"A-Louie, Louie...Oh baby...we gotta go now. A-Louie, Louie... Oh baby... we gotta go now...yea, yea, yea, yea, yea, yea..."

Lyrics of a song written some 30 years ago. They're still popular today. I doubt, however, that the songwriter was very concerned about his message making sense (he never does tell us where he's gotta go).

I appreciate more the beautiful songs and lyrics of many other composers. At the top of my list is a song written by someone you know ... our heavenly Father!

Among all the things God has done (you know: created animals, parted the Red Sea, etc.), he has also written songs! My favorite is Deuteronomy 32:1-43. He wrote it for Moses and the Children of Israel. It's about his faithfulness.

The verse I like best says, "He shielded [Israel] and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye, like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them on its pinions."

God personally took care of the Children of Israel! No string of nameless babysitters. God our Refuge pays direct attention to his children. He guards them as we protect our sight. He dotes on them like a eagle protecting and nurturing her young.

Change the picture: a child snuggling up to its father, held in strong, protective arms, drifting off to sleep in dad's refuge and strength, secure it is the apple of its father's eye. That's the Creator/Songwriter's melody here.

You hold that special place in God's heart. You are his child! You need not worry. God - personally - protects your soul from all harm. He sings to us, "I am your refuge! I shield you, care for you, guard you. You are my favored child!"

How can you be sure this song is true? God our Refuge became the supreme sacrifice for our sins. He didn't send a really important angel or holy human to make that payment. God gave himself for us. He personally cared for the Israelites. He personally came to save us. God became human through Jesus. Through Jesus God sacrificed himself to make us his own.

What was that song again? "A-Louie, Louie...Oh baby...we gotta go now."

No. God's song is definitely better.

Ron Cuilla, (Ronnie Llama) is a youth leader at Apostles Lutheran Church in San Jose, California.