Sweet Songs In The Night

I am deeply discouraged, but I will remember you . . . I hear the tumult of the raging seas as your waves and surging tides sweep over me. But each day the LORD pours his unfailing love upon me, and through each night I sing his songs, praying to God who gives me life.

Psalm 42:6-8

Who feels like singing in the middle of the night, when you can’t sleep and are thinking about another full day ahead? Maybe you find it difficult to sing because you’re hurting.

I wonder if we are learning to sing anyway, in the most inconvenient circumstances. Did Job, who had everything taken away from him, sing to God in his deepest suffering? I am certain he yearned for God’s nearness and His songs during the darkest hours.

Of course, if we live with others, we cannot belt out songs at midnight or even start loudly humming. But we can acknowledge God, our Maker, the very One who sees through the dark and never sleeps or slumbers (Psalm 121:3-4).

Recently, I was wide awake at 3 a.m. because I had a lot on my mind. I lay there thinking, Lord, You see me not able to sleep. You see my mind racing about details of the days to come. You care about me, and You see me struggling to sleep.

Then my phone beeped at 3:55 a.m. because I forgot to turn off the ringer. I laughed in my heart that someone else was wide awake and, Lord willing, singing in the night. A sweet friend, Allison, had been taken by ambulance to the hospital, where she was admitted and waiting for surgery! She was asking for prayer and praying through Psalm 13 because her pastor had read it to her that day. I prayed for her, then finally fell asleep for another hour or so. “Thank You, Lord!” When I woke up, I looked up the psalm.

Guess how Psalm 13 ends? “I will sing to the LORD because he is good to me.” Only by knowing Christ can we receive such songs in the night and truly sing them together!

Before you close your eyes in bed tonight, “sing” yourself to sleep by reading a psalm, repeating the words to a praise song, or singing it out loud. May you have sweet dreams of praise!