You surround me with songs of deliverance.
Psalm 32:7
You may remember I started memorizing scripture verses a while back. This went well for a time, until I began biting off more than I could chew. I picked passages that were too long and took days and days to learn. I need to get back to scripture memory, come to think of it, but I'll be more careful this time; two or three short lines is about the most I can handle.
Psalm 32:7 is one of the verses I did successfully memorize a few months ago, and it has really stuck with me.
Today as I was driving home, the Lord wanted me to sing to Him. I protested a bit. Someone in my family is going through a struggle that's been weighing on my mind enough to wake me up in the night. I was returning from day two of the annual two-day departmental workshops and get-togethers that mark the beginning of the new academic year. I was tired, and wondering if there would be a message for me when I got home -- perhaps relieving my fears, perhaps confirming them -- but at least some kind of message.
...I protested, but then out of the blue -- to my surprise -- I started to sing. When I say that I was surprised, I'm not being facetious. I recognized right away that it was the Holy Spirit who had begun singing. My voice, but better. And coming from a well somewhere deep inside me.
I don't remember what I sang at first. But as I sang, the line "You surround me with songs of deliverance" came to me, and I realized something: The songs that come from my own voice as praise to Him are the songs of deliverance He sings over me. They probably aren't all of them -- He may also be singing songs over me that I can't hear yet. But the songs I can hear are His own voice, using my voice to minister to me as I minister to Him. Through praise, our bond grows. Through praise, my faith grows. Through praise, my heart is lifted to Jesus, in whom I find healing and strength.