THROUGH the blackness and the silence of the night the clear, sweet song of the sedge warbler may be heard. His instant song bursts forth in joyous ecstasy. Were we to imitate this tiny bird when frightened or worried, we should lift our voices in songs of praise to God, and thus gain a victory over material sense testimony and be at peace; for God "giveth songs in the night."
When we learn that God is Life and is the source of man's being; that God is Love, reflected in the loving nature of man, we gain the realization that God is, and that man is God's expression; and we lift our voices in songs of gratitude for this unfoldment. This is the reason for spiritual song in the night of some difficult experience that seems to resist all our efforts to overcome it, that would belittle all our previous demonstrations, and cast a shadow of doubt over the future.
The Scriptures recount the songs of joy and praise sung by many Bible characters while injustice or hate claimed supremacy. Paul and Silas, persecuted and cast into prison because they preached and healed in Christ's name, lifted their voices and sang praises unto God. "And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed." The Psalmist sang, "Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy." As we learn the nature of God's presence, we know that wherever we are, whatever our burden may seem to be, however dark the night, this living presence of God never leaves us or forsakes us, but draws nearer as we lift our thought in songs of praise, and in prayer for the healing that is found in the assurance that God is.
