While standing at a crosswalk with my son at Pier Park in Panama City Beach recently, I looked up at the Don't Walk sign - a glowing red hand - and remembered with a smile a story from when my daughter was about 2 or 3 years old. We were stopped at a city crosswalk in Tennessee. She looked up at the Don't Walk hand and exclaimed, "Cap hands, Mommy! Cap hands!" She immediately started clapping her hands and encouraged us to as well, believing that was what the red hand wanted us to do. So there we were, my husband, daughter and I all standing on this street corner - and every other street corner that day - clapping our hands each time the red hand flashed. We continued clapping and clapping until the little white walking man came on permitting us to walk. People were most definitely staring. We looked ridiculous trying to clap inconspicuously, looking around and smiling sheepishly to the other people at the crosswalk. But how precious it was that our little girl thought everyone was supposed to clap their hands while stopped at a crosswalk. Now every time I see that red hand, I think of that sweet moment, wanting to exclaim with the same joy, "Cap hands, everyone! Cap hands!"
Yesterday during my Bible devotion time, I was reading Psalm 47. It begins jubilantly, "Clap your hands, all you people; shout to God with loud songs of joy. For the LORD, the Most High is awesome, a great king over all the earth." In verse 6 the psalm continues: "Sings praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises! For God is the king of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm."
Wooo hooo! I love this psalm. It's a call to sing and clap your hands just because God is king and GOD IS AWESOME! Unlike the feeling of embarrassment we had while standing on those street corners, we need to be singing with great joy and excitement about our Awesome God.
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| https://youtu.be/IpVsF4W8V2Y |
One of my favorite fan-made videos is by Andrew Bowser of the David Crowder Band song
O Praise Him. In the video, a young man is walking through the busy streets of a city with headphones on listening to this song, mouthing the words. He begins to lift his hands in praise at one point in the song and some passersby begin to stare. Then at the chorus, he stops in the middle of the street on a median and raises his arms high. The music stops and you see and hear what the people on the street do as he sings loudly, "Alleluia! Alleluia! He is holy! He is holy!" Then he drops to his knees in prayer as the music continues. It gets me every time.
Now that is how you handle a crosswalk! How blessed we are to worship this loving, forgiving, almighty, merciful, Creator God! May we frequently and exuberantly clap our hands and sing praises, sing praises, sing praises with loud songs of joy every chance we get, especially when people are staring ... and certainly while stopped at a cross walk.
