In explaining to the Pharisees, the futility of quieting the joyous celebration of His disciples, Jesus said “I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.” This account is recorded in the Gospel of Luke in chapter nineteen. I don’t remember when it first struck me. I believe I had read it many times, had heard eloquent and impassioned sermons on this phrase and even knew the beautiful song Then Will the Very Rocks Cry Out. Yet at some point it dawned on me, that this will NEVER happen. There will never be a time, until the Lord returns for his people, that there will not be a joyous sound of praise found all over this world.
We worry and fret about many things in our lives. Someone has said that ninety percent of what we worry about never happens and the ten percent that does are things we have no earthly control over. This is true whether our choices lead us into fair havens or dark storms, whether we trust in our own selfish ambitions or rest in God’s purposes and delights for our lives. One thing is certain in life. You will die. The method or cause will vary but all die. The amount of pain and suffering is different for each of us, but all die. We worry about popularity and romantic partners and taxes and wars, riches and poverty, important meaningful careers and wasted lives of no impact. But all die.
Whether our lives ever appear to praise the Lord before others or not, there is such a tumult being made by those who know and experience the love and presence of Jesus that there will never be a time when the rocks need to cry out. It will never happen.
In all of the accounts throughout history of all the terrors of disease or ravages of war the end has not happened. For many years man has depicted the end of the human race or the environment or some other great disaster. It has not happened. In the past century hundreds or perhaps thousands of tales and movies and possibilities have been put forth depicting the end of life or society as we know it. Even the Mayan Calendar was purported to predict the end of the world in 2012.
Many have accepted these events as inevitable and have prepared for that day. It has Never happened. No little green men nor monstrous alien robots have fallen from the skies. Nuclear holocausts, world wide famine or plagues killing billions have not spread throughout the globe. Not because of our goodness and care for our lives but because of His. We sing “God is good all the time” and “all the time God is good”. I recall with great joy and love the moment when my heart and mind were unshackled and I believed. I believed in His great love and goodness.
I saw His care for me in all the events of my life. Since that wonderful moment I see His touch in every area of my life and am able to confidently sing with those who declare “I can’t even walk without Him holding my hand”. Only when His love and impact on the souls of men is removed may the rocks cry out. Only when He no longer cares will rocks have an opportunity to shout.
Will cancer end my life? Perhaps, but it will not end my song of praise. Will the disastrous health or death of my child or spouse or even to myself end my song? Will the loss of every worldly possession cause me to sink so far as to reject my knowledge of all He has done within me? Maybe but the song which is in me will say with Job “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither”. The Lord gave me life and He alone can authorize it to end. “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able.” Whether I have good sight or walk in darkness, I cannot travel one step in my own power without His grace. And the song will never cease.
When Horatio Spafford penned His song of praise “It Is Well” in the midst of deepest sorrow and the loss of most he counted dear, he was declaring it will not happen that the rocks cry out. In our deepest despair we are not farther from God but closer than we have ever been before.
The people of God will never cease to praise Him. All the praise we do while remaining upon this earth is but a weak prelude to the participation we will know in the throne room of God. He is our Rock. He is our fortress. He is our deliverer. In Him will I make my boast. No, the rocks will not have opportunity to cry out.
No command by any religious leader, any tyrant, any spirit of anti Christ will cause the rocks to cry out. Even when Isaiah hid in despair, running from the threats of Jezebel, God had seven thousand who would not bow before any false gods. God’s question to Isaiah could easily be paraphrased into “What are you thinking?” So regardless of the hope deflating disappointment you have experienced, It will not happen. The rocks will not cry out. The triumphant song of “Hosanna! Praise to the King of Kings!” does not rise or fall on our feelings. If He is in you, it is not possible for you to stop singing His song.
It will NEVER happen. There will never be a time, until the Lord returns for his people, that there will not be a joyous sound of praise found all over this world. The rocks will have to remain silent. The religious rulers who chastised Jesus may never understand the impact of their request; for time will cease and eternity will pass away and still there will NEVER be a time when the Rocks will cry out.