Martin Luther King, Jr. – Thy Will be Done

I posted an excerpt from one of MLK’s talks on Thursday, the actual day of his birthday. However, there is so much King preached that is so incredibly powerful that I thought I’d add another excerpt today, on this day that we, as a nation, celebrate his birthday. This comes from a King sermon titled, Garden of Gethsemane, delivered in 1957 when he was 28-years old. It exhorts us to the faith and trust exhibited by Jesus hanging on the cross:

I can hear Jesus himself, standing amid the agony and darkness of Good Friday, standing amid the darkness of the Cross. And out of the pain and the agony and the darkness of that cross, we hear a voice saying, “Into thy hands I commend my spirit.” And then we can hear him saying, “Not my will, but thy will be done.” Now you got to learn that, my friends, and when you learn that, you can stand up amid any condition, because you know that God is with you, no matter what happens. You can stand up amid despair. You can stand up amid persecution. You can stand up amid disappointment. You can stand up even amid death. But you don’t worry because you know God is with you.

…Not my will, but thy will be done! And when you can cry that, you stand up amid life with an exuberant joy. You know that God walks with you. Even though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you know that God is there. Even though you stand amid the giant shadow of disappointment, you don’t despair, because you know God is with you.

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