Men cry out under a load of oppression; they plead for relief from the arm of the powerful. But no one says, ‘Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night…’ Job 35: 10, NIV
Dear God, as we come to You today, we give You thanks and praise for Your wonderful kindness to the children of men. Now lead us into greater truths we pray, in the blessed name of Jesus! Amen
Today we conclude our series “The Lord Gives Songs in the Night!” We will look at a few more pilgrims who faced their mountains of difficulty, with a song in their hearts, and on their lips. The songs born in adversity, became their songs of hope! Today, our last visit will begin with:
The thief on the cross: “For a while I had followed Jesus. As a young man I was impressed with His knowledge, which was visibly superior to that of the scribes and Pharisees. But my friends were not interested in the things He had to say. They would try to dissuade me from following Him, and soon they succeeded. Then one day I committed a major crime and was sentenced to die by crucifixion. You can imagine my surprise the day I arrived at the place of execution and found that one of the prisoners was Jesus! What was more of a surprise was the fact that He was to be crucified in the middle-between another thief and myself, signifying that He was the most treacherous of the three of us!
What was He doing here? Had He been a phony all along? My question was soon answered. No. He was not a phony. He was the Lamb of God! No one could pray for His enemies the way He did, unless He was the Son of God. So in the darkness of my situation, I sang: ‘Just as I am, without one plea, But that Thy blood was shed for me, And that Thou bid’st me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come, I come’ ” (The Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal, p. 314).
The Martyrs: “I saw the door to the temple in heaven opened, so I entered. Immediately, I knew that I was standing on holy ground! I walked reverently toward the altar in the Holy Place, and knelt beside it. I placed my ears to the ground, and from that spot where their blood was spilt, I heard, as if in one big choir, the voice of all who had died for the sake of the gospel, singing: ‘O Lord Jesus, how long, how long, Ere we shout the glad song? Christ returneth, Hallelujah! hallelujah! Amen, Hallelujah! Amen’ ” (207).
John, the Beloved, on the isle of Patmos: “When I was exiled on the isle of Patmos, at first I felt very lonely; until Jesus my Savior appeared to me and showed me visions of things that would happen, soon thereafter. What kept my soul hopeful, and alive, was the vision of the Holy City, the New Jerusalem. My song in the long dark night of exile became: ‘In the land of fadeless day lies ‘the city foursquare;’ it shall never pass away, and there is ‘no night there.’ Chorus: ‘God shall wipe away all tears;’ There’s no death, no pain, nor fears; And they count not time by years, for there is ‘no night there’ ” (427).
My friend, on our imaginary journey, we have heard the “songs in the night,” of others; the songs that have kept “heaven in [their] view.” What is your song? May God help us to “keep a song in [our] heart!” Amen.