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Kum ba ya, my Lord, kum ba ya
Kum ba ya, my Lord, kum ba ya
Kum ba ya, my Lord, kum ba ya
Oh Lord, kum ba ya
Someone's cryin' Lord, kum ba ya
Someone's cryin' Lord, kum ba ya
Someone's cryin' Lord, kum ba ya
Oh Lord, kum ba ya
Someone's singin' Lord, kum ba ya
Someone's singin' Lord, kum ba ya
Someone's singin' Lord, kum ba ya
Oh Lord, kum ba ya
Someone's prayin' Lord, kum ba ya
Someone's prayin' Lord, kum ba ya
Someone's prayin' Lord, kum ba ya
Oh Lord, kum ba ya
Someone needs you Lord, kum ba ya
Someone needs you Lord, kum ba ya
Someone needs you Lord, kum ba ya
Oh Lord, kum ba ya
Regardless of where one finds themselves on the Lenten journey, this spiritual reveals a yearning heart that resonates with many who find themselves in a wilderness. That heart makes a repetitive plea: "Kum ba ya, my Lord," translated, "Come by here, my Lord." Come by here. It is a prayer for the presence of God wherever one might find oneself. If one is crying or singing or praying, what is obvious is that "someone needs you, Lord." This is true every day of the year. Someone needs God, right now.
You might need God right now, today, regardless of your situation. Things may be fine with you. You could be singing up a storm full of joy, but this doesn't neglect the need to pray, "Kum ba yah, my Lord," nor your need of God in your life. This repeating line challenges us to make these words our words repeatedly. It suggests our vast need for the Presence. Come by here, my Lord. It would be a sad pilgrimage without God. It would be lonely but the spiritual reveals a faith that, in asking, believes that the Lord will come by here, will come by you, today. Underneath these words of prayer is the reminder that when we pray this, God will come because God is a God who is with us (Matt 1:23). Here. There. And everywhere. With you. Today. Now.
As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram and a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him... When the sun had gone down and it was dark, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates."
Gen 15:12, 17-18
Prayer for the Day:
Kum ba yah, my Lord. Come by here, my Lord, even now.
Luke A. Powery
From "Were You There: Lenten Reflections on the Spirituals"
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