"In the night His song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life. " (Psalm 42:8).

"Be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks for all things unto God." (Ephesians 5:18-20).

         The Lord has many precious ways of encouraging us to follow on in His way, and the Psalmist often turned to the Lord with music, both instrumentally and with words-- singing to the Lord, and finding the Lord speaking to him as he sang. He was strengthened within, for comfort and blessing enriched his own life as he responded with songs unto the Lord. So it was both a part of his worship to the Lord, and also a part of his own processing. He would magnify the Lord and focus attention on Him, and he would find a deep response within his own heart. There has to be a song-- there are too many dark nights, too many trials, too many sorrows, which need to be counter- balanced with songs in the night. There is a profound working, there is a special poignant dimension of relationship when the Spirit speaks within in this way, and the melody of/in the heart becomes a praise unto the Lord.
         Paul writes that we should "walk in newness of life." (Romans 6:4). It is the holy Spirit indwelling and energizing, as there wells up from within a song unto the Lord, to worship Him, and we find that HE is imparting a word into us at the same time. There is a "newness of life" in the Spirit! And we do well to remember that not all of earth's music is edifying, but that which comes from the Lord, is quickened by the Spirit to become LIFE to and in us. Then it comes from the heart-- "Singing with grace in your hearts."
         Having experienced its blessing and undergirding strength, Paul knew what it meant to "Speak to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual. songs,  singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." (Ephesians 5:19).
         It is interesting to note that there were but two directions given in this verse for our psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. First we read, "speaking to yourselves..." and then we read, "making melody in your heart to the Lord." Then in Colossians 3:16, we have another dimension, "Teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord."
         So, first the song must work within us, as the Spirit causes truth to be quickened to us, and we speak to ourselves, sing to ourselves, reaffirming in our own consciousness precious life-truths and our commitment to them.
        The Psalmist said, "I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search." (Psalm 77:6). It is a personal in-working, a communing within-- not just a mental assertion, but "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." (Matt. 12:34). With joy and solid conviction we sing:

                                          "He is Lord, He is Lord, He is risen from the dead and He is Lord,
                                          Every knee shall bow, every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord."

       What an affirmation! What a confession! Declaring His Lordship, and that  we desire this to be true in our own life. We do well to sing these truths over and over again until we have that deep confidence that whatever might touch our life, HE is Lord of that situation and circumstance. Some around us might not think it to be so, but first of all we speak-sing it for our own up-building and benefit until we know in Whom we have believed.
         Then there is a reaching out to share with others. "Teach and help one another along the right road with your psalms and hymns and Christian songs, singing God's praises with joyful hearts." (Col.3:16, Phillips). Yes, there is a teaching/preaching of the Word as we share the revelations which He has given us. But there is a unique and blessed conveying of the truth in song. And, I dare say, oftentimes others will accept the truths we share in music long before they can "amen" what they hear us speaking.
         But there is also this third dimension for our songs-- to ourselves, then to one another, but most of all "singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." (Eph. 5:19). And we say with the Psalmist, "UNTO THEE, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in Thee:..." (Psalm 25:1-2).
         "But I will sing of Thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of Thy mercy in the morning: for Thou hast been my Defence and Refuge in the day of my trouble. Unto Thee, O my Strength, will I sing: for God is my Defence, and the God of my Mercy." ( Psalm 59:16-17).
         Sing unto the Lord at night, and sing to Him in the morning. There is an acknowledgment of Him at all times-- "I will bless the Lord at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth." (Psalm 34:1).
         "Praise the Lord, call upon His name, declare His doings among the people, make mention that His name is exalted. Sing unto the Lord; for He hath done excellent things; this is known in all the earth. Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee." (Isaiah 12:4-6).
         Personally we often find that it is in the early hours of the dawn that I awaken to find Him speaking in song into my heart. And what a word of encouragement it becomes-- as when He spoke this song written long ago:

                                                       "Never fear tho' shadows dark around your path may fall,
                                                        Do not let your heart be troubled; From His throne in heaven,
                                                        God is watching one and all, He will ever care for you.
                                                        Back of the clouds the sun is always shining,
                                                        After the storms your skies will all be blue;
                                                        God has prepared a rosy-tinted lining,
                                                        Back of the clouds it's waiting to shine thru."

         Paul and Silas were "thrust into the inner prison, and their feet made fast in the stocks. (Then) at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them." (Acts 16:25). A song in the night is one thing, and we are grateful for its blessing, but in the night and in prison is certainly a real challenge-- a realm beyond religious exercising, as it becomes more of His overcoming grace and victory. For sure, there are many types of prison, and many of them have nothing to do with four walls and iron bars. Our emotions, attitudes, feelings, etc. often hem us in as we struggle to have our own will and way in a matter. And then we turn to the Lord, cry out for His grace, and He gives us a song right in our prison so that we no longer feel constricted, but we inwardly soar higher, free in Christ, and no longer shackled by these pressures, stresses, and testings.
         It came as fresh manna the morning He reminded me of this song:

                                                       "Often times the burdens press, and our faith receives a test,
                                                       But we know God's Word can never, never fail;
                                                       Tho' the trials fierce oppress, and the powers of hell depress,
                                                       Still God's precious Word can never, never fail.
                                                        "Have I not promised, and will I not fulfill
                                                        Every promise I have giv'n in My precious will.
                                                        I am the Lord thy God, and I hear thy faintest cry,
                                                        I will never, no never, My promises deny."

         Awoke recently with my nerves all a-jangle, ached here and there, and it seemed there was not a comfortable place in the bed, when suddenly I became aware of the chorus from the hymn of long ago:

                                                       "Blessed quietness, Holy quietness, What assurance in my soul!
                                                       On the stormy sea Jesus speaks to me, And the billows cease to roll."

         And, praise God, for a time the tremors eased, the billows ceased to roll, and for hours the song replayed itself within, His message to me in a time of need. It is not always the remembrance of all the verses of the song-- but the specific message that He wanted to speak within, in a word, or a sentence, to draw out that worship which glorifies Him.
         "It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto Thy name, O most High: To shew forth Thy loving-kindness in the morning, and Thy faithfulness every night. " (Psalm 92:1-2).
         There is a new song being birthed today, it does not glorify man, nor revel in "me, and mine," but it will shew forth HIS SALVATION, a living manifestation that magnifies His name. It is a song that shews forth His loving-kindness every morning-- a message of hope and courage to press on. His mercies are new every morning. And when we come to the ending of another day, we can shew/declare His faithfulness every night. We end the day with a note of praise-- not just verbally, but experientially, for we are learning that all our days are His, and it is HIS faithfulness that brings us through, "Not somehow, but triumphantly."
         "They shall abundantly utter the memory of Thy great goodness, and shall sing of Thy righteousness." (Psalm 145:7). This stands out with special emphasis, that we need to "sing of Thy righteousness." Many of the songs in Christendom are about us-- we sing of our griefs, our sorrows, our will, our desires. Build "me" a little cabin over in a corner of glory land. It is my welfare that is at stake, gaining attention even in our music. Thus it is with a renewed challenge that we focus on HIS righteousness, and seek to exalt Him-- not with the rock and roll beat of the world, but an outflow of worship that makes us evermore conscious of His awesome holiness, with a sense of His presence, and a knowing that HE is Lord of all our times. We have noticed over these more recent years some of the songs do magnify the Lord in a deeper way as we seek to worship and exalt our Lord.

                                                       "Then sings my soul my Saviour God, to Thee,
                                                        How great Thou art, how great Thou art..."

         Thus the attention is turned away from ourselves, and we bow before Him to magnify His name, His righteousness, His power.
         "O sing unto the Lord a new song: sing unto the Lord, all the earth. Sing unto the Lord, bless His name; shew forth His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the heathen, His wonders among all people." (Psalm 96:1-3). A new song! This "newness" is not so much a song never heard before, new words, new melody, etc. although this often may be so, but it is also a new song in the sense that it comes to us from His throne, it is a spiritual song with the freshness of His life, His anointing inspiring the soul and bringing new expressions which honor, celebrate, and glorify God.
         It was a troublesome array of thoughts that seemed to demand center-stage, and no doubt we all face those moments, but it stirred anew within when I became aware of the chorus HE was bringing to mind. It was not a dredging up from the subconscious, but rather an alerting by the Spirit:

                                                       "Why worry when you can pray? Trust Jesus, He'll be your Stay,
                                                       Don't be a doubting Thomas, rest fully on His promise,
                                                       Why worry, worry, worry, worry, when you can pray?"

         He was not scolding or reprimanding, but in love He drew my attention back to Himself. Far too long we have been programmed to think negatively, and always suppose the worst in a situation, but when HE places a love song in our heart it erases the pessimistic conclusions of the carnal mind, turning us once again to be God-conscious, rather than devil/negative conscious.
          A friend shared the following with us, which she had received-- a little paper that read--

                                                       "Good Morning, this is God! I will be handling all your problems today.
                                                        I will not need your help, so, have a nice day."

         Praise God, HE is the Almighty One handling all life's needs according to His will and for His glory, and certainly for our good. No wonder the prophet could say, "Behold, My servants shall sing for joy of heart." The world around us "shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit." (Isaiah 65:13-14). But the Lord fills the heart of His people with a song of joy that bubbles over with praise to Him. Indeed, "Lord, Thou wilt ordain peace for us: for Thou also hast wrought all our works in us." (Isaiah 26:12). No need for a mournful dirge/lamentation when HE has wrought His works of deliverance within. Singing "for joy of heart" is a spontaneous outflow that magnifies our Lord-- it is a responding to Him-- it is a giving of ourselves to Him-- desiring that He alone be magnified.
         In his conversation with Job, Elihu said, "They cry out by reason of the arm of the mighty." The oppressed cry out in their distress, and they are prone to mourn because of the mighty ones that seem to overpower them with their strength. An example of this is when Goliath came up against Israel, "the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together. When Saul and all Israel heard those words, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid." (1 Samuel 17:10-11). Goliath was a "mighty man," and his size alone caused them to be dismayed. Fear had thrust its knife into them, and they were very apprehensive. They had no songs of victory when faced with the mighty carnal strength of the world. There was no exalting the strength of the Lord their God, because they were caught up in the negative emotions of their warfare with the Philistines.
         Now, go back and pick up the rest of the verse spoken by Elihu, "But none saith, Where is God my Maker, who giveth songs in the night." (Job 35:10). This is the realm to focus on-- set your hope on "GOD OUR MAKER," and find that He can give you songs in the night. Here is where the emphasis truly belongs-- not on the abilities of man, gifted with rhythm and rhyme, though we thank the Lord for those who have this talent, but it is our MAKER, our CREATOR, that can take the darkest of nights and give us a song right in the midst of it all. He is MAKING US, forming us into His image and likeness, and in ways far beyond what we can ask or think, He molds us into a vessel meet for the Master's use-- causing us to sing of His power, of His mercy, of His grace-- and all of this right in the day of our trouble. We saw it in Paul and Silas-- certainly that was one of their days of trouble, but the MAKER gave them a song at midnight. What an awesome working of God.
         "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before His presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord He is God: it is He that hath made us." (Psalm 100:1-3).
         Songs in the night-- new every morning-- we sing to ourselves, we sing to those to whom we would convey His truth, and we sing to the Lord-- as out of our heart there flows a melody of praise to Him. But now we come to a new depth and dimension-- for it is through the dark night of the soul, and facing the challenge of every new day, learning to overcome and praise Him IN and THROUGH it all, that we find He is changing, molding, quickening, until we shall actually BECOME HIS NEW SONG. Bringing an end to the old Adamic nature-- "If any man be in Christ, he is a NEW CREATURE: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become NEW." (2 Cor. 5:17). There is to be a manifestation of HIS nature-- a new state of being which we are becoming in Him. For the song of the Lord is not just a song of words and music, but it is a new creation species-- a melody of praise to Him.
         We have often seen that the highest order of anything is to become that thing. Example, the highest order of prayer is not just the mouthing of words to the Lord, but that our very being becomes a prayer to Him. The highest order of praise is not just verbalizing our praises to Him, but all that we are becomes an expression/manifestation of praise to the Lord. So also, while we highly value the ministry of music, singing to the Lord, being built up as HE speaks to us in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, yet there is a BECOMING HIS NEW SONG.
         "He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see, and fear (give reverence), and shall trust in the Lord." (Psalm 40:3).
         How interesting! This is a new song personified! It is praise unto our God. And "many shall see," not, "many shall hear it," but "SEE IT." For this is not just a mouthing of praises, singing songs in a religious or pious manner, this is a people who have become expressions of His image, so that people can SEE. And what is their reaction to what they see? They are drawn to Him, so that they fear Him, trust in Him-- not drawn to some man's flesh, nor to building man's kingdom, but the song turns them God-ward.
         "They sung as it were a new song-- and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty four thousand." (Rev. 14:3). Just the briefest of comment on this number, it is our personal conviction that it is a symbolic figure. It is a multiplication of the number twelve, which is the number of Divine government, and obviously this is one of the qualifying characteristics of this SONG/PEOPLE. They are totally surrendered to His Lordship. His will governs every facet of their life-- "Not my will, but Thine, be done," is not just a verbalized prayer, it is a STATE OF BEING. No wonder we read that they sing a new song-- for this is what they are becoming in Him, to walk in the newness of His life. A people that are a melody of praise to the Lord-- and not a discordant note among them.
         Volumes could be written on the qualifications of this song, so forgive us for not pursuing it further as we finish this bit of sharing. It is stated that "no man could learn that song BUT... those which were redeemed from the earth." Obviously they that BECOME the new song have to learn it, but it is learned by the Spirit. No man, no flesh, no carnality, no self-will can learn the song of the Lord-- it is a sovereign impartation of the holy Spirit. We are gradually learning through the nitty-gritty processings of our day. By bits and pieces, line upon line, truth by truth, we are coming to know Him in Whom we have believed. Our tongue is being converted to now express His praises, the wonders of His grace, His power, His awesome path of holiness. It shall become a spontaneous outflow of His inner life.
         Even in our present, unfinished, in-part state, we are His song. God said to Ezekiel, "And lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument; for they hear thy words, but they do not do them." (Ezekiel 33:32). People do love the rhythmic flow, they sense there is an inspiration, a beautiful expression and pleasant to hear, but they cannot respond to its message, they cannot identify with its state of being, for they are pursuing a course of self- will that rejects a path of abandonment to the will of God. So while they will admit that it is a "very lovely song," such a beautiful person, so nice to be with them, yet they are not able to learn the song-- they hear, but they cannot do, because it is not yet their inner nature. Not until God draws them to Himself, and purges out the strident, grating, shrill cry of the flesh, can this NEW SONG come forth.
         David once declared, "I was the song of the drunkards." (Psalm 69;12). People could sing about him, make fun of him, or even admire his walk with God, but they could not live his life of integrity before God. People are often quick to sing the praises of another man or woman of God, how very loving and kind they are, what an inspiration they are, yet they themselves cannot live this NEW SONG LIFE, and so they just end up singing about somebody else. But we desire to do more than sing about others-- we desire that our own life would become an expression of Christ-- beautiful vibrations of truth and reality.
         It has taken some deep inworkings of God to bring us more and more to the place where we can learn to live out of this inner Christ-life, and find in Him the reality of the song of the Lord. We sincerely desire to EXPRESS HIM regardless of what the exterior conditions might be, or how dark the night. To say that He gives us "songs in the night" means that He also gives us some NIGHT TIMES, those times wherein He transforms us in the crucible of suffering. There must be the dark nights of the soul, the situations and experiences which will purge out the old song of self, and transform us into the new and glorious image of Christ. What started out as encouragement and refreshing as we sang songs of truth and hope, and we found them to be inner fountains of life, will gradually progress into a state of being. We would not only sing a song to one downcast as we seek to encourage them, but we would emanate His love and grace so that whether words are sung, or not, yet the message of His love flows on.
         Truly, God would bring us into harmony with the song of the ages, that which "the morning stars sang together, (when) all the sons of God shouted for joy." (Job 38:7). It is a song of triumph, of creative-redemption, a song of exaltation and worship to Him "by Whom are all things." Praise God.
         He put in my mouth a new song of love and worship and praise, To strengthen, encourage my hope, teaching me more of His ways. Then out of my heart there doth flow songs that the world needs to hear, A message of peace and goodwill-- declare redemption is near.
       And we shall become His new song, filling the earth with His cheer. Amen!
_____________________________________________________
(1)Prinzing, Ray and Doris "Letters of Truth"  Boise, Idaho 83705, P.O. Box 5822

Back to Top of Page  Exit to Introduction Menu  Back to Letters of Truth Library  List
  Back to Main Book Libray of Ray and Doris Prinzing