“His anger endureth but a moment: in His favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy [margin, singing] cometh in the morning.”—Ps. 30:5.
WE may sing in anticipation of the morning that shall follow the night. It was this that led the Psalmist to say, “The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, and
In the Night His Song Shall Be With Me,
and my prayer unto the God of my life” (Ps. 42:8). At another time his spirit was overwhelmed, and he bitterly complained, “My sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted.” But even then he adds, “I call to remembrance my song in the night” (Ps. 77:2, 6).
We can scarcely imagine a more trying position than that of two servants of Christ in a strange and heathen land, with bleeding backs gashed by the Roman lash, thrust into the inner prison, and their feet made fast in the stocks: but “at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God” (Acts 16:2525And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. (Acts 16:25)). The nightingale sings at night, and most sweetly, it is said, when the thorn pierces its breast.
Let us observe that there is to be a wonderful song in the morning of the resurrection. “Thy dead men shall live, together with My dead body shall they arise.
Awake and Sing, Ye That Dwell in Dust,
for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead” (Isa. 27:19). The lark sings most loudly and sweetly the higher it ascends, and when no longer visible from the earth it floods the skies with its joyful melody, as we, too, shall do when caught up in clouds to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thess. 4:1717Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:17)). Then shall roll around redeemed creation the shout and song of triumph, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” (1 Cor. 15:5555O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? (1 Corinthians 15:55).)
She shall have a great leader of her song, for her glorious Bridegroom says to the Father,
Her warfare accomplished, and her victory achieved, her song shall blend harmoniously with the song of the elect of Israel standing on “a sea of glass mingled with fire.” It is glass, because the mystery of suffering will then be clear; it is of fire, because they (the elect of Israel) have come up through the great tribulation under Antichrist.
“And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty: just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of nations” (Rev. 15:33And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. (Revelation 15:3)).
The sea is so bright that it reflects His glory, in which we shall shine for ever and ever, while we shall sing for ever and ever of Him who brought us out of night into everlasting light.
Then there is, of course, the song of the bride, “My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up my love, my fair one, and come away. For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth: the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in the land” (Song Sol. 2:10-1210My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. 11For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; 12The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land; (Song of Solomon 2:10‑12)).
During a recent conversation with a Christian lady in her own home, concerning the Lord, there suddenly floated through the room a strain of exquisite music. It was a succession of notes from a master’s composition, and the tones were exceedingly rich and delicious. Turning the head to discover the source of the charming melody, it was found to proceed from a beautiful little bird in a cage. “How,” it was asked, “was he taught to sing so sweetly?” “He was placed in the night,” the lady replied, “beside a fine music-box, and learned to imitate the sounds he heard in the dark.” Thus the Lord teaches His own to sing as one has done in the following lines:—
“There’s One who once walked in the darkness,
Forsaken and all alone,
And He left there a voice of singing,
Which He giveth to His own.
He giveth! Ah! yes, He giveth—
You can read the mystery now:
For He strikes the joyous keynote,
Where circling seraphs bow.
“Is the midnight closing round you?
Are the shadows dark and long?
Ask Him to come close beside you,
And He’ll give you a new, sweet song.
He’ll give it, and sing it with you:
And when weakness lets it down,
He’ll take up the broken cadence,
And blend it with His own.
“And many a rapturous minstrel
Among those sons of light,
Will say of His sweetest music,
‘I learned it in the night.’
And many a rolling anthem
That fills the Father’s home
Sobbed out its first rehearsal
In the shade of a darken’d room.”