But no one says, “Where is God my maker, who gives songs in the night.” Job 35:10

What is a song in the night?

William Taylor, in the early 1800s, said if God is going to give you a song in the night, God must first make it night. If we never had any trouble, there would never be any “night” in our lives where He could give us that song, where he could show us the light of His presence in a way never before seen.

Singing a song in the night is loving and praising the Father when things seem their darkest. Sometimes it comes naturally and you see His work in the circumstances. At other times, it is an act of the will, to pray and praise through the tears.

Paul knew what it was like to sing songs in the night. He and Silas had been put in prison chains, but that did not deter them from worshiping. About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God…  Acts 16:25. At that moment, God did a miracle and loosened their chains, which led to the salvation of their jailer.

Many of our spiritual families persecuted for their faith have sung songs in the night. After being hurt, displaced from their homes, losing their jobs, or maybe losing family members, they still sing a song to the Lord because “His love endures forever.” Ps 136.

Thomas Fuller, an English theologian and historian in the 1600s, is thought to be the person who first coined the phrase “It is always darkest before the dawn.” But that means that there will be a dawn!

So while you may be in the night at this moment, sing your song to the Father, even through the tears, and you will see the dawn.

–by Pam Rehbein