We are meeting again after our Easter break at the Tynemouth Castle at 7:30pm and we will be discussing our guest blog from below that Aaron Shah has written for us.
In April 2025, a record store owner discovered a reel-to-reel recording simply titled “Beatles 60’s Demos”. His initial thought was that it was simply a bootleg collection of songs that someone had put together. Instead, what he had stumbled across was a recording of The Beatles’ 1962 audition tape for Decca, the record label that famously rejected them, just before they got signed with EMI and went on to change the face of music and culture forever.
These songs, from the most influential band that there has ever been, had been hidden for decades but were now finally revealed for the world to enjoy.
As I think about this story, I can’t help but think of other songs which are also waiting to be discovered. The songs I am thinking of, however, are not written by human hands but instead by God. The ancient prophet Zephaniah speaks to this hope when he unveils this beautiful truth – that from the corridors of eternity, God sings over His people.
“(Yahweh) will take great delight in you.
In His love, He will no longer rebuke you.
but will rejoice over you with singing.”
(Zephaniah 3:17)
What these songs actually sound like is not entirely clear but other Scriptures give us some clues: For those of us who prefer the heavier side of music, we can rest assured that God’s voice is repeatedly described as being like the sound of thunder (Psalm 18:13. Psalm 29:3, Job 27:5, John 12:29). For those of us who like more contemplative music, God’s voice is also described as being like a whisper and sometimes hard to hear (1 Kings 19:12, Job 33:16). With both sides of the scale covered, we are perhaps permitted to imagine that everything in between is also covered!
Whatever the style of song that God is singing, Zephaniah’s choice of words reveals that the heart from which it is sung reflects that of a parent singing over their child:
“Delight”
“Love”
“Rejoice”
These words speak of being celebrated, wanted, known, and seen.
If this is true, we can delve deeper into understanding why God might want to sing over us by exploring what research reveals about the amazing impact of a parent singing to their child.
And finally, research shows that being sung to brings babies into a more acute level of emotional regulation, with their nervous system calmed and soothed by the melody of the songs.
With all this happening when a parent sings over their child, it’s not a stretch to suggest that God singing over us could be one way that we are invited to experience deeper levels of intimacy, growth, and healing.
The obvious question, then, is: how do we hear the songs being sung over us?
And the honest answer is – I don’t know.
I’ve rarely heard this idea talked about in the church communities I’ve been a part of. And even a brief look at the songs most people sing in church communities around the world shows that most songs fall into only two categories – songs sung to God, or songs sung about God. Rarely, if ever, is room left to explore the idea of songs from God – perhaps because it just seems too audacious to write a song as if it were in God’s own voice.
Given this, should we close the door on the idea of ever hearing the songs that God is singing over us? I don’t think so – instead, I think a good place to start in this untrodden path is by leaning into the songwriters who help us imagine the songs God might be singing over us. One such songwriter who often leans into this idea is Jason Upton so as we close, I wanted to leave you with one of his songs that I have been listening to a lot this week – “When You Were A Child”. It is a song that carries with it an invitation to become childlike again, something which feels appropriate, as it’s perhaps when we make this shift in our hearts that we are best positioned to hear the song God is singing over us personally.
Jason Upton Video: https://youtu.be/1mtGzY7gwP8?si=0kmR9ZhgwQbTy2Fd
Reflections Questions:
- You’re only allowed to listen to one song for the rest of your life – what would it be and why?
- What song means a lot to you at the moment?
- What do you think about the idea of God singing over us?
- What do you think God’s songs might sound like? (Use your imagination and be playful with it!)
- Break into small groups and write some lyrics to a song that God might be singing to BFX.
Photo by Pixabay: https://www.pexels.com/photo/music-sheet-page-210804/
This post is written by one of our many friends. At BeachcomberFX we love to hear what others have to say and are always on the lookout for people who want to share their thoughts or stories with us.