I’d like to tell you about the story behind my song, When the Night is Falling from the recording First Love.
Whenever someone asks me what is my favorite song I’ve ever received, this song is always in the top five just because of all God was doing in my life during the days it was born. This song came over a two-day period - November 7th and 8th, 1989. Even though I had grown up in the church, I knew little about the Word of God - especially the Old Testament.
Even my favorite Christian band of all time played a role in this song being born into my life. You know how much I love the band, 2nd Chapter of Acts, because of the way God used them to lead me to freedom from my past and freedom from stinking thinking and into the deepest understanding of God’s love I had ever known or experienced up until the day He set me free. A year earlier - that would be sometime in 1988 - they released what was to be their final recording together, called Faraway Places. On this recording was a song called Sing Over Me…and once again, my mind was blown. God was trying to tell me something! In fact, Annie Herring - lead singer and song receiver of the band - had recorded a song called I Can’t Get Near You years before…and that song was from the perspective of Jesus singing over us! She had been modeling the Scriptural Truth for years and it had never dawned on me what she was doing…until it did!
One day, while talking to a friend about this song - his name is Doug Hinkle - great man of God who was always so encouraging to me concerning the Word of God and always so encouraging to me when it came to the songs God was giving me in those days. One day as we talked about the Word of God as it pertains to the depths of God’s love for us, I mentioned to Doug the song by 2nd Chapter of Acts called Sing Over Me and how much I loved that song and Doug said the most amazing thing to me. “You know that they’re singing the Word of God when they say God sings over us, right?” Doug brought up the verse Zephaniah 3:17 and asked me if I knew that God loved me so much that He rejoiced over me in singing - If I knew God sang over me? This was absolutely mind-blowing news to me. I thought about the ramifications of what this meant to my life for the next few days.
Now back to November 7 & 8 of 1989. After my conversation with Doug, I remember sitting in my ‘studio’ at the piano and ‘hearing’ the Spirit sing this melody to me. Just the part that goes “How I love you, child! I love you! How I love you, child, I love You!” And I remember feeling that I didn’t want to move until I could hear Him sing His love to me – and then realizing that He is constantly singing His love to me and not wanting to move because I love to hear the waves of love rolling over me. This song brought peace to my heart – the kind of peace that makes even physical death seem like an easy thing…and has brought me deep comfort since losing my dad in 2017. After my friend Doug Hinkle had shown me Zephaniah 3:17, I did a word study and came up with my very own translation just for me. Little did I know that it would be the underlying theme of the rest of my life! I’d like to read my translation to you. Here goes:
The eternal self-existent God, the God Who is three in one; He Who dwells in the center of your being is a powerful and valiant warrior. He has come to set you free, to keep you safe, and to bring you victory. He is cheered and He beams with exceeding joy and takes pleasure in your presence. He has engraved a place for Himself in you and there He quietly rests in His love and affection for you. He cannot contain Himself at the thought of you and with the greatest of joy spins around wildly in anticipation over you…and has placed you above all other creations and in the highest place in His priorities. In fact, He shouts and sings in triumph, joyfully proclaiming the gladness of His heart in a song of rejoicing! All because of you!
Zephaniah 3:17 Jernigan Translation
God takes more delight in our presence than we take in His. We do not get to decide if God loves us. That’s a done deal. Our only two choices are to either receive God’s love for us or reject it. He loves you and me right where we are - but loves us enough to not leave us there, and He is constantly singing over us. Listen to the song now, but more importantly, listen for Father singing over you.
Dennis Jernigan
You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble;
You surround me with songs of deliverance.
Psalm 32:7 NASB
The song, When the Night is Falling, is available for purchase and download at https://dennisjernigan.com/store/product.php?c=24&p=3912
Listen to The Dennis Jernigan Podcast and hear the song at http://podcast.dennisjernigan.com/e/when-the-night-is-falling/