December 4: God Rejoices Over Us
♫ Music:
Day 3 - Tuesday, December 4
God Rejoices Over Us
Scripture: Zephaniah 3:17
The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save: he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
Poetry:
Psalm
by Lisa Russ Spaar
If not for you, I’d fear for the world,
invaded by so much Paradise--
the lavish, engorged antlers of crape myrtle,
silver spines of poplars,
satin leaves seeding the white sky.
The lavender’s bee-threshed, exotic heat.
Perfection? I’m illiterate.
But I have felt your devotion
spell delicious syllables inside of me:
surrender . . . grow. So I know
that a blown threshold is not a devastation
but a glimpse of heaven,
the way God still waits for us
beyond the limits of our fullest grace.
GOD REJOICES OVER US
I remember the early days of my faith. I had not yet learned of many of the promises of God and yet the creator of my soul surprised me with His songs. I would be walking across my high school campus, discouraged and alone, and suddenly a song from church would pop into my head, drawing me to my Lord, lifting my heart with hope and diminishing fear. Fast forward several decades, and my heart has encouraged by the relentless pursuit of my Father who through His Holy Spirit has quieted my heart through seasons of joy and times of grief. To this day His songs continue to bring encouragement. In the words of poet Lisa Russ Spaar, “I have felt your devotion spell delicious syllables inside of me: surrender.....grow.”
It seems that the darker the night, the more precious the Lord’s songs are to my soul. As I contemplate the bright colors in Charles Nkomo’s “Reflections” I ponder the paradox of color and beauty which is found in suffering. Nkomo paints of the very dark season of apartheid in South Africa’s history, depicting multiracial families and individuals who were removed from their homes in Cape Town to make room for white settlements. It makes me wonder how the Lord sang over these precious hurting people. I can imagine that His songs may have sounded much like “Because I love you” performed by Ladysmith Black Mambazo, a choral group from South Africa. “Because I love you, I will take care of you...” Even in the darkest times and seasons, the Lord comforts His people.
This is the message of Advent, Christ come to earth as Immanuel, God with us (Mt 1:23). In the dark of night and in a dark time in Israel’s history after 400 years of silence the skies erupted with angelic voices to announce the birth of Jesus. The Mighty One broke through, not with rebuke but with words of rejoicing, encouragement, and praise: “Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth peace amongst those with whom he is pleased” (Luke 2:14). This Christmas, I pray that the Lord breaks through the silence of night, quiets your soul with His love, and I pray that you would know that He rejoices over you, as He reminds you of His great love for you.
Prayer:
Lord, thank you that you are always with us, you are in our midst. God you are the Mighty One. We thank you for the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. Father God, we marvel in how you rejoice over us with gladness. I pray that this Advent season you will quiet our souls with your love, and sing over us, and may we sing back to you our praise.
Amen
Dr. Suzanne Welty
Associate Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders
Biola University
About the Artwork:
Reflections, 2013
Charles Nkomo
Acrylic on canvas
39 in x 29 in
From Between the Shadow & the Light: An Exhibition Out of South Africa
Reflections addresses the first removal of Africans living in District 6 in Cape Town, South Africa in 1901 to designated “native areas” after an outbreak of bubonic plague. The forced removal of the residents of this multicultural, multiracial neighborhood was fully undertaken to make way for a white-only development beginning in 1966. It reflects the sufferings of so many under apartheid in South Africa, and how they were sustained by God’s presence and love. Peaked rooflines can just barely be glimpsed through the contrasting murky darkness and bright light of the background.
About the Artist:
Charles Nkomo was born in 1974 in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. He studied art at the Mzilikazi Art School and was subsequently appointed resident artist at the National Gallery in Bulawayo. His work focuses on scenes of everyday life in Africa, which is often influenced by social, political, and economic forces. His style is characterized by highly expressive, energetic brushwork and the juxtaposition of high-key colors inflecting his scenes with depth and exuberance. In addition to his acrylic and oil paintings, he has received many commissions for murals in both Zimbabwe and South Africa. His work has also been shown in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and in many places in the United States.
About the Music:
“Because I Love You” from the album Walking in the Footsteps of Our Fathers
Lyrics
Wangithanda umuntu
Wangithanda ngingamthandi
Wangithanda ngimzonda
Wangithanda ngimuhleba
Wangithanda ngimqambela amanga
ngimbeka amabala ngamabala
Wangithanda ngaze ngamthanda
Ubenza okwakhe wena ufuna ufuna enze okwakho yini na?
Luthando olunjani lolu?
Yiko loko ngikuthanda
Because I love you
I will take care of you
I will feed you
I will tell you stories
I will always love you
I will never never hurt you
I will sing for you
I will dance for you
I will hug and kiss you
Because I love you
[Translation]:
A person loved me
She loved me while I didn't love her
She loved me while I hated her
She loved me while I talked behind her back
She loved me while I lied
Saying bad things about her
She loved me till I loved her
She was doing her own thing, do you want her to do your thing
What kind of love is this
Because I love you
I will take care of you
I will feed you
I will tell you stories
I will always love you
I will never never hurt you
I will sing for you
I will dance for you
I will hug and kiss you
About the Performers:
Ladysmith Black Mambazo is a male a cappella choral group founded by Joseph Shabalala that sings the intricate rhythms and vocal styles of their native South African musical traditions. Ladysmith Black Mambazo rose to worldwide prominence as a result of singing with American singer/songwriter Paul Simon on his 1986 album entitled Graceland, and have won multiple awards, including four Grammy Awards. Formed in 1960, they became one of South Africa's most prolific recording artists, having recorded over 50 albums, many of which have received gold and platinum disc honors. The vocal group has continued during the past five decades to create music with a spiritual connection that has garnered them international praise and accolades.
About the Poet:
Lisa Russ Spaar (b. 1956) is a contemporary American poet, professor, and essayist. She is currently a professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of Virginia and the director of the Area Program in Poetry Writing. Spaar's books of poetry include Orexia (2017), Vanitas, Rough (2012), Satin Cash: Poems (2008), Blue Venus (2004), and Glass Town (1999), for which she won the Rona Jaffe Award for Emerging Women Writers in 2000. The Virginia Quarterly Review describes her work as "the perfect marriage of the realism of William Carlos Williams . . . and the sleepless heaven-seeking of such cloistered ecstatics as Emily Dickinson and Gerard Manley Hopkins." She has been the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship.
About the Devotional Writer:
Suzanne Welty|
Associate Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders
Communication Sciences and Disorders
Biola University
Suzanne Welty is an Associate Professor of Communication Sciences and Disorders who also earned her EdD in Educational Leadership, Teaching and Learning from Azusa Pacific University. Welty specializes in diagnosing and remediating communication, behavioral and social challenges of individuals diagnosed with Autism, and other developmental disabilities. In addition, Welty has a passion for missions and has spent many summers in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, and Germany, and finds joy in visiting, praying for, and encouraging those who are serving Christ world-wide.