The city centre was busy with families on half-term holiday in the unusually warm October sunshine. A young man at a keyboard was filling the plaza with the upbeat sound of easy-listening songs, nicely sung. I remember thinking as I walked past him “I wonder if Father God might have something specific to say to this young guy?”
A little while later whilst inside the shopping centre, I stopped and thought again of the singer. “Holy Spirit, would you show me something special about this young man and his life that only You could know? “
Nothing specific seemed to come to me at all. Really nothing. Then suddenly, the name of his singing act that I had seen written next to his keyboard flashed across my mind. It included the word “deer” in it. Some words immediately sprang to mind from one of the Bible psalms – Psalm 18 – where David talks about God training his hands for battle and enabling him to stand like a deer on the mountain heights.
I sensed that God wanted to encourage this young man that he could have the most incredible helper in the battles that he personally faces in life, rather than having to figure everything out on his own. That helper is God himself. He will even help him stand firm and strong in the high places of victory, just like the mountain deer, however tough a climb it may be to get up there. Now it was time to go and tell him!
When I hear a verse from the Bible for someone, I have discovered that very often the person will already have some grid for the Bible or some past connection to Christian faith, either personally or through their family. It’s not always easy to tell this, though, from a brief glance at someone! We just need to be ready to present scripture in relevant, non-religiousy language - which is much the best way anyway, in my view!
Waiting until the singer had finished his last song and a phone call, I put a tip in his guitar case, thanked him for bringing uplifting music to the city streets and asked his name. I’ll call him “Will”. Asking if I could just share something with him briefly as a roving street minister, I thought he might just allow me a brief sentence or two, then make it clear that he needed to get on. But, to my surprise, Will got up from his keyboard and said “Oh, come over here” where we stood a little aside from the main crowd.
After I briefly described what I felt I had heard for him through that song – psalm – written by David in the bible, Will went on to explain that, when he was a young boy, he used to sing regularly in a choir attached to his school. He had loved it. “We sang all the psalms!” he said, “but I don’t ever remember one with a deer in it. That’s really cool”.
Will understood and resonated with the encouragement about God wanting to train him for life’s battles rather than him having to tackle stuff on his own. He seemed keen to go and look the Psalm up when he had a space later. by himself I told Will that I believed this is a time in his life where God is lovingly getting his attention. He wants to rekindle something Will had tasted in his earlier years – the promises, love and kindness of God. For God to be his song. right now, as a man, and not just in his past youth.
Do it, Lord! Put that new song of praise in Will’s mouth as He comes to know your extraordinary love and salvation for himself!
Before going home, I wrote out the Psalm number on my contact card and left it with Will. Thanking me with a big smile, he began to play a new song as I walked away into the crowd.