Songs in the Night

 

By day the Lord commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life. 

Psalm 42:8

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 sing to the praise of a God who gives a plenteous harvest, or sends home a loaded argosy. 

It is easy enough for an Æolian harp to whisper music when the winds blow; the difficulty is for music to come when no wind bloweth. 

It is easy to sing when we can read the notes by daylight; but he is the skilful singer who can sing when there is not a ray of light by which to read, — who sings from his heart, and not from a book that he can see, because he has no means of reading, save from that inward book of his own living spirit, whence notes of gratitude pour forth in songs of praise. No man can make a song in the night himself; he may attempt it, but he will find how difficult it is. It is not natural to sing in trouble, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name,” for that is a daylight song. But it was a divine song which Habakkuk sang when in the night he said, “Although the fig-tree shall not blossom,” and so on, “yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation.” 

Methinks, on the margin of the Red Sea, any man could have made a song like that of Moses, “The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea;” the difficulty would have been to compose a song before the Red Sea had been divided, and to sing it before Pharaoh’s hosts had been drowned, while yet the darkness of doubt and fear was resting on Israel’s hosts. Songs in the night come only from God; they are not in the power of man.

Charles Hadden Spurgeon

Photo: Our return home from Bible study tonight revealed this melodious surprise of an ordered home by a grown, mature son at the kitchen sink finishing up the last of a days work of dirty dishes. 

Thank you, Dear Son, for being the instrument by which the LORD composed mercy and grace to me tonight, when I needed it the most! 

You were tired when we left you at home to rest after working an extra long day!   We were extremely tired when we returned home after a long day, but we were blessed and encouraged by your expression of sacrificial love!   

The LORD has added strength to us through you!! 

Love you ❤️!! 

CHS Quote: shared by Susan, whose relationship with  Our Father has encouraged my walk through day and night seasons. 🙌🏼

Stamp Thine Image

 

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9. 
   
10. Adam’s likeness, Lord, efface,
    Stamp Thine image in its place:
    Second Adam from above,
    Reinstate us in Thy love.
    Let us Thee, though lost, regain,
    Thee, the Life, the inner man:
    Oh, to all Thyself impart,
    Formed in each believing heart.
11. Refrain:
12. Hark! the herald angels sing,                                       “Glory to the newborn King!”

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1. Charles Wesley, pub. 1739
2. alt. by George Whitefield, pub. 1758
3. alt. By Martin Madan, pub. 1767 alt. 

Our 2021 family Christmas time together today has come and gone.  I’m thankful for time, close proximity, and burden bearing efforts by those who helped me catch up on all that did not happen during the week, but was accomplished for this evening! 

In an amazing and unimagined way, the LORD gave me comfort by gathering us, to realize:

He came to never leave or let go!!  

He is always present!!  

He rescues!!

He redeems!!  

He satisfies!!

He is our life!!

I am tired, but profoundly grateful!! 

“Father, Thank you…!”

For This Child, I Prayed

Hannah’s heartache for longing and fervent prayer for a son pleased God!  He opened her womb after barren years of bitter tears and earnest prayer. 

“She was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. 

“And she made a vow, saying, ‘O Lord Almighty, if you will . . . remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life’” (1 Samuel 1:10-11).

The LORD heard her prayers and gave her a son!!

She nurtured and loved him. 

She vowed to raise him to serve God.  The day came when she took her son to the temple and released him back to God to work there. 

At the age of three, Samuel worshiped God; 

by age seven, God spoke to him directly. 

Samuel became one of Israel’s greatest leaders. 

I have no doubt Hannah’s prayers continued, and supported him there and throughout his lifetime while he served God.  

And she said, “Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to the Lord.

 For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him. 

Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord.”

1 Samuel 1:26-28, ESV

Such is the prayer of my heart for all four of our children!! 

Grace: From Age to Age

See the streams of living waters,

springing from eternal love,

well supply thy sons and daughters,

and all fear of want remove;

who can faint while such a river

ever flows their thirst t'assuage?

Grace, which like the Lord, the giver,

never fails from age to age.

John Newton, 1779

Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken

“Grace, which like the Lord, the Giver,

Never fails from age to age.”

God’s Good Gifts Through Grief

 

I heard a podcast a couple of weeks ago that GREATLY helped my perspective of loss and suffering.

Grief is a hard path. My experience with it in recent years has been mixed with good, but hard letting gos. 

Sea billows roll, but not without timely tides of God’s new mercies and steadfast love to remind me of His sustaining faithfulness!!

This podcast has encouraged me to feel less guilt for grieving my losses.  It’s also encouraged my gratitude for valuable gifts God has given me!!!  Though He has given and taken away, I truly only desire what He gives me, in His time and in His way. I want to trust He’ll discipline and strengthen my heart to wait on Him, that I may sincerely bless His name, even if through pain and adjustments of change!  He knows it all!! 

The Things of Home with Joe Rigney

In this Home Fires episode, Joe shares highlights from his book, Strangely Bright, how material blessings of the home (and life)  can be enjoyed in tandem with worshiping God, the Giver of all good gifts.

I highly recommend listening…

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/home-fires/id1530704128?i=1000492082861

One of the Home Fires co-hosts, Abigail, asked him, “How does all this enjoyment of God work in our suffering?” 

“Grief is what love looks like when love’s object is taken.

Principle-

Grief is not opposed to love, it’s not the opposite of love.  

It’s what love looks like when the thing you love is being removed.

“It hurts just as much as it’s worth.”

How much is my dad worth? 

How much was your son worth?

How much is he worth? 

That’s how much it’s going to hurt. 

…

All of these gifts are designed by God for our joy to lead us back to Him, which means they’re all very, very valuable. They’re worth a lot, which means it’s going to hurt when they’re taken, but to lean into that and to seek to find God in the pain, which includes all of the lament, all of the weeping, all of the ‘God, I don’t get this, this doesn’t make sense, why me?’ 

All of that stuff is totally legitimate.

It’s the way the psalmist talks. 

A big commendation in the book, is to say, grieve like you’re in the Bible, which is never stoic.  

No body in the Bible is like, ‘Well, I’m just going to take it with a stiff upper lip, and I’m not going to show any emotion.’

The characters in the Bible when things go wrong are ripping their clothes, falling on the ground, putting dust and ashes on their head, and crying for days. That’s how biblical characters experience loss, faithfully, including Jesus!  Which is one of the most encouraging things you could ever…Jesus, when Lazarus dies, He delays intentionally, shows up, Mary’s like, “Where were you? If you’d have been here it wouldn’t have happened. And then Jesus cries His eyes out. He weeps. Even though five minutes from now, Lazarus is going to come walking out of the tomb.  And yet it’s appropriate, it’s good to feel the sting of death, the pain of death in that moment, even for the Son of God, which means it can be for us too.  And so we don’t run from the pain, resist the pain, we receive the gift while we have the gift and we receive the gift while the gift is being taken.”  

Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. 

And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return.  The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong. 

Job 1:20-22

Photo:  Crossing the Julington Creek Bridge at sunset.