African-American spirituals are evidence that God’s love persists in oppressive environments.

Most of these songs were born from the era of slavery in early America. They were sung while picking cotton, boiling down sugar, and building barrels in which to ship tobacco. They were sung while sneaking through woods and wading through rivers on the invisible road to freedom. They were sung during church services and revival meetings. They were prayers. Maps. Metaphors for freedom. They were hopeful outpourings from oppressed spirits that worked strength into heavy souls.

Hundreds of years before slavery haunted American grounds, songs filled the early church too. The Bible records Paul and Silas singing in prison after being arrested for sharing the gospel. Songs gave them hope. They even cultivated faith in strangers who were listening.

Though most of us stand far from slavery, we still suffer pains that leave us feeling at times that God isn’t caring for us. But when we tune in to the songs written from Christians in anguish, like many of the Psalms, traditional hymns and spirituals, we hear that God’s love persists. He cares for people through their pains. He turns our anguish into greater good.

We are loved, always. That is worth singing about!