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Behold, bless the LORD, / All you servants of the LORD, / Who by night stand in the house of the LORD / Lift up your hands in the sanctuary / And bless the Lord.
Psalm 134:1
Night Songs
They
still let me sing solo in church although every time I open my mouth I know the
clear, sweet notes I used to enjoy are not what they used to be. In some ways
this is sad because no one ever enjoyed hearing my voice more than me. Yet, as
the high notes begin to warble and the low notes become more strained, I can still
rejoice because God puts His stamp of approval on more than one kind of song.
Jerusalem
was famous for its songs. [1] Both men and women were employed as singers [2]
and because they served in shifts, [3] there was always music in the temple.
Seven days every week, around the clock, day and night someone was singing in
the house of the Lord. Many songs were vast productions [4] and when your shift
fell on one of these times, it must have been an honor and joy to be a part of
the special, grand-scale praise.
But
the Bible takes note of another kind of music and the older I get the more
value I see in this second kind of praise. This is smaller music. Personal music.
Music that doesn't need an audience to give it value.
Psalm 134 commends and
encourages this kind of music when it talks of those who stand by night in the
house of the Lord. If you were a singer and the shift you were assigned fell in
the middle of the night, you were to lift up hands of praise and rejoice even
though there was no big production, no human audience and nothing going on that
the world would regard as "famous." Nothing but an empty room and a single voice
singing to the ever-present, unseen God.
Through
the years I've sung in many different situations. Funerals and weddings, solos
and choirs, private and public, melody has flowed in me
as natural as blood.
But as the years multiply and I look back, I think the personal music-the night
music-may have been the most valuable melodies of all. I've sung my babies to
sleep to the tune of "The Old Rugged Cross" and kept up the melodies as I hung
diapers on the line. When employed at a mindless factory job, I sang "What a
Friend We Have in Jesus" while the roar of the machine drowned out the words.
And when temptation came, a loud chorus of "Victory in Jesus" kept the devil at
bay.
When
I sing in private and there is no one to listen but God, my soul seems to relax
as strength is poured into its deepest recesses. This is music that age can't
tarnish and opportunity can't control. It's heart-felt music that flows from
one believer straight to the ears of God. No matter how many years may be added
to my journey, this music will never fade. When I sing these songs, I know it's
a special privilege to be chosen to stand and sing in the night.
[1] Psalm 137:3
[2] Ezra 2:65, Nehemiah 7:67
[3] I Chronicles 9:33
[4] I Chronicles
5:12-14 Nehemiah 12:31-43
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Wishing You Grace and Peace,
Elizabeth Baker
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