In my reading today, I learned something new about the Jewish faith. I am quite convinced that as Christians…we have much to learn from the heritage and customs of our Jewish brothers and sisters. Jesus was a Jew, after all!
Dayenu is a song that is included in a traditional Jewish passover. It is translated as “it would have been enough for us” or “it would have sufficed”. It is like gratitude kicked up a notch! The entire Dayenu contains 15 stanzas (lines) . 5 stanzas of leaving slavery; 5 stanzas of miracles and 5 stanzas of being with God. A few of the stanzas are as follows:
If He had brought us out of Egypt…Dayenu
If He had executed justice upon the Egyptians…Dayenu
If He had slain their first born…Dayenu
If He had split the sea for us…Dayenu
If He had drowned our oppressors…Dayenu
If He had provided for our needs in the wilderness for 40 years…Dayenu
If He had fed us manna…Dayenu
If He had led us to Mt. Sinai…Dayenu
If He had brought us into the land of Israel…Dayenu
Obviously, the verses of this song focus on the time in history when the Jews were led out of bondage in Egypt, wandered the wilderness and entered the promised Land. By adding Dayenu to the end of each stanza they are saying even if God had stopped here, it would have been sufficient…it would have been enough for us! It adds a greater sense of appreciation and thanks for all of them as a whole.
I love this idea of complete and full gratitude. How often do I miss this in my own life? Don’t I usually default to this type of gratitude: “Hey, thanks God…but just one more thing!” Humans are forgetful. God is not! We must always cling to the truth that our God knows us better than we know ourselves. He created us in His own image and He loves us deeply…madly…absolutely. He is a Father who wants good things for His children; even when that requires allowing pain and discipline to flow into our lives! We were made to worship Him and I am sure that while it doesn’t surprise Him when we forget to thank Him…it must still hurt Him…terribly.
Our family is at a point in our journey where we are thanking God for so much! We are trying to be faithful in giving Him the glory and expressing our deepest gratitude in prayer, song and worship! In that spirit, I will list our own “dayenu” stanzas here. May it be a sweet…sweet song to your ear, Heavenly Father:
If He had planted a dream in our hearts…Dayenu
If He had continued speaking to us until we obeyed and followed…Dayenu
If He had released us from the bondages of sin…Dayenu
If He had healed us from present afflictions and past pains…Dayenu
If He had allowed our house to sell in a plummeting market…Dayenu
If He had showed us His Kingdom work for us to enter in…Dayenu
If He had allowed two separate yet identical prophecies to be spoken over us…Dayenu
If He had opened the doors to Spain…Dayenu
If He had allowed the entire financial provision needed to travel to Spain, receive missions and leadership training there and beyond…Dayenu
If He had invited us into the beautiful adventure of following Him to the ends of the earth…spreading the Kingdom…proclaiming the Gospel…healing the sick…setting the captives free…or die trying…Dayenu…Dayenu…Dayenu
“I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders. I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.” Psalm 9:1-2
