Singing Over Us 对我们唱歌
Dexu Xia
[He] will rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:17
A young father held his baby boy in his arms, singing to him and rocking him in soothing rhythm. The baby was hearing-impaired, unable to hear the melody or the words. Yet the father sang anyway, in a beautiful, tender act of love toward his son. And his efforts were rewarded with a delightful smile from his little boy.
The imagery of the father-son exchange bears a striking resemblance to the words of Zephaniah. The Old Testament prophet says that God will joyfully sing over His daughter, the people of Jerusalem (Zephaniah 3:17). God enjoys doing good things for His beloved people, such as taking away their punishment and turning back their enemies (v. 15). Zephaniah says they no longer have any reason for fear and instead have cause for rejoicing.
We, as God’s children redeemed by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, sometimes are hard of hearing—unable, or perhaps unwilling, to tune our ears to the exuberant love God sings over us. His adoration of us is like that of the young father, who lovingly sang to his son despite his inability to hear. He has taken away our punishment too, giving us further reason to rejoice. Perhaps we might try to listen more closely to hear the joy ringing loudly in His voice. Father, help us to hear Your loving melody and savor being held safely in Your arms.
What keeps you from hearing God? How can you tune your ears to hear His delight in you?
Thank You, God, for taking great delight in me. May I always listen to your voice as You joyfully sing over me.
祂……必因你喜乐欢唱。—西番雅书3章17节，新译本
有个年轻的父亲手中抱着襁褓中的儿子，口里哼着安抚的旋律，轻摇着他。虽然儿子的听力受损，无法听见旋律或歌词，但这位父亲依然满怀爱意、轻柔地对儿子唱歌。小婴孩露出微笑，父亲所做的努力得到了回报。
这幅父子情感交流的画面，与西番雅所说的话，有明显的相似之处。这位旧约时代的先知说，上帝会因祂的儿女，就是耶路撒冷的百姓喜乐欢唱（西番雅书3章17节）。上帝乐于为祂所爱的子民成就美事，例如除去他们的刑罚，赶出他们的仇敌（15节）。西番雅还说，他们不会再基于任何原因而感到惧怕，相反地，他们有了可以欢喜快乐的理由。
然而，我们这些人蒙了耶稣基督救赎而成为上帝的儿女，有时却听力有困难，不论是出于不能或不愿，都很难听见上帝对我们唱的丰盛之爱。上帝对我们的爱，就像那位年轻的父亲一样，尽管儿子听不见，却仍慈爱地对着儿子哼唱。上帝除去了我们的刑罚，让我们更有理由欢喜快乐。或许我们应该试着，更仔细地聆听祂清脆响亮的歌声所传达的喜乐。亲爱的天父，求祢使我们能听见祢慈爱美妙的歌声，享受祢怀抱中的安稳恬适。
什么会让你听不到上帝的声音？
你如何让自己能听到祂对你的喜爱？
亲爱的上帝，我感谢祢，因为祢深深地喜爱我。
当祢对我欢喜歌唱时，愿我总是能聆听祢的声音