“O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens…When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?” (Psalm 8:1, 3, & 4)
Music is one of my most favorite things. I seem to carry a song in my heart all the time and know I must be a descendant of the Tribe of Judah who were designated by God in the Old Testament as the tribe of praise and worshipers. Often, when I am sitting in church and the pator is preaching, his words remind me of one song or chorus after another that I know.
Occasionally, a song comes out on the radio that touches my heart and impacts my life in a very strong way. Once, when I was going through a difficult time, I kept hearing a song being played on the radio by Nicole C. Muellen called “My Redeemer Lives.” One of the lines said, “And I know my Redeemer lives.” Maybe it was just my imagination, but it just seemed like every time I got in the car and needed a word of encouragement, that song would be playing! I would often burst into tears and thank God for sending me that word of encouragement at just that moment when I needed it most. It was a constant reminder that no matter what was happening in my life at that moment, my Redeemer lived!
Recently, a new song has been playing on the radio that has permeated the very core of my being and I can’t get it out of my head or my heart. I wake up singing it, I play it over and over again throughout the day, and it’s the last thing I listen to before I go to bed at night. And it still reduces me to tears every single time I hear it. It is recorded by a group called MercyMe and the name of the song is “Emmanuel, God With Us.” Here are the words:
Who are we that You would be mindful of us? What do
You see that’s worth looking our way? We are free
in ways that we never should be; sweet release from
the grip of these chains. Like hinges straining
from the weight, my heart no longer can keep from
singing.
[ chorus ]
All that is within me cries for You alone, be
glorified! Emmanuel, God with us! My heart sings a
brand new song. The debt is paid, these chains are
gone! Emmanuel, God with us.
Lord, You know our hearts don’t deserve Your glory!
Still You show a love we cannot afford. Like hinges
straining from the weight, my heart no longer can
keep from singing. [ back to chorus ]
Such a tiny offering compared to Calvary;
nevertheless, we’ll lay it at your feet. [ back to chorus ]
You would have to hear the actual song to get its full impact — you can go to YouTube and search for MercyMe to find the video — but this one song seems to sum up the full and complete story of God’s love for each one of us and reminds me of how grateful I am for God’s love and my salvation. God, in His infinite glory, does not have to give us a second thought! He owes us nothing. And yet He created us anyway, sent His son to this earth to show us an example of how to live and then he caused that very son — His one and only begotten son — to die for us a cruel death. And because of the price He paid and because of our faith and belief in Jesus and His death, burial and resurrection, God has given us everything we will ever need to live our lives on this earth completely free from the burden of our sins!
It doesn’t get any better than that. Not only does God love us, but He also paid the price for us that we might inherit eternal life and be able to receive everything God has to offer His children and those who love Him! What peace and what joy fills my heart when I hear the line in the song that says, “My heart sings a brand new song. The debt is paid, these chains are gone!” And I realize I do not have to do another thing to feel loved, to feel secure and to know my place on this earth is simply to praise Him for WHO He is and for WHAT He has done. Emmanuel, God With Us! We need never feel alone again when the reality of those words truly sinks into the very core of our being! God be praised!
