When God Sings

Dear Friend,
How are you? Hope you are well.
​
In the evening of October 6th, Sunday, my mind was a bit busy.  I was thinking about a certain matter, and googled something.  When I went to my bed, it was after 11pm.  On my bed, I came to see Pastor David Guzik’s latest video popped up, titled “When God Sings.”  It was a short video like 5 minutes or so, and it was on Zephaniah 3:16~17:
In that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
“Do not fear;
Zion, let not your hands be weak.
The Lord your God in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.”(NKJV)

Then, Pastor Guzik said something like this (my paraphrase), “People listen to their own songs with earbuds or headphones on, instead of being quieted to listen to God’s song.” I truly concurred with him.  I also felt that the Father wants me to be quieted to listen to His song over me, and be soaked in His love, not being distracted as I was before after dinner on that day.  Yet, I didn’t feel guilty nor condemned, but thought of His love over me.  Since I started to enjoy quietness as well as listening to birds during Me time with the Father, I sometimes turn my music player off at home.  I used to play out quiet background music when reading books, writing blogs, or doing house chores, no matter whether it’s classical, jazz, Hawaiian ukulele or worship instrumental music.  But, when my ears caught still small singing of bird(s) outside in this town, I turned off the music player to enjoy the bird(s)’ singing. I came to love listening to birds more than beautiful music people made, though music is still beautiful.  So, I was able to agree with Pastor Guzik’s sharing, and I think we need to take some time to quiet ourselves to listen to the Father and our Lord, and enjoy His pouring out His love over us.  During Me time in the autumn, I sometimes strolled or sat on bench, but other times, I enjoyed coffee or tea in cafe.  When the weather was not cold, I took a seat outdoors in cafe.  And I chose to be quiet in my mind, not trying to do anything such as reading or praying. But I quieted myself, enjoying beautiful lights through trees. 
The next morning after watching Pastor David’s “When God Sings,” I wanted to read those verses from The Message Bible that my favorite writer and pastor, Eugene Peterson translated. :) 
“Happy to have you back, he’ll calm you with his love
  and delight you with his songs. (The MSG)”
Then, I came to think these Zephaniah 3:17 is well known so that Christian contemporary songs in Korean were made with this verse.  But the translation of “He will quiet (calm) you with His love” in Korean is more like “He will love you quietly.”  And I thought some different translations in Korean might be due to direct translation from Hebrew, not from English.  Then, I became curious about what the Hebrew word for this verse meant and searched it in BlueletterBible.  There, interestingly, I found King James Version says:
he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing. 
Similar to Korean translation, it implies God will rest in His love.  Then, the Hebrew word, haras’ meaning is:
to be silent, be dumb, be speechless, be deaf, ​ keep quiet, make silent, remain silent

No matter which version is close to the original Hebrew meaning, I believe both God and we commune in rest and silence and His love.  And I picture a parent quiets his or her baby in arms.  Mom or dad may sing lullaby over the baby with her or his love.  Pouring out love in silence and rest.  The baby will be calmed.  And I was reminded of some writings that my Singapore pastor’s wife shared from their silent retreat to Malaysia earlier this year:
Silence and prayer
If we take as our guide the oldest prayer book, the biblical Psalms, we note two main forms of prayer. One is a lament and cry for help, other is thanksgiving and praise to God. On a more hidden level, there is a third kind of prayer, without demands or explicit expression of praise. In Psalm 131 for instance, there is nothing but quietness and confidence: I have calmed and quieted my soul... hope in the Lord from this time on and forevermore. (Ps 131:2.3)
At times prayer becomes silent. Peaceful communion with God can do without words. “I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother.” Like the satisfied child who has stopped crying and is in its mother’s arms, so can “my soul be with me” in the presence of God. Prayer then needs no words, maybe not even thoughts.
How is it possible to reach inner silence? Sometimes we are apparently silent, and yet we have great discussions within, struggling with imaginary partners or with ourselves. Calming our souls requires a kind of simplicity: “I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.”(Ps 131:1) Silence means recognizing that my worries can’t do much. Silence means leaving to God what is beyond my reach and capacity. A moment of silence, even very short, is like a holy stop, a sabbatical rest, a trace of worries.
The turmoil of our thoughts can be compared to the storm that struck the disciples’ boat on the Sea of Galilee while Jesus was sleeping. Like them, we may be helpless, full of anxiety, and incapable of calming ourselves. But Christ is able to come to our help as well. As he rebuked the wind and the sea and “there was a great calm”, He can also quiet our heart when it is agitated by fears and worries (Mark 4:39). Remaining silent, we trust and hope in God. One psalm suggests that silence is even a form of praise. We are used to reading at the beginning of Psalm 65: "Praise is due to you, O God.” This translation follows the Greek text, but actually the Hebrew text printed in most Bibles reads: “Silence is praise to you, O God.” When words and thoughts come to an end, God is praised in silent wonder and admiration.

Friend, I found that no matter whether it’s prayer or our praise to Him, it seems silence should be part of our communion with our Father.  In reality, however, I found being in silence inwardly is extremely difficult and even more difficult than staying silent outwardly.  I don’t know about you, but I felt my mind often has been a battleground. And I was glad to read Eugene Peterson’s writing on Psalm 131:
The transition from a sucking infant to a weaned child, from squalling baby to quiet son or daughter, is not smooth.  It is stormy and noisy. It is no easy thing to quiet yourself: sooner may we calm the sea or rule the wind or tame a tiger than quiet ourselves.  It is pitched battle. The baby is denied expected comforts and flies into rages or sinks into sulks. There are sobs and struggles. The infant is facing its first great sorrow and it is in sore distress. But “to the weaned child his mother is his comfort growth out of spiritual infancy when we can forgo the joys which once appeared to be essential, and can find our solace in him who denies them to us. (Charles Spurgeon)” (from Long Obedience in the Same Direction)

On October 16th, after lunch, I debated as to whether I would go out for a short Me time.   It was overcast and gloomy.  I felt under the weather, and I also felt a bit upset, after reading a text from someone. I didn’t want to go out, but I had to go grocery shopping for mom’s fruits. So I went out.  I didn’t feel like taking a stroll so that I went to one of my favorite cafes with a terrace outdoors.  I thought that I would enjoy coffee, trees on the street and perhaps birds outdoors, before grocery shopping, though it wasn’t sunny and a bit cold.  It was around 1:30pm and there were many people at the cafe both indoors and outdoors.  Chitchat was overheard from next table and behind.  Yet, I was able to quiet myself at that time, despite the noise around me.  Lo and behold, a magpie flied from a Chinese church on the other side of the street toward the cafe and then U-turned and flied away. The voice of the Lord.  I smiled. And I felt Him pouring out His love over me just like Zephaniah 3:17.  He knew how upset I was, after the text message.  But He wanted me to walk in love.  He wanted me to be generous.  And He reminded me that He does take care of me and He will satisfy my heart’s desires. And Ephesians 3:20 came into my mind:
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.
It gave me so much comfort and joy. I was indeed quieted like a weaned child in the Father’s arms.  When I came back home, I was totally refreshed from that quiet moment inside, despite the noise in the cafe.
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Friend,
Would you like to take some quiet moment with the Father, and listen to His love song over you?  Perhaps you could go to the nature and stroll or you might be in the crowd.  Yet, you would hear His song over you.

Have a bliss!
Julie

I’ve kept my feet on the ground,
    I’ve cultivated a quiet heart.
Like a baby content in its mother’s arms,
    my soul is a baby content.
Wait, Israel, for God. Wait with hope.
    Hope now; hope always! (Psalm 131:2~3 The Message)