My Night Songs
But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night?’” ~ Job 35:10
When the young Elihu finally got a chance to speak to Job, he pointed out that even in the middle of Job’s suffering, God was still there and still concerned. Elihu may not have had all the right answers, but he did remind Job of God, the Creator, “who gives songs in the night” (Job 35:10).
Do you sometimes need songs in the night? I know I do. When the darkness descends upon my worry and suffering, the pain only seems to intensify. In the dark, I need God to send me a song. The psalmist exhorted people to “sing for joy on their beds” (Ps. 149:5) – and for good reason. Songs can lift the downcast soul and help ease the suffering.
It is comparatively easy to whistle a tune under a cloudless sky. In fact, I seldom suffer from insomnia when all is well. It is trouble that chases sleep away. When I can’t sleep, when I am afraid and find no comfort, when my thoughts run around in my head and refuse to let me rest, then I need to ask God to fill my nights with joyful songs. I need to remember other sleepless nights – how the day dawned and the shadows flew away when he gave me a song to sing.
There have been sleepless nights, but never a night unmatched by a song! God brought me words of comfort – songs in the night. God is the songwriter. It is up to us to listen, learn, and then to sing!
So join me and say, Dear Lord, when the night is dark and the dawn of relief seems a long way off, put Your song in my head and in my heart. Remind me of other times when Your peace surrounded me until the answers came. Help me to listen and sing Your song of joy. Amen.
Posted on November 15, 2014, in Dear Jesus and tagged Comfort, Faith, Joy, Night, Peace, Songs. Bookmark the permalink. 11 Comments.
Ezar's Chronicles 
Listen to what Charles Spurgeon, a great pastor from the 19 century, wrote, “Any man can sing in the day. When the cup is full, man draws inspiration from it. When wealth rolls in abundance around him, any man can praise the God who gives a plenteous harvest… The difficulty is for music to swell forth when no wind is stirring. It is easy to sing when we can read the notes by daylight; but he is skillful who sings when there is not a ray of light to read by – one who sings from the heart… Lay me upon the bed of languishing, and how shall I then chant God’s high praises, unless He Himself give me the song? No, it is not in man’s power to sing when all is adverse, unless a [coal from God’s altar] shall touch his lip… Then, since our Maker gives ‘songs in the night’ (Job 35:10), let us wait upon Him for the music.”
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Beautiful piece, Ezar. Sing! Not only will your faith be strengthened, but those around you will share in the light of God’s grace as well. God will give you a song in the night: let it lift you to the heights of heaven and God’s great grace!
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There are some times that we need help, we need something because we can do nothing. We need to remember the one who can make us sing n the midst of the darkness. God was able to do this for Jonah in the belly of the great fish, and He was able to do it for Paul and Silas in the prison stocks at midnight. And God is able to do the same for us. We simply need to call on Him when we need Him. God is good enough for us…
God bless you, Ezar.
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Ezar, there have been those that I have had the privilege of seeing on their deathbed and ready to go home. I will never forget one dear friend in particular. I was about to go out of town and I told him affectionately to hang on, I would be back in a few days. He told me, “Bro. Jay, don’t worry about seeing me again down here. If you don’t see me down here again, we’ll see each other again up yonder.” Sadly, for myself, this friend died a few hours before I got back to see him one last time. But happily we will be together again one day. He was one who had a song in his heart. God had given him peace and for months of terrible sickness his prayer was that God would help him to be a good witness with what little time he had left. Oh, friend, that we could all keep in mind that we have a friend who gives songs in the night. I remember one saint on their death bed with their hands up in praise. Hallelujah to God for His peace.
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ALL BELIEVERS HAVE TWO NATURES: one that dwells in the darkness and another that shines in the true light of God’s presence and blessing. King David was no exception. In many of his writings, he begins in a mournful key yet ends with a burst of joyful song. (see Psalm 13)
The Christian life is filled with trouble. For many, this is hard to understand, but even a casual reading of Scripture substantiates this truth. It was Oswald Chambers who referred to his own spiritual struggles when he called a time in his life “the dark night of the soul.” The gloom of night is dark. A time of loneliness and often, paralyzing fear. But, Scripture encourages song in the face of fear and doubt. Now for many, it is not natural to sing, especially in the night. It’s hard. But yet, the significance of singing a hymn in difficult times is critical for the Christian. For a hymn provides the entrance of God’s word into the mind by the power of the Holy Spirit.
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Praise that is dependent upon blessing can easily turn into grumbling when the blessing is gone. It reveals that we measure what is good by a temporal standard, rather than by an eternal one.
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Let us not remain songless because affliction is upon us, but tune Thou our lips to the melody of thanksgiving.
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Ezar, God is certainly pleased with natural gratitude, the kind that springs up in response to His blessings. But when He hears songs in the night—rejoicing in the midst of suffering —He stops what He is doing and gives it His undivided attention.
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Peter encouraged us to “greatly rejoice” when we experience trials. He said that they, like the refiner’s fire, prove that our faith is genuine and will result in praise and glory: “And even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:8 –9).
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It is Elihu in the book of Job who first uses the term “Songs in the Night.” Though Elihu is one of Job’s “miserable comforters,” there are times when he is right on, when what he says is absolutely true, which makes him all the more perplexing. In commenting on Elihu’s bewildering complexity, I can say that truly he is like all of us. We can be full of wisdom and yet capable of the most foolish utterances. A great preacher can one Sunday go off on a tangent and his sermon turns to dust. A wonderful warm- hearted Christian can turn on someone, shocking him with uncharacteristic cruelty. And a miserable comforter can once in a blue moon have a word of comfort. Here Elihu evidences that despite all of his pontificating and finger-pointing, that he has been a man who has at times experienced the gentle Spirit of God.
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We don’t even need to ask for the songs at night but because You are Immanuel, Our Comforter and Our Present Help in time of need, You ALWAYS know our needs/hurts! I will sing because ALL things will work for my good….I will sing because it’s an expression of thanksgiving despite the situation. Habakkuk 3: 17-19…… Be Blessed!
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