One such reading or song was aptly named "Dayenu" which is hebrew for "it would have been sufficient".
The song is about being grateful to God for all of the gifts he gave the Jewish people, such as taking them out of slavery, giving them the Torah and Shabbat, and had God only given one of the gifts, it would have still been enough. This is to show a much greater appreciation for all of them as a whole. For those of you who have never read/heard it:
Five Stanzas of Leaving Slavery
1) If He had brought us out of Egypt. "Dayenu"
2) If He had executed justice upon the Egyptians. "Dayenu"
3) If He had executed justice upon their gods. "Dayenu"
4) If He had slain their first born. "Dayenu"
5) If He had given to us their health and wealth "Dayenu"
2) If He had executed justice upon the Egyptians. "Dayenu"
3) If He had executed justice upon their gods. "Dayenu"
4) If He had slain their first born. "Dayenu"
5) If He had given to us their health and wealth "Dayenu"
Five Stanzas of Miracles
6) If He had split the sea for us. "Dayenu"
7) If He had led us through on dry land. "Dayenu"
8) If He had drowned our oppressors. "Dayenu"
9) If He had provided for our needs in the wilderness for 40 years. "Dayenu"
10) If He had fed us manna "Dayenu"
7) If He had led us through on dry land. "Dayenu"
8) If He had drowned our oppressors. "Dayenu"
9) If He had provided for our needs in the wilderness for 40 years. "Dayenu"
10) If He had fed us manna "Dayenu"
11) If He had given us Shabbat. "Dayenu"
Five Stanzas of Being With God
12) If He had led us to Mount Sinai. "Dayenu"
13) If He had given us the Torah. "Dayenu"
14) If He had brought us into the Land of Israel. "Dayenu"
15) If He built the Temple for us. "Dayenu"
13) If He had given us the Torah. "Dayenu"
14) If He had brought us into the Land of Israel. "Dayenu"
15) If He built the Temple for us. "Dayenu"
The word remember is use in the bible 231 times (give or take depending on your translation)
Psalm 77:11
"I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago."
"I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago."
Similarly as Christians, let us contemplate and consistently remind ourselves of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done for us on the cross and never forget His unending love for His people!
Not only did he shed his blood for us for the remission of our sins, but He continues to bestow ridiculous blessing upon us even now.
"Oh Lord.....DAYENU!"
Shellee
Shellee
2 comments:
I love it when you share your Jewish heritage! What you wrote reminded me of the Matt Maher song "Your Grace is Enough." The difference though is that Maher's lyrics asks God to remember his people, children and promises. I've never liked that part because if there's any forgetting, it's us who forget. God always remembers. Much prefer the Dayenu lyrics.
For the past few years my extended family has had a seder dinner on the day before Easter. It has been such a blessing to our family. I love how the entire ceremony of the meal makes it clear to even the littlest members of the clan that God has been loving, protecting, caring for and providing for His people all throughout history and that the fact that He Himself came to earth, suffered shame and death to pay for our sins is....staggering, beyond abundant in love, extravagant in selflessness, overwhelming in forgiveness...more grace than we can comprehend. Regardless of what trials we may be facing, we always have reason to say "It would have been sufficient, but You have given so much more." Sufficient love is not enough for God. He does not settle for sufficient. Even 'extravagant' is an understatement. It seems to me that in our striving to be Christ-like we should not settle for 'sufficient' either. Rather, we should be loving God and loving others as extravagantly as possible...and then some. Thank you for sharing this, Shellee. As we enter this season when winter thaws and the land comes to life again, may the same happen in our hearts --- may our zeal for the Lord be revived and fruitful.
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