Grab your tambourines and lyres!

    Philosophers, statesmen, and great writers often have trademark quotations, like: 

    - “We have just begun to fight.” 

     - “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” 

     - “Everyone thinks forgiveness is lovely until he has something to forgive.”  

    The game board of “Jeopardy” played on the Alex Trebek studio stage is chocked full of such quotes. I have a trademark statement and though my circle of influence is small, my trademark has been picked up and repeated appropriately and in the spirit in which it was first delivered. I’m confident it will out-live me. 

     It was created when my son David was participating in and sweating out a sprint triathelon. We were on the sidelines, not only to encourage him, but the other 1500 entries or at least the ones that made it to the final run. They swam, they rode bikes, and they ran. After hooting and howling through the events, I was at a loss for words that would spur them on to the finish line. So, I clapped my hands as one bedraggled participant ran up a hill and I called out: 

    - “We applaud you!” 

     That was the best I could mentally muster. It was uttered with the greatest admiration and sincerity. But it didn’t fit in with the verbiage of the surrounding crowd or in the context of such an event. At best, it might have given that straggling, panting runner an inward chuckle that incentivized him to push on. I can only hope. 

    My “we applaud you” has lived on and everyone who uses it knows where it came from, what it means, and who said it. I am usually cited. That’s a trademark! I am known, not only for the words, but for the message they communicate, the enthusiasm that voiced them and the heart that motivated them.

 

“We applaud you! We applaud you!” is exactly what I recall when I read Isaiah 30:31-32:

     The Assyrians will be terror-stricken at the voice of the LORD, when he strikes with his rod.  And every stroke of the appointed staff that the LORD lays on them will be to the sound of tambourines and lyres. Battling with brandished arm, he will fight with them.

    The Assyrians are the enemy in this passage, at least the perceived enemy. My perceived enemies might have the faces of political personalities, opposing ideologists, cantankerous neighbors, or self-centered relatives. However, my vision of the LORD’s brandishing sword is really against enemies that attack a deeper stratum, my soul. Those are my REAL enemies! What great satisfaction and confidence there is in knowing that the King of kings, the Lord of lords, and the Creator of everything created is waving and flourishing his sword on my behalf against fear, intimidation, comparison, addiction, hatred, accusations, impurities, love of money, covetousness, selfishness, worry, grudges, and all those enemies that fight against the wellness of my body, soul and spirit. It is a marvelous sight to imagine.

     Whether accompanied by lyres and or tambourines, or with only the simple praise of my heart and lips, I can’t help but holler out to him who wields the sword and pins down our enemies, “We applaud you! We applaud you!”