The Wait, the Wilderness, and the Captivity: A Handbook for Staying in the Way

By Ronald McCowan

Waiting is a challenge that creates stress of varying degrees. Waiting on God is part and parcel of the Christian walk. More intense and prolonged forms of waiting exist as wilderness and captivity experiences. This handbook describes these different levels of waiting and suggests options for navigating, adjusting to, and emerging from these life challenges.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 17, 2019
• ISBN: 9781644924952

Book preview

Introduction

Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name. Psalm 142:7

Melodies and catchy tunes drive the most popular music genres of the day. On November 21, 2013, Pharrell Williams released his signature song, Happy. It captivated millions because of its simple feel good message, the lighthearted melody, and its upbeat rhythm. At that time, it was the United Kingdom’s most downloaded track ever. ¹

Lyrics in pop songs can be a tremendous draw to the listener. Consumers may find something that speaks to them of love, hope, the blues, and revelry; something that is brief and catchy, and something that tells of their own life experience. While a thumping bass line and syncopated rhythm may pull us into a song, the lyrics may provide that compelling force to bring us back to the song again and again. Moreover, what is so fascinating is the sheer potential of lyrics to move us beyond words.

Oh Freedom is an old Negro freedom song that takes us back to the Jim Crow era. In one view, its somber message may seem relatively dark and markedly distant from that of William’s care free Happy.

While both songs speak of liberation, Oh Freedom brings a message that is decidedly more powerful to those who take the time to consider the picture it paints. Here are the first two verses:

Oh freedom, oh freedom, oh freedom over me

And before I’d be a slave, I’ll be buried in my grave

And go home to my Lord and be free

No more mourning, no more mourning, no more mourning over me

And before I’d be a slave, I’ll be buried in my grave

And go home to my Lord and be free

While the song likely came into existence shortly after slavery ended, it is believed that the song was first recorded by songstress Odetta Holmes in 1956 on her album entitled, Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues. And, in addition to recording the song in 1958, Joan Baez sang it at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC, on August 28, 1963, when Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his famous and iconic I Have a Dream speech. While it was recorded by several artists, one notable version was done very nicely by opera singer Shirley Verrett, on her 1966 album entitled, Singin’ in the Storm.

The song became an anthem for the civil rights movement² because its lyrics connected with the lingering, oppressive vestige of slavery known as Jim Crow.

I heard this song quite a few times while a student at Oakwood University, years ago where it was sung with pathos and emotion to the extent that one believed in the liberation that the lyrics presented.

Freedom from the many inhumane conditions of slavery and its aftermath is the plea of this song. The intensity of the drive for freedom from slavery was fueled by the ferocity, demasculinization, deculturalization, and dehumanization that often characterized this African American captivity. In parallel, the Jewish bondage at the hands of the Egyptians was described as a life of bitterness and hardship (Ex 1:14), and one in which the Jews agonized and cried about (Ex 2:23). Moreover, it was a bondage which the God of heaven heard the cries from (Ex 6:5) and dramatically responded to (Deut 5:6).

And so, Happy tells of an unencumbered, self-determined liberation, while in Oh Freedom the choice between being a slave and death describes a dark liberation that bypasses all that may be considered good in this life. But the song also admonishes us to consider a more substantial and lasting liberation.

In prophesying of the coming Christ, Isaiah (Is 61:1) stated that He would be sent to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and to open the prisons to release them that were bound. Some 730 years later when Christ was in the synagogue in Nazareth on a Sabbath day, He read this text from Isaiah and confirmed that the prophesy was fulfilled as of that day. He had come to bring liberty and