I had the privilege of hearing Anthony Brown sing today in College – a fine voice, a fine man. He sang “Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen”; a song I first randomly encountered in a parody of Star Wars, the name of which I can’t quite remember at the moment!
But there’s something about the words and the simple melody that resonate with me:
Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen,
Nobody knows my sorrow.
Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen –
Glory Hallelujah!
I was thinking the other day that for once I can truly identify with a piece of scripture, in this case Psalm 40. It’s a Psalm I’ve preached on, but it also struck a chord with me years before when Ian White sang his version of it.
There is no doubt that Kathryn and I have been through some hard stuff in our time, but we can truly say that God has lifted us out of it and put a hymn of praise to God in our mouths. Nobody knows the trouble we’ve seen – or at least very few – but God’s word of hope has pulled us through. This is the message of Immanuel, God with us.
Glory Hallelujah!