“How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I take counsel in my soul
and have sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
lest my enemy say, ‘I have prevailed over him,’
lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.
But I have trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord,
because he has dealt bountifully with me.”
“I will sing and make melody with all my being!” Psalm 13:1-6; 108:1
Saints of God suffer with full access to the Lord. David poured out his anguished longing for relief from his enemies pursuing and powerful. The faithful through the ages expressed such yearning, welling from divine-imaged souls, for justice, restoration, and peace with God. (Psalm 77:6-15; 108:1; Revelation 6:10)
Children of God recognize in some way that all is not right with the world. Eternity in our hearts, we are fashioned to long in our inner being for restored wholeness and purity. Ongoing struggle and brokenness cry for redemption, and faith tells us it is yet to come. The soul that reposes in Jesus finds and can sing a melody of hope, even if in minor key, because of God’s promises. (Ecclesiastes 3:11; 2 Corinthians 1:20; Philippians 1:6; 1 Thessalonians 5:24)
How about us? From what pain or battle are we longing for relief? What melody thrums in our souls through those hard hours and endless struggles? Do difficulties and heartache elicit droning refrains of blame, complaint, or woe, or can we see and give voice to God’s steadfast love, faithfulness, and sovereign will? Do world events wrangle our words to mimic dark anxious fretting, or compel us to lift high the name of God as exalted King over the universe? Do we fill air and space with discordant murmuring, or harmonious melodies?
When sorrow and sighing prevail, God gives joy in the soul. When enemies threaten and loom, our Savior shines hope. The faithful, saving, bountiful Lord God gives songs in the night. No matter my ‘how long,’ will I sing? (Job 35:10)
“O for a thousand tongues to sing
my great Redeemer’s praise,
the glories of my God and King,
the triumphs of his grace!
My gracious Master and my God,
assist me to proclaim,
to spread thro’ all the earth abroad
the honors of your name.
Jesus! the name that charms our fears,
that bids our sorrows cease,
’tis music in the sinner’s ears,
’tis life and health and peace.
He breaks the power of cancelled sin,
he sets the prisoner free;
his blood can make the foulest clean;
his blood availed for me.
Hear him, ye deaf, his praise, ye dumb,
your loosened tongues employ;
behold, ye blind, your Savior comes;
and leap, ye lame, for joy.
To God all glory, praise, and love
be now and ever given
by saints below and saints above,
the Church in earth and heaven.” ~ Charles Wesley (1739)
Lord, tune my heart and open my mouth to sing melodies of hope and praise that lift those around me and glorify You.
As the rain and snow 