What’s the most surprising thing you’ve learned about God?
Jesus told a story that is clearly about God the Father. In the story there are two villains, a younger brother and an elder. While the older brother stews in his self righteousness the younger son repents of his many reproaches and heads back with tail tucked. In the story we are surprised to find the Father running to meet him.
Imagine: God, with robe gathered, feet flying, running!
There’s another place in the sacred text where I’m caught off guard by God. We know about his communication skills but how many knew God could sing?
In Lewis’s The Magician’s Nephew, we find Aslan singing the world of Narnia into being:
In the darkness something was happening at last. A voice had begun to sing…Sometimes it seemed to come from all directions at once…One moment there had been nothing but darkness; next moment a thousand, thousand points of light leaped out – single stars, constellations, and planets, brighter and bigger than any in our world…All the time the Voice went on singing…The Voice rose and rose, till all the air was shaking with it. And just as it swelled to the mightiest and most glorious sound it had yet produced, the sun arose.
—C.S. Lewis, The Magician’s Nephew (New York: Collier), pp. 98-99.
I am in a season right now where my most challenging obstacle is not disability. I confess it’s gotten the better of me on those especially trying days, but God faithfully meets me in his Word and whispers, “I’m for you, child; stay the course. Trust that I’m up to something good here.” Those words quiet me.
God doesn’t just speak, however. Sometimes he sings. Elihu told Job of a God who “gives songs in the night.” I know of such a God. I’ve heard his night songs echoing softly in my mind when I thought I was out of my mind, lost and forgotten.
The Almighty has been singing a long time. Twenty-five centuries ago Zephaniah, great-great grandson of Hezekiah, said, while God “quiets” us by his love (‘ahava’, e.g., Song of Songs 2:4), he also anthems over us and silences the roar inside our hearts.
The LORD your God is among you;
He is mighty to save.
He will rejoice over you with gladness;
He will quiet you with His love;
He will rejoice over you with singing.
Zephaniah 3:17
The Hebrew text reads, “he exults over you with loud singing.” Great peals of thunder ring out from the bellows of God’s voice when soothing words won’t do. The NLT fashions it, “He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”
How very cool is that? When we are cowed by the dissonance of our skewed culture, our Heavenly Father starts singing, and when he sings all the noise fades into the background.
The people God sings over are so beleaguered they want to quit. They’re flat-out exhausted from battling the insufferable. All they can hear are the “slurs and taunts of Moab”; the “pure speech” of Zion’s completely drowned out. God’s whispers do them little good; they need him to SHOUT his love in their ears.
That’s the beauty of Zephaniah 3:17. The word we get isn’t “lullaby”; of course there’s a time when a lullaby is appropriate. I love when the Holy Spirit quietly sings over me, calming me with his sweet reveries.
But sometimes we need reveille! Life can get so messed up we need a victory song. We need God to ROAR with assurance that all this is under Aslan’s massive paw. That’s the idea in this text. Sometimes he quiets us with love, sometimes he rejuvenates us with a victory chorus.
God is so happy in the love he bears to his people that he breaks the eternal silence, and sun and moon and stars with astonishment hear God chanting a hymn of joy.
—Charles Spurgeon
The older I get, the quieter I get. And the quieter I am, the better I’m positioned to hear the still, small Voice, so familiar, so intimate. But there are times I need an anthem, not a sonnet. God’s playlist always seems to give me just what I need in any given moment.
How about you? Are you greatly bothered by the noise in your life? Can you hear your Father in heaven sing over you? Or is the tumult drowning out the truth you need to hear? I pray the Lord of the Dance surprises you with his playlist in coming days. May God grace you with his joyous reveille and surround you with songs of deliverance.
Selah, indeed.
A very uplifting word Scott. Adding “For the Mighty King is Here” was great!
Beloved friend John, thank you for giving of your time to read and listen! I just relistened to the song…the swelling rise of the orchestra at the end sends my soaring!
I was told…In Zeph 3:17 replace “you” with your name.
You’ve added a beautiful melody line to the lyrics today, Jon. Thank you bro.
Isn’t that verse so beautiful?! Thank you for making me slow to catch it… GOD HIMSELF… WITH… MIGHTY TO SAVE… rejoicing over… quieting… singing… WOW! Just so powerful! I love this, Scott!
I love God’s playlist! Who woulda thunk it? God, Troubadour and Maestro! And to think we’ll enjoy all eternity listening to him sing over his people. Thank you, Kelli. You are a woman of valor.
Jesus! The ROCK of Ages! He is the composer, director, musician and performer and never hits an off note. How blessed we are to belong to Him who can “heal the broken strings of our hearts and stir our slumbering chords again”. Thanks for reminding me of His great love and grace today. My love to you both.
Beautifully said, Brett. Thank you for your input. May the Lord bless your family and ministry life and surround you with songs of deliverance!
Up late tonight and for some reason I find myself listening to some “old songs” like “He will carry you” and “Take it to Mount Moriah”. That caused me to think about old friends which led me on a search for you.
So greetings from a brother whom you have not spoken to in decades. Read a few of your recent posts and was blessed by your words. We serve such a magnificent God! As you have time, let’s start an email conversation. Kim and I have fond memories of you and Sandy. Remember when you sang at our wedding? 1981 seems a lifetime ago right? Blessings brother, Cleve
Talk about a blast from the past! Cleve, brother, you’ve done this old heart of mine much good my friend. ‘Like good news from a far country…’ Of course I remember! Of the many blessings I experienced in those years one of my favorites is having yours and Kim’s friendship. You both are greatly loved and dearly remembered. Sandy will be thrilled we connected. I’d love to stay in touch. Lets do it! Let us know if y’all are ever near Tampa…