It’s almost hard for me to remember life before all my iGadgets—my iPhone, iPad and iPod—kept me connected and entertained.
Almost, but not quite.
In fact, just the other day I was thinking about one of my favorite childhood possessions: a transistor radio I got when I was about seven years old.
Today’s devices make it seem downright primitive in comparison, but that little GE radio snagged the music of groups like the Beatles, the Dave Clark Five, the Supremes, and the Beach Boys right out of the air for me, and that seemed pretty magical.
The science of radio and TV broadcasting still amazes me. It blows my mind to think about words, music and pictures constantly floating around me on invisible waves, just waiting to be captured and played.
But as I read Psalm 32 recently, I realized there may be something even more wondrous in the air surrounding us. In verse 7, the psalmist says to God, “You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance.”
It’s that last idea—God surrounding us with “songs of deliverance”—that intrigues me. I know David was waxing poetic here, but I also think he may have been communicating some practical truth. Just as we’re surrounded by radio and television waves we can’t see, maybe we’re also surrounded by songs from the God of the universe.
And not just any songs, but songs of deliverance.
First, let’s get the disturbing movie about Georgia mountain rednecks out of our minds when we think about “deliverance.” Real deliverance is, as the dictionary states, “the action of being rescued or set free.”
So, wherever we are, whatever mess we may find ourselves in, maybe we’re surrounded with “songs,” or messages, from God, intended to lead us to freedom.
What do those songs sound like? They’re surely as creative as the Creator Himself, but the lyrics must always line up with the truth He’s given us in His word, the Bible.
“If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free,” Jesus said (John 8:31-32).
My little transistor radio received signals from quite a few stations, but there were only two that most kids my age would be caught dead listening to. The rest were for old people and hicks, we thought.
Metaphorically speaking, there are many “stations” in our culture broadcasting their messages. Materialism, hedonism, spiritualism—all kinds of “-isms” promising peace and happiness. Lots of people spend their lives frantically switching from one to another, but only one offers what our hearts really long to hear.
“Songs of deliverance” come from just one place: God.
In trouble, in fear, in discouragement, in despair, in boredom, God offers a way out. He wants to rescue us.
Listen to His tender words in Zephaniah 3:17: “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by His love; He will exult over you with loud singing.”
I bet some of those songs are songs of deliverance. Makes sense because we so often need to be rescued.
But we shouldn’t expect His songs of deliverance to sound the same every time. Sometimes God delivers us FROM troubles we never see. Sometimes He miraculously delivers us OUT OF troubles we’re in. And sometimes He delivers us THROUGH troubles, one difficult step at a time.
I’d always choose “from” and “out of” over “through,” but it’s all grace.
If you’re in deep waters, stop, be still and listen. Your Deliverer is singing.
Will you hear Him?