For God Alone: My Song in the Night
One of my favorite scripture verses - and there are many - is Psalm 115:1. I have heard many preachers quote this verse throughout my nearly forty years of ministry, but none as frequently as Duane Brooks during our shared years of ministry at Tallowood Baptist in Houston.
Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory,
for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!
I often sign my correspondence with this verse, not so much to point my readers to its truth, though that is true; but more as a personal reminder that my singular purpose in this life is to give God’s name glory, for the sake of His steadfast love and faithfulness.
For the sake of God’s steadfast love and faithfulness.
In August of 2013, I participated in a mission project in Dublin, Ireland with a small team from our church, Central Baptist Bearden in Knoxville, Tennessee. We were there as guests of a Romanian Baptist congregation to partner with them in their first Vacation Bible School. The year prior had been a particularly challenging year for me personally, but, more so, professionally. So I decided to travel a few days before our team of ‘missionaries’ arrived to spend unhindered time with God in a city that was completely unfamiliar to me. When I arrived, I was pleased to discover a beautiful city park across the street from our hotel, and decided that park would become my daily destination, at least until our mission team arrived. During my long, slow walks, I recited one simple mantra to focus my mind and heart completely on God in a Quaker-styled ‘centering down.’
More of Thee. Less of me.
I suppose I recited that six-word mantra hundreds of times, slowly, methodically, and quietly, in my attempt to wash every other thought, care, and concern from my mind, heart, and spirit, and focus completely on God.
Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
(Philippians 3:13-14)
From time to time since then, I have returned in my mind and heart to that place of spiritual quietude, and have recited those words over and again.
More of Thee. Less of me.
At present, you may be in a state of fear or anxiety from which you cannot escape. When you find yourself in that place, remember that God gives His children songs in the night, and expects us to sing them. Yes, sing them! He is, after all, the God who rejoices over us with singing.
The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing. (Zephaniah 3:17)
Charles H. Spurgeon preached a sermon called Songs in the Night, using Job 35:10 as his text:
“… My God who gives songs in the night.”
What is your song in the night? Those of my readers who know me, know that I have many songs in the night. Among them is a poem by George Matheson (1842-1906) who wrote O Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go, a poem that has been set to music and included in hymnals for generations. In 2016, contemporary composer, Elaine Hagenberg set Matheson’s text to her own tune - and it is nothing short of divine inspiration. I placed Hagenberg’s inspired O Love before my choir in Knoxville, and they sang it with artistic expression and nuance. Read the text, then listen to the recording provided.
O love that will not let me go, I rest my weary soul in Thee.
I give Thee back the life I owe, that in Thine oceans depths its flow.
May richer, fuller be.
O Light followest all my way, I yield my flickering torch to Thee.
My heart restores its borrowed ray, that in Thy sunshine's glow its day.
May brighter, fairer be.
O Joy that seekest me through pain, I cannot close my heart to Thee.
I chase the rainbow through the rain, and feel the promise is not vain.
That morn shall tearless be.
O cross that liftest up my head, I dare not ask to fly from Thee.
I lay in dust life's glory dead, and from the ground there blossoms red.
Life that shall endless be.*
O Love, Elaine Hagenberg (2016)
In 2005, the Tallowood Adult Choir commissioned composer/conductor, Dr. Mack Wilberg to compose an anthem celebrating my tenth anniversary as Tallowwood’s Music and Worship Pastor. Dr. Wilberg provided his exquisite setting of the American folk hymn, My Song in the Night, and it was premiered in April 2005.
O Jesus, my Savior, my song in the night,
Come to us with Thy tender love, my soul's delight.
Unto Thee, O Lord, in affliction I call,
My comfort by day and my song in the night.
O why should I wander an alien from Thee,
Or cry in the desert Thy face to see.
My comfort and joy, my soul's delight.
O Jesus, my Savior, my song in the night.
My Song in the Night, American Folk Hymn, arr. Mack Wilberg (2005)
Throughout this day and this night - I pray that our good and gracious God is your Song in the Night, that He is, indeed, the Love that will not let you go.
© Paul R. Magyar, DMA, 2020
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