58:1.