Finding Joy - Songs in the night

The first thing that we do, when we're born, is that we cry. King David shows us how to find joy, when we feel like crying. We can find joy, even when darkness overwhelms. Weeping may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning.

David cried out from the depths of his despair. He had sunk deep down into a dreadful pit. He talks about this in Psalm 40:2: He brought me up also out of an horrible pit - out of the mirey clay - and set my feet upon a rock and established my goings.

David knew some deep sorrow and pain in his life, and he tells of his heart overwhelmed; Psalm 61:2, …from the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

David was going through some heavy stuff. If we are in some kind of a pit experience, we can know God's help - his healing for the soul. The Lord can lift you up. He can heal you of your deepest hurts.

Psalm 34:17, …the righteous cry and the Lord …delivereth them out of all their troubles. When your heart is hurting, he's near to you. When trouble besets you, he's there for you.

When you’re feeling low, you might not feel much like singing. Yet he can put a song In our heart. We read that weeping may last for a night. We can have those seasons of weeping and sorrow. Yet God says, Joy comes in the morning. Those nighttime tears will pass away.

In Job we read, …God my maker, who giveth songs in the night. Even in the very darkest hour we can have a song. Night here is a symbol of affliction, of suffering.

When Paul and Silas were in jail in Philippi, something holy and heavenly happened there, even behind their prison bars. They had been beaten up. They were hurting. But it didn't stop their praises. They probably didn't feel like praying, let alone praising. Here they were, beaten, bruised, chained. Yet, in Acts 16:25, we read, And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed and they sang praises unto God and the prisoners heard them.

We can find praise, because it's God who gives songs in the night. Our true purpose is only found in him. He will turn our mourning into dancing, and gird us with gladness. What a transformation! The Lord can turn that mourning - that grief - that weeping - into joyful praise.

We can know an everlasting joy. It's found in Christ. Romans 15:13, The God of Hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost. He fills us with that hope by the overflowing of his spirit and his power, and we can have a heart of praise, even though we feel like weeping.

Joy comes – in the morning. We can always find joy in the Lord. Our Lord says, your sorrow is going to be turned into joy.

Our Lord is that true source of joy. Even when you're going through the most difficult of times. Joy's going to come in the morning. Joy will come. There's a night season, yes, but the sunlight is coming. As sure as tomorrow's dawn, you can trust in your Lord, to fill you with joy and peace as you navigate life's challenges. There’s yet some nights to endure. Night times of disappointment, of illness, of grief, of loss, of anxiety. Yet the Lord gives a song.

Joy is powerful. This abiding joy we can have comes from knowing Christ. It is eternal joy. Our weeping is only temporary. The sorrow, hurts and trials of life are only for a short time. Our light affliction is but for a moment. In Christ you have an eternal saviour; you have eternal life. You've got something that you can know is forever.

The joy that comes in the morning is a rejoicing joy. It's a glad joy, a delightsome joy. This joy we can know gives us a heart of praise.

There lies ahead for the believer, one day, one eternal day. There's a promise for the believer, there's a morning coming without trials. There's a joy beyond compare. A joy that this world cannot know. A joy that only Jesus can give. There's a new day on the horizon. A new day dawning.

Trust Christ. Make today that day that you'll trust him. In Christ we can know a new life, a real joy. The joy of relationship with God, by faith. It says we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ - through faith in Jesus.

May the Lord give you a song in your heart - even songs in the night. Even at midnight. That, even then, we can sing his praises. Even when we don't feel humanly like doing that.

May you find this One who is the Healer of the Brokenhearted. That you may know the one who so truly cares, and loves you so. He gives songs in the night. Joy comes for you who trust in Him.