Many years ago I visited the Philips sound studio in the Netherlands. I was astonished at how the sound engineers could simulate a horse and cart crossing a stage. Later we had stereo hi-fi at home, and it was amazing at the time to experience different instruments of an orchestra coming out of one or other of the two speakers. All this seems outdated now, of course, but was novel at the time!


Within the Lord’s walls we are surrounded by the Lord’s songs of deliverance. They come to us from every point of the compass; we are “compassed about” (as the King James Version says) by the Lord’s songs; cocooned by hymns of unfailing love. These songs are the expression of the joy that lay before Him, the joy of saving us. That joy sustained Jesus as He went to the cross for each of us. His songs express the intensity of His longing for us to know Him fully.


We know how often we can take the reality of His love for granted. But this coldness does not stop Him from rejoicing over us with singing (see Zephaniah 3:17). Praise God we serve an unfailing Savior who will restore the joy of our salvation.