If you were scrolling through Twitter earlier this morning, you may have been surprised to find an uncharacteristically faith-themed phrase in the “trending” section. For reasons still unclear, “I, the Lord,” appeared on a list of trending phrases and hashtags in the United States.
For those who are unfamiliar with the intricacies of Twitter’s trending algorithm, here’s a basic summary of how it works: When a large number of users tweet a certain name, place, quote, or hashtag within a short span of time, Twitter will flag these items as “trending.”
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Trends typically correspond with articles or news events that have gained viral traction among Twitter users, which makes Wednesday’s “I, the Lord” trend all the more puzzling.
According to Twitter, more than 15,000 users posted tweets containing the phrase, “I, the Lord.” The various posts referenced a wide range of Bible verses, and there didn’t appear to be any recent articles associated with those words:
"I the Lord" – God also said to Moses, “I am the Lord. Ex 6.2 – Amazing trending I found this morning. He will judge this world at the end
— Renan de Moraes (@DeMoraes777) July 5, 2017
But I, the LORD, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their… https://t.co/47ZB7G7ob0 pic.twitter.com/XVT7mUNU40
— Daily Bible Verse (@Daily_Bible) July 5, 2017
https://twitter.com/whitneysaded/status/882546617332764672
7.5.17. Don't worship any other god, for I, the Lord your #God, am a jealous God. Exodus 20:5. #Encouragement. GBY
— J. Darryn Zewalk (@darrynzewalk) July 5, 2017
But I, the Lord , search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, acc…https://t.co/deHWZ0dKNz pic.twitter.com/dNSxNFokvt
— DeAnthony Shannon (@Bluebred74) July 5, 2017
https://twitter.com/nett0003/status/882622704762757120
https://twitter.com/warrior749/status/882621792661188608
Sometimes God shows up in the most unexpected places, including the often faithless realm of social media.