Better than a Hallelujah

I was listening to the radio the other day, and heard Amy Grant singing a song I’d never heard before. It touched my heart, so of course… I must share it. The YouTube video I use is one of the few that has permission by Amy Grant and EMI for publication, AND it has a great digital soundtrack provided by EMI.

As usual, the poet within me must also share the lyrics:

Better Than a Hallelujah
by Amy Grant

God loves a lullaby
In a mother’s tears in the dead of night…
Better than a Hallelujah sometimes.
God loves a drunkard’s cry,
The soldier’s plea not to let him die…
Better than a Hallelujah sometimes.

We pour out our miseries,
God just hears a melody.
Beautiful the mess we are,
The honest cries, of breaking hearts…
Are better than a Hallelujah.

A woman holding on for life,
A dying man giving up the fight,
Are better than a Hallelujah sometimes.
Tears of shame for what’s been done;
The silence when the words won’t come…
Are better than a Hallelujah sometimes.

We pour out our miseries,
God just hears a melody.
Beautiful the mess we are,
The honest cries, of breaking hearts…
Are better than a Hallelujah.

Better than a church bell ringing,
Better than a choir singing out,
Singing out…

We pour out our miseries,
God just hears a melody.
Beautiful the mess we are,
The honest cries, of breaking hearts…
Are better than a Hallelujah.

As is so common for me, this song touched a chord in me… right time, right place, and right song. Amy Grant has an official video that tells a poignant story of heartbreak, as she sings this song. Too bad EMI has blocked it from being embedded in blogs. If you want to see it, you’ll have to look it up on YouTube (look for the Official version).

Have you ever had a “better than a Hallelujah” moment in your life… a time of pain, heartbreak, suffering, or brokenness where you felt God’s presence most intensely? I imagine that the prayers of brokenness outweigh the Hallelujahs by better than a million to one.

Your brother in Christ,

Dave