According to Psalm 32:7, the Lord surrounds us with songs of deliverance. We find that He rejoices over us with singing in Zephaniah 3:17. The picture these verses bring to my mind is of me singing my children to sleep when they were little and of me singing my grandchildren to sleep when they spend the night.
The other picture that these passages of Scripture bring to my mind is of the many times when I was emotionally wounded and the way my Heavenly Father would hold my heart close to His and He would sing songs of deliverance to me and sing songs expressing His massive love for me. All I had to do was call out to Him.
The LORD is righteous in all His ways,
And kind in all His works.
The LORD is near to all who call on Him,
To all who call on Him in truth.
He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
He will also hear their cry for help and save them.
The LORD watches over all who love Him,
But He will destroy all the wicked.
My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD,
And all flesh will bless His holy name forever and ever.
Psalm 145:17-21 NASB
How much of the Lord do we want? How near to us do we want Him to be? How much intimacy can we attain with Him in this life? As with any relationship, we can hold God at a distance. Even though He sees through any walls or smokescreens we throw up, He desires that we desire Him and trust Him enough to let Him inside our woundedness.
God uses my children and grandchildren to help me hear songs of deliverance and love and intimacy in my own life. One such song is called “I Will Hold You”. This is a song of brokenness, for it takes an honest and broken heart to say, “Father, I cannot help myself. I cannot overcome my own sinful desires…But I know You can. Will You be my Strength through the long, hard night?”
God is faithful and able to meet us at our deepest point of hurt and bring healing. He is able to take us in the state of lostness and bring hope and salvation. He will not leave us, nor will He forsake us.
Come close to God and He will come close to you…Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you. James 4:4a, 10a NASB
I shared this last week, but it is vital to remember this truth. Our children are precious to us. We want them to be happy…to be successful…to experience more joy and happiness in their lives than we experienced in ours. That is just part of our spiritual DNA. If we love our children like that, how much more does our heavenly Father love us? To Him, there is no one more precious than you. Think about it…and listen for the songs of rejoicing He sings over you. Just be listening!
Dennis Jernigan
To hear the song “I Will Hold You”, listen to The Dennis Jernigan Podcast at https://www.patreon.com/posts/i-will-hold-you-73119723
Photo courtesy of https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2016/06/03/22/04/grandfather-1434575_1280.jpg