We all need to be rescued. What still amazes me about the Christmas story is that this is a part of God’s rescue plan that He designed from before the foundations of the world. God knew that we needed a deliverer. And He sent His son to step in and save the day.

What is so beautiful about this song is that the very words of Jesus are quoted. He longs to gather us. But we resist Him. We cry out. He does not seem to answer. That is because we cannot see all of His plan. We do not understand that He did not leave us to fend for ourselves. He is there waiting.

Our enemy, our captor is no pharaoh on the Nile
Our toil is neither mud nor brick nor sand
Our ankles bear no calluses from chains, yet Lord, we’re bound
Imprisoned here, we dwell in our own land

Deliver us, deliver us
Oh Yahweh, hear our cry
And gather us beneath your wings tonight

Our sins they are more numerous than all the lambs we slay
Our shackles they were made with our own hands
Our toil is our atonement and our freedom yours to give
So Yahweh, break this silence if you can

Deliver us, deliver us
Oh Yahweh, hear our cry
And gather us beneath your wings tonight

Deliver us, deliver us
Oh Yahweh, hear our cry
And gather us beneath your wings tonight

‘Jerusalem, Jerusalem
How often I have longed
To gather you beneath my gentle wings’