Unchained Melody Series

A MIKTAM OF DAVID.

“Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.

I say to the LORD, ‘You are my Lord;

I have no good apart from you.’

“As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,

in whom is all my delight.

“The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply;

their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out

or take their names on my lips.

“The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup;

you hold my lot.

The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

“I bless the LORD who gives me counsel;

in the night also my heart instructs me.

I have set the LORD always before me;

because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;

my flesh also dwells secure.

For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,

or let your holy one see corruption.

“You make known to me the path of life;

in your presence there is fullness of joy;

at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” [1]

Blue-eyed soul was the term coined to describe the music of the musical group, the Righteous Brothers, in the mid- to late-sixties. This singing duo produced some of the most memorable love ballads of that era. The songs are still popular on YouTube to this day, and they are often played seeking to record the reactions of young people to the music these men produced. Among the great songs that Bobby Hatfield and Bill Medley produced was one that bore the title of “Unchained Melody.” The song is a plea from a forlorn man longing for the return of his departed lover. The song is emotionally touching, speaking to the heart of every person who has loved and lost. David, also, wrote an unchained melody which we can see among the Psalms.

Six Psalms are designated “Miktams.” Each of these Psalms was penned by David during a time of personal or national distress. We don’t actually know what a “Miktam” is supposed to be. The etymology of the word is unknown, and thus, we can’t say with certainty what is intended. However, each occurrence of the term is provided while introducing a Psalm that has the character of lamentation or pleading. [2] Therefore, it has been suggested that each of these Miktams is to be received as a Song of Lament. If you will, each Miktam arises from terror that threatens to paralyse the Psalmist.

Under some specific threat, the Psalmist struggles to respond in a godly fashion. As David struggles with the pressure that is then stifling his soul, he cries out to God. His cry is spontaneous, it is anguished, it is real. And inevitably, he moves toward God as the only hope that he has to survive the crushing pressure that threatens him at that moment. When the enemies of righteousness crush the man of God, what escapes from the heart of the worshipper of the Living God is an unchained melody. It is an anguished Psalm that moves quickly to the place of praise of God Who delivers His own. For a brief moment, the redeemed individual may feel alone, but in his heart he knows that he serves a God too good to needlessly hurt him and too wise to make a mistake. Therefore, even in the darkness of the dungeon, he sings an unchained melody.

Surely, we can each relate to such response. Each of us has known a time when the world was crashing around us. We were crushed by the weight of the burden pushing us down. At such time, where can the follower of Christ turn, if not to the Saviour? Though we cry out in our pain, we turn almost instinctively to the One who Rescues us.

THE LORD GOD? OR…

“Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.

I say to the LORD, ‘You are my Lord;

I have no good apart from you.’

“As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones,

in whom is all my delight.

“The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply;

their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out

or take their names on my lips”

[PSALM 16:1-4]

When I am in need, who shall deliver me from the disaster that looms if not the Lord my God? To whom shall I turn when I am under assault if not my Saviour? One of the dramatic pictures to emerge from the early days of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine is a photo depicting Ukrainians fleeing into the depths of one of the subways in the capital city of Kyiv. As people were filing into the depths of the subway for shelter as Russian missiles rained down on the city, a group of Ukrainian Christians greeted those coming down the stairs. As people descended into the subway the Christians were singing hymns of praise to the God who reigns even in the midst of chaos!