Songs and Prayer in the Night

“...in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.”

(Psa. 42:8)

Darling David, who had his share of troubles in life, tells us that he sang and prayed during these dreaded times. His soul was cast down, he was weeping, the waves of worry had covered him, the chants of the enemy were continually, “Where is thy God?” Yet in spite of all the darkness he had “hope in God.” Thus, during the blackness of the night he sang and prayed to his God!

In the Bible we see this in the lives of others God saw fit to try and prove. In Acts chapter sixteen Paul and Silas, in a prison cell, with their feet in stocks, backs bleeding from the whip, sang and prayed to their God at the midnight hour. After this, there was an earth-shaking experience in their lives.

And what of the One who was greater than David? When Judas betrayed Him we are told, “it was night,” (Jn.13:30). During this time, which St. John of the Cross calls, “The Dark Night of the Soul, “our Lord sang a hymn (Matt. 26:30-31), then went to Gethsemane to pray, (Matt. 26:36).

By singing to the Lord we get His ear; by praying to the Lord we get His heart.

(rds)