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Sinners in the hands of a singing God By Steve Beard Set in 19th century France, Victor Hugo’s Les Miserablesis a marvelous epic tale of the spiritual consequences of sin and the search for redemption. In the 1998 movie version, there is one scene in particular that caught my attention. The dialogue is between the story’s protagonist Jean Valjean, a reformed thief and factory owner, and Fantine, one of his former employees who is deathly sick. Fantine has been ruthlessly fired from her job at the factory because they discovered the truth of her illegitimate daughter, Cosette. Unemployed, Fantine is forced to work as a prostitute in order to care for Cosette. In an act of mercy, Jean Valjean cares for Fantine, attempting to nurse her back to health. "When you are better, I will find work for you," Valjean says. "But you don’t understand. I am a whore," responds Fantine. "And Cosette has no father." "She has the Lord," he responds. "He is her Father and you are his creation. In his eyes, you have never been anything but an innocent and beautiful woman." After Fantine’s death, Valjean fulfills the role of Cosette’s father and protector. Later in the movie, as a young woman, Cosette describes Valjean in such elegant terms. "My father is a very good man. I grew up in his love," she says. "His love was my home." The Les Miserables dialogue has special significance in light of recent news. According to a current Census Bureau study, a majority of firstborn children in America are now born out of wedlock. In order to understand the context for such a finding, back in the 1930s the figure was 18 percent. Unsurprisingly, several high-profile women such as Madonna and Jodie Foster have recently chosen to have and raise children intentionally without fathers. At the same time, two university researchers have reported that young men who grow up in homes without fathers are twice as likely to end up in jail as those who come from traditional two-parent families. Within contemporary culture, social observers are beginning to agree that we are faced with a crisis of serious fatherlessness. The one who was supposed to protect and provide has vanished from the scene and now society is forced to pick up the pieces of his neglect. Time and time again I have discovered within ministry opportunities how much one’s relationship with a father effects the way that one views God. It is not difficult to understand how someone who experienced trauma or abuse in a relationship with an earthly father would be fearful, or at least apprehensive, about pursuing an intimate relationship with our heavenly Father. The same could be said of those who experienced an absentee father or an extreme disciplinarian. Whether we like to admit it or not, our perception of our heavenly Father is often seen through the prism created by our relationship with our earthly fathers. Even Jesus made the association. "Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead?" asked Jesus. "Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him" (Luke 11:11-13). The Westminster Shorter Catechism (1647) declares that the chief end of man is to "glorify God, and to enjoy him forever." Similarly, in his sermon on "The Circumcision of the Heart," John Wesley declared: "One design you are to pursue to the end of time the enjoyment of God in time and in eternity." Enjoyment of God? How frequently do you hear about that today? Perhaps we do not enjoy his company because we do not really know him. Perceiving the goodness and generosity of our heavenly Father through the lens of our relationship with our earthly father can be liberating for some and excruciatingly painful for others. For too many people, God seems remote, impersonal, and unknowable. Because of that, even Christians suffer from an inability to feel forgiven, nagging doubt, mistrust of God, and even bouts with hyper-perfectionism. Dr. David Seamands discovered in counseling sessions that even straight-A seminary students would say, "I don’t know if God cares about me; I’m not sure he knows I exist. If he does, I’m not sure he’s concerned." In contradiction to their theological concepts of God—the manifestos that looked good on paper—they felt in their hearts that God is untrustworthy, mean, and unforgiving. Many felt that they were trying to please an unpleaseable God. We all have mental pictures of God. Quite often we affirm one theological creed but secretly believe something altogether different. There is a big difference between what one may think about God and what one may feel about God. It is true that we all, to some extent, make God into our own image. "Most of our failure to love and trust God stems from our pictures of God as unlovable and untrustworthy," says Seamands. "And most of our anger against him is not really against the true God but against our unchristian or subchristian concepts of God." This is one of the main reasons for the incarnation, flesh being applied to God. Only when the Word became flesh was it possible for us to get a true picture of God, "full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). Six hundred years before Jesus came to show us the heart of the Father, the prophet Zephaniah described the Father’s heart in such a beautiful way. "The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing" (Zephaniah 3:17). Despite the fact that one observer fittingly referred to this verse as the John 3:16 of the Old Testament, I have been startled to discover how little exposition there has been on this wonderful text. It is worth examining more carefully. The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save In the original language, the phrase "is with you" means "in the midst of." God is right here, right now. In the midst of trials and tribulations, he is there for us. We are never separated from his love and strength. Being "mighty to save" is in the active verbal sense in the Hebrew. The connotation is that God is a victor who will be a hero who helps. One translation states: "a warrior to keep you safe" (NEB). Another states: "a warrior who gives victory" (RSV). His heart is to help those who are humble. In Deuteronomy we find out that "he defends the orphan, the widow, and the alien" (10:17). Do you need to know he can save you? He will take great delight in you The King James Version reads: "he will rejoice over thee with love." So many people are profoundly surprised to discover that Almighty God should derive delight from our relationship with him. But the biblical picture of our heavenly Father expresses such unsurpassed joy over his people. Hear the heartbeat of the Father in the following passage: "No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the LORD will take delight in you as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you" (Isaiah 62:4-5). That is the insatiable, ravishing heart of the Father. A few chapters later, we read: "I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more" (Isaiah 65:19). The Father’s rejoicing echoes throughout the heavenlies. In Luke chapter 15, Jesus paints a wonderful picture of unbridled joy: "I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent." A few verses later he reiterates: "I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." Repentance is the trigger point for both joy in heaven and freedom on earth. He will quiet you with his love In the original language this literally reads: "he will be silent in his love." The King James Version reads: "he will rest in his love." Theologians have belabored to extract the precise meaning of this phrase. Some have suggested that: 1) because of his love, the Lord will keep silent regarding his people’s sin; others believe that 2) the Lord’s love will be so strong and deep as to hush motion or speech; still others hold that 3) the Lord’s silence is due to his planning of good deeds toward Israel. Any way that you look at it, the concept is stirring. Can you imagine the God who shook the mountain in front of Moses and his people being quiet in his love? With all the things going on in the world, it is actually difficult to conceive of a God who is quietly contemplating, contented in his love for you. Martin Luther said: "He will cause you to be silent so that you may have in the secret places of your heart a very quiet peace and a peaceful silence." Does it not bring new meaning to the 23rd Psalm: "He makes me lie down in green pastures." God longs to still your anxiety with silence. Jesus expressed the silence of God in a different way. At his trial and crucifixion, he remained silent although he could have called on ten thousand angels. "Like a sheep that before its shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth" (Isaiah 53:7). The quietness of God’s love was painful, but necessary for our redemption. He will rejoice over you with singing This is my favorite part of the verse. In the original language, this word rejoice contains the suggestion of "dancing for joy," or "leaping for joy," since the verb originally meant "to spin around with intense motion." Can you imagine God spinning around wildly over you? Does that shatter your stained-glass, one-dimensional impression of God? The word for singing in this verse is more like a shout of rejoicing; or loud cheering in triumph. It describes the kind of joyful shouting at the time of a great victory. The picture is portrayed of a God who dances over his beloved people with singing or a shout of joy. Jack Hayford says, "This lays to rest the notion that the biblical concept of joy is only a ‘quiet, inner sense of well-being.’ God dances for joy over Jerusalem and because of his people." The picture of a joyful Redeemer was eloquently conveyed in Hebrews 12:2: "Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." The author of joy, breaking out into singing! The God of history dancing a jig over you! The pleasure of heaven expressed over you! Can you imagine what it would be like to hear God singing? As Dr. John Piper points out, if a mere spoken word from God’s mouth brought all that we see around us into existence, what would happen if he sang? What would he sing? In Jeremiah 32, his song was: "I will make an everlasting covenant with them: I will never stop doing good to them and I will inspire them to fear me, so that they will never turn away from me. I will rejoice in doing them good and will assuredly plant them in this land with all my heart and soul" (vv. 40-41, emphasis added). Did you catch those lyrics? "I will never stop doing good to them." God says that he will rejoice in doing them good with all his heart and soul. The song in Romans says that all things work together for good "for those who love him" (Romans 8:28). David heard the song and reported that "no good thing does [God] withhold from those who walk uprightly" (Psalm 84:11), and that if we delight ourselves in the Lord he will give us the desires of our heart (Psalm 37:4). The song in Deuteronomy says that the Lord takes "delight in prospering you" (Deut. 30:9). The song declares that the "eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him" (2 Chron. 16:9). The psalmist sings out about goodness and mercy pursuing us all the days of our life (Psalms 23:6). The Lord sang forth to Moses that he is "merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love" (Exodus 34:6). These are just some of his songs over his children. I first discovered the power of this verse in Zephaniah shortly after my wife and I were married. She shared with me how much the verse meant to her, but it did not sink into my spirit until I became a father three years ago. Michelle and I had agreed that we would sing "Jesus Loves Me" over John Paul at his birth. After the nurses and doctors and relatives cleared out, it was just the three of us there. And we were joined by God. Michelle and I knew what we had planned, but I was unable to do anything except cry. My wife was forced to sing alone while I blubbered. At that moment, John Paul was welcomed into this world through this Zephaniah scenario. He was greeted with singing and silence, tears of joy and songs from the heart. In the same way, that is how each of us is welcomed by our heavenly Father. Of course, there are many factors that hold us back from hearing the rhythms of heaven. In his book, The Pleasures of God Multnomah), Piper observes, "Zephaniah labors under the wonderful inspiration of God to overcome every obstacle that would keep a person from believing—really feeling and enjoying—the unspeakable news that God exults over us with singing." Maybe it is guilt about your sin? Look at verse 15 of Zephaniah 3: "The Lord has taken away the judgments against you." We must grab hold of the fact that Jesus paid the price. As Philip Yancey has written: "The one distinct thing about Christianity is that God loves immoral people and that he has extended himself to the least deserving. Once you understand grace, you understand that none of us deserve it." He goes on to explain: "In logical terms, grace is unnatural, even scandalous. It grinds against the American sense of fairness and justice, lavishing good things on undeserving people. The shepherd leaves his flock of 99 vulnerable to rustlers and wolves in order to search for a single, lost, beloved sheep," Yancey writes. "A woman takes a pint of exotic perfume, worth a year’s wages, and pours it on Jesus’ feet. A widow who drops two small coins in the temple bucket ‘has put more into the treasury than all the others,’ Jesus says. The boss pays a vineyard laborer who has worked just one hour the same amount as those who work all day." Grace is not logical but it sure is lovely. Maybe you are gripped by fear. Take heart, verse 17 says, "The Lord is a warrior who gives you victory." Verse 19 states: "Behold, at that time I will deal with your oppressors (says the Lord)." Maybe you are worried that God is too big and busy for you. It does sometimes seem as though God is too big and his love unfathomable. But let me assure you that he is able to love you in his fullness and run the universe. Zephaniah 3:15 says "The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst." The promise is repeated in verse 17. In Isaiah, God says, "I dwell in a high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and humble spirit" (Isaiah 57:15). The Father is able to do both. Shame is another factor that deafens us to the songs of heaven. Perhaps you have been wounded by rejection. Jesus knows how you feel. It was heaped on him. He was slandered and belittled. While on the cross, he "became a curse for us" (Galatians 3:13). Throughout those anguish-filled hours under the burden of our sin, it was Jesus who said, "Father into your hands I commit my spirit" (Luke 23:46). He trusted his Father and so can you. God the Father turned his back on his only begotten son 2,000 years ago so that he could look you in the eyes today and say, "I love you, I forgive you, I want to sing over you." Zephaniah 3:19 says, "I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth." These verses in Zephaniah are indeed prophetic, but more importantly I believe that they describe the character of God, and are able to give us a biblical picture of the Father—a God whose love is to be our home.
It was his wife Sarah, however, who gained such a profound revelation of the Father’s love. She was so inebriated by the presence of God that she was, well, insensible for 17 days. Here she was the wife of America’s greatest theologian so filled with the new wine of God’s love that she was unable to conduct her every day responsibilities for more than two weeks. At one point she made this most elegant analysis: "I was aware of a delightful sense of the immediate presence of the Lord, and I became conscious of his nearness to me, and of my dearness to him." His nearness to me, and my dearness to him! May we all, like Sarah Edwards, experience the truth of being a sinner in the hands of a singing God. Steve Beard is the editor of Good News magazine and the founder of Thunderstruck.org. |