The Song of the Lord in the Night.
Reading Psalm 134.
We have from time to time looked at the subject of seasons in the lives of believers and the dealing of our Lord with individuals and nations. There are times when there is a special visitation of God upon the people of a nation, this is just as true for any individual. We do need to realise that God is everywhere at all times, that in these years between the death and resurrection of Jesus and His second coming, that any who call to the Almighty will be heard, and He will respond to their cry. Yet there are times when He is perceived to be present in a way that is over and above that all embracing presence, and is working in a particular and great way.
We also experience times of day and night in our lives, not just as a twenty four hour cycle but also as in seasons. There are times when it is as the dawn of a new day in our lives. There is dew on the ground and the flowers, the dawn chorus as the birds sing their songs of the new day in their readying for hustle and bustle of the coming day. There is the opening of the flowers with their fragrance, there is the fresh fragrance before the stirring of the dust of the day. All is new a ready for simply bursting forth into life, there is the excitement for the day that is spreading out before us.
Then there is the heat and the business of the day. In Psalm 105:39, the psalmist talks bout the manifest presence of God in the pillar of cloud and fire. He talk about the cloud being a covering for the people by the day. A covering of God which protected them, there is a real sense here that it is the manifest presence of God that is our protection. That is something that is neither earned or deserved, but is an expression of His grace. The canopy of His Glory is our protection and the directing in our lives.
The bible talks about the cool of the day, it was at this time we read of God communing with Adam and Woman (Gensis3:8).
The Hebrew day.
1. Starts in the evening, the cool of the day. For Adam this was a time of instruction.
2. Night, when Adam rested, there was time for assimilation.
3. Day, Work until sunset. Jesus talked about doing the works of His Father while it is day, as no-one can work when it is night. John 9:4
For Adam, after the day of discovery, of the ups and down, of the physical and mental exercising, after the frustrations and exhilaration of problems and there solving; there comes the simple enjoyment of cool of the day. Before the creation of Woman, it was possibly at this time of day that Adam realised that he was alone, yes there were plenty of creatures all around him, but somehow he was incomplete. When he was in the presence of the LORD in the cool of the day, there was a growing awareness that he was incomplete. Even though he was in the presence of the Creator, the one who was and is complete, whole and without division and deficiency; yet Adam had this growing awareness, growing longing, growing sense that there was more. So he talks with the LORD in these times in the cool of the day.
Possibly the conversation went a bit like this; ‘You know Lord, I have had such a time in naming the animals, in keeping the garden, seeing the plants grow, with there blossoms, then the fruits. The same joy is found when the animals give birth. There is such a completeness and harmony about them. Even when I meet with you, talk with you, share the joys and frustrations of the day, even about the thoughts and dreams that I have had, I am aware that I am not complete and whole like them and You.” What he was expressing is summed up in the words of God in Genesis 2:18; It is not good that man should dwell alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”
Notice the in Genesis chapters 1 + 2, God is continually seeing that what He has created is "GOOD". Yet in Genesis 3, we see that what happens is contrary to that, i.e. it was "NOT GOOD".
To be alone and loneliness has its roots in being incomplete, we could quite possibly be in the middle of a vast crowd, we could quite possible be the centre of attention, the most important person to something happening, yet we are alone, incomplete. That is because we have violated something of the image of God within us.
God said; “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;.... So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” (Gensis.1:26+27) The truth contained in this scripture is that in the union of man and woman, there is a manifestation of the true image of God. Yes there are people who are called to a life of celibacy, that is a special calling of God upon those individuals lives, He has and is working something in their lives so that this image is created and maintained. Part of the reason why scripture is so strong concerning moral sin, is that moral failure violates and corrupts the image of God. People are no longer able to see the perfection and beauty of who and what He is, all they can see is what is left after such a failure takes place.
The time that people often know the full force of loneliness is in the night. It is usually at night when the dreams of past events come before us. It is also the time when we often feel the full force of the enemy to succumb to temptation. Yet these time need not be times of defeat nor time that we need fear, for our Lord has given us a resource; He has given us a powerful tool by which we can, not only know His deliverance from that which binds us, as well as knowing freedom from fear. But, we can know His empowering as this resource is used to keep us free, as well as launching us into the fullness of the light of day in Him. The bible talks about the "Song of the Lord in the Night."
Psalm42:8 “The LORD shall command His loving kindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me...”
Psalm77:6 “I call to remembrance my song in the night. I meditate with in my heart, and my spirit makes diligent search....”
Psalm30:4+% “Sing praise to the LORD you saints of His, and give thanks at the remeberance of His holy name. For His anger is but for a moment HIS FAVOUR IS FOR LIFE; weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.”
Psalm 185:39 “He spread a cloud for a covering, and fire to give light in the night.”
Job.35:18 there is the simple statement that it is God “Who gives songs in the night.”
This call is to the use of the song of your heart, songs that were given to you in bygone years, songs that have been given to you in times of great elation and in times of being downcast. There is the call that in the night-time of your loneliness you sing the song of the Lord and in that singing there comes the gathering of the heavenly host to partner with you in the lifting of your voice and the lifting your whole being, body, soul and spirit. For in your songs of lament, in your song of praise and worship the hosts of darkness are confounded, your own mind set is confronted and the Spirit of God is able to bring release. You are once again establishing the true order of God and His image. For in this you are establishing a festival of celebration of your Lord and King.
Isaiah calls the wayward nation of Israel to repentance, they had placed their trust in the nations of Egypt and Assyria, instead of the Lord their God. The Lord calls them and tells them that upon their repentance;
Isaiah 30:29; "You shall have a song as in the night when a holy festival is kept, and gladness of heart as when one goes with a flute, to come into the mountain of the LORD, to the Mighty One of Israel.
30 The LORD will cause His glorious voice to be heard, and show the descent of His arm, with the indignation of His anger and the flame of a devouring fire, with scattering, tempest, and hailstones.
31 For through the voice of the LORD Assyria will be beaten down, as He strikes with the rod."
Note the word about the Assyrians being beaten down, a wicked nation that came only to rob and steal, what ever Assyrian spirit has encamped about you the word of the LORD to you is; "IT WILL BE BEATEN DOWN.” The weapon is the song of the LORD. Who will rise to the challenge and sing such songs of the night. Songs that tear down the depths of loneliness and the powerful citadels of wrong images.
