Thoughts on “Keep Singing Over Me”

“For the Lord your God is living among you.
   He is a mighty savior.
He will take delight in you with gladness.
    With his love, he will calm all your fears.
    He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”

Zephaniah 3:17 (NLT)

Though I was always familiar with the idea of singing songs of praise to God, Zephaniah 3:17 taught me something new. It took me by surprise to learn that God also sings over us and He does so joyfully. This is not because of our merit or because we possess some kind of inherent goodness, but because of His redemptive work in us, because He chooses to save us from darkness.

As verse 17 says, He lives among us and His mere presence gives us hope. He doesn’t save us out of obligation, but He saves us because even though we are mired in sin, we are still His image bearers and He delights in us.

This truth was our starting point and was fleshed out with my fellow co-writers during the Kingdom Songs writers’ retreat in 2018 to become “Keep Singing Over Me.” Our song is a prayer to God, saying “We can hear You singing over us and we want to join You and live and sing in harmony with You.”

Every time I choose to sing aloud about God, especially when I am struggling, He wins.
And because I’m choosing to align myself with Him, I get to share in that victory.