Learning to Lament With the Spirituals: A Six-Day DevotionalExemplo

Precious Lord, Take My Hand

Focus: Anticipating God’s Restoration. 

“Restore us to You, O Lord, that we may be restored; 

Renew our days as of old” (Lam. 5:20–21). 

The end of Lamentations chapter 4 concluded with the declaration that, “the punishment of your iniquity has been completed, O daughter of Zion: He will exile you no more,” and the promise that God would punish Edom,  who triumphed in their invasion (Lam. 4:22).

In response, the final lament offered to God pleads for restoration. Notice the structure of the prophet’s request: He calls on the Lord to remember His people and their suffering. Then, he describes Jerusalem’s awful condition: 

Remember, O LORD, what has befallen us;

   Look, and see our reproach!

   Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers,

   Our houses to aliens.

   We have become orphans without a father,

   Our mothers are like widows.

   We have to pay for our drinking water,

   Our wood comes to us at a price.

   Our pursuers are at our necks;

   We are worn out, there is no rest for us (Lam. 5:1–5). 

Notice how the lyrics below caroled by a grief-stricken African descendant, Thomas Dorsey,  follow the same plea pattern in much simpler terms: 

Precious Lord, take my hand

Lead me on, let me stand

I'm tired, I’m weak, I’m lone

Although not technically a Spiritual, Dorsey’s chorus fuses the good-news gospel with the bad-news blues of earthly living. While their laments arise from different circumstances, at the heart of each expression lies an acknowledgment that things are not as they should be and an aching for divine intervention, a reaching for ultimate restoration. 

As Jeremiah begs, 

Why do You forget us forever?

     Why do You forsake us so long?

     Restore us to You, O LORD, that we may be restored;

     Renew our days as of old (Lam. 5:20–21).

Dorsey entreats, 

Hear my cry, hear my call

Hold my hand lest I fall

Take my hand precious Lord, lead me home

Whether destroyed and taken captive by foreign enemies or riddled with the unforeseen death of a wife and child, both the prophet and the composer attest that the only hope of the depressed is found in the Lord.  

Jeremiah and Dorsey model that hope for divine intervention, knowing full restoration does not require the downtrodden to forget nor coat over their troubles. Lament and Sorrow Songs alike include wails over the pain of the present while imploring God to bring about the beautiful “home,” of tomorrow in the kingdom to come. 

LISTEN: Precious Lord, Take My Hand

THIN SPACE:  Meditate on the lyrics of the song, “Precious Lord," provided below. Line by line, recite aloud each verse. As you do so, release deep breaths. As you inhale, call to mind situations desperate for God’s intervention in the world, church at large, or your life personally. With each release, reaffirm your belief that God will “take your hand” and make all things right again. 

 

Lyrics  : 

Precious Lord, take my hand

Lead me on, let me stand

I'm tired, I’m weak, I’m lone

Through the storm, through the night

Lead me on to the light

Take my hand precious Lord, lead me home

When my way grows drear precious Lord, linger near

When my light is almost gone

Hear my cry, hear my call

Hold my hand lest I fall

Take my hand precious Lord, lead me home

When the darkness appears and the night draws near

And the day is past and gone

At the river I stand

Guide my feet, hold my hand

Take my hand precious Lord, lead me home

Precious Lord, take my hand

Lead me on, let me stand

I'm tired, I’m weak, I’m lone

Through the storm, through the night

Lead me on to the light

Take my hand precious Lord, lead me home

 




Photo by Billy Pasco on Unsplash

This six-day plan was written/produced by Dallas Theological Seminary graduate Chantelle Hobbs. It is brought to you courtesy of Aspire Productions (www.aspire2.com).  
 

Music credits:

Ensemble: Akira Reneé, Danielle Fields, Kephren Harris, Khoryandra Harris, Kristie Brawley, and Teralyn Griffin

Accompaniment: Donte Jones 

Vocalists:

Wade in the Water – Kristie Brawley and ensemble 

Nobody Knows De Trouble I’ve Seen – Akira Reneé 

Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child – Teralyn Griffin 

Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel – Khoryandra Harris, Akira Reneé and ensemble 

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot – Kephren Harris

Precious Lord – Teralyn Griffin