God’s song in the night

psalm 42:8

“Yet the LORD will command his lovingkindness in the daytime,

and in the night his song shall be with me,

and my prayer unto the God of my life. “

God’s song in the night follows a day of prosperity and gladness, as a general rule.

In the natural world, the day of childhood ideally has protection from the evils around: happy homes with loving hearts; bright hopes for coming days; a refuge from danger.

It is so in the Christian life as well. In the early days of the young convert, there is a simple acceptance of God’s promises; an awe-inspiring trust, as if walking for the first time on a glorious new path; seeing for the first time great new sights; hearing for the first time great truths from God’s Word; feeling for the first time emotions of unspeakable joy; touching the eternal in a new and living way; and smelling the sweet aroma of the holy life in Christ.

God has a law of alteration, a law of changes and they take place in succession, one gives place to another; it is day and then night and it is night and then day. After the day with all of its sunshine, it is God’s way to send the night. As the day has a purpose, so does the night. The Psalmist writes, “Thou hast proved my heart, thou hast visited me in the night.” (Psalm 17:3) The night introduces us to sorrows and trials, symbolically and drives us to our knees in prayer.

In the night, God pulls back the veil of eternity and gives us thoughts of a better world and a longing for it. The activities of the day drown out the songs of the night God sends. The phrase “songs in the night” is an oft-used one in the Old Testament. Job spoke of “God our Maker who giveth songs in the night” (Job 35: 10) Asaph remembers his “song in the night as he communes with his heart.” David declared that the Lord made the very night to be light about him.

God’s song in the night sings to us often in a time of sorrow; or in a time of trial or temptation; or in a time of severe persecution; or in a time of desertion or disloyalty. The song declares that “weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” It is a song of hope, that is to say, the certain expectation of future good for us. Paul and Silas heard God’s song in the night of their imprisonment in a Philippian jail and despite their situation, by His wonderful grace, sang praises to the Lord and those who heard it were blessed and a great church was started in that city. We can sing this song, too, if we stay in close communion with the Lord. Sorrows may come and bring weeping for a night, but, be assured that joy will come in the morning.

In His wonderful grace,

Pastor Ed Bowen

February 14, 2010