Songs In The Night

Fear, worry, anxiety, sorrow, grief, and hopelessness are words that describe most of our world today. We know that we live in a hurting world. As discussed in the message, because of my own personal struggle with grief and sorrow, I realized that grief is universal. God gave me a passion to bring hope to hurting hearts wherever opportunities are presented. As I have traveled to various locations of all types (which include restaurants, hotels, gas stations, churches, grocery stores, etc.) in different states, I have had opportunities to share my story and hear the stories of others.
This is not just about Debbie’s and my story. It is about the hope God provides even during the darkest seasons of life.  God brought me into contact with a fifteen-year-old who had attempted suicide at the age of thirteen, who after hearing the Songs in the Night message found hope again. That is just one of the many stories I personally hear. I find that people feel safe to share their story with me after I have shared mine. 
Maybe I don’t yet know your story, but you know your story.  God also knows your story and desires to give you hope. Let’s look into Psalm 42 to see how the psalmist faced the depth of sorrow and the hope he found. 

Read Psalm 42:1-2

For many years, verses 1 and 2 were the verses from this Psalm which spoke to my heart and they were my focus. Debbie had a cross-stitch made for me of verse 1. They were special to me because they focused on the hunger and thirst for God I desired. It is a picture of a deer running while being chased by a hunter or hounds, heart pounding, chest heaving, eyes fearful, ears alert, longing to wade into the cool, refreshing streams of water to satisfy his deep thirst.

1. Have you ever felt like that deer being chased due to events or circumstances in your life?

2.  How were you able to find hope during that time?

3. If you struggled during that time to find hope, what was that like for you?

Tomorrow we will discuss the reason the rest of Psalm 42 became so important in my life. 

The Depth of Agony of a Troubled Soul

On Saturday, April 2, 2022, I had gone to a church event. I was to return home at a set time to pick Debbie up to go to our youngest grandson’s birthday party. My world drastically changed when I returned that afternoon and called out to Debbie, but there was no answer. As I stood in our bedroom and looked across the room, I noticed something that caught my attention. Walking over to the closet, I discovered that Debbie had gone into our closet and had taken her own life. I was devastated. I thought my world had come to an end. In the following months of devastating grief, the remaining verses of Psalm 42 took on new meaning in my life.

I share this with the prayer that others who are hurting can find the hope and healing I found.
Read Psalm 61:1-2; Psalm 42:1-2 (in that order)

Here we begin to examine the depth of agony of a troubled soul.
 
The great preacher, Charles Spurgeon says of Psalm 42, “It is the cry of a man far removed from the outward ordinances and worship of God, sighing for the long loved house of his God; and at the same time, it is the voice of a spiritual believer, under depressions, longing for the renewal of the divine presence, struggling with doubts and fears, but yet holding his ground by faith in the living God.”   

1. What are some examples of times we get upset about situations that are not really that critical (a ball game being rained out, a birthday party being canceled)?

2. How do you find yourself responding in these situations?

In these verses, we begin to witness David’s agony.

3.  What are your thoughts as you read these verses today?

4. What are some times, if any, that you experienced deep agony.

5. How were you able to find hope during that time.

Tomorrow we will begin to hear the desperate cry of hurt.

I was in my twenties when my dad died at the age of fifty-six, I thought my world had ended. I had just taken my first church as a pastor. Dad was my go-to when facing challenges I didn’t yet know how to handle. He was my spiritual mentor. At that point of my life, I couldn’t imagine a deeper pain than I was experiencing. Then came April 2, 2022. The pain in that moment and in the days, weeks, and months that followed was far greater than any pain I had ever experienced.

I could then relate to the desperate cries of David as expressed in Psalm 42:3, “My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, ‘Where is your God?’” (ESV). For the first week the only thing I could do was weep and cry.
 
In Psalm 42:5-6, David stated he was cast down and his soul was disquieted in him. He had no peace. In verse seven, he felt he was going beneath the waves of sorrow and grief. In verse nine, he felt he had been left alone and he wondered why God left him.

Read Psalm 42:5-9

1. What were your thoughts as you were reading David’s experience with his sorrow and grief?

2. Have you ever felt abandoned/forsaken by God? 

3. What were some of the “why” questions you asked God in that time? (I had several why questions. Why did you not heal her? Why did you not break her chains? These are some examples of my “why” questions.)

4. How were you able to find hope at that time?

Tomorrow we will look at the anchored hope of the hurting soul.

If we had to end the story with the desperate cry, it would be a hopeless feeling, indeed. But, there is one word and one verse that changes everything. The word is “God” which David uses thirteen times in  Psalm 42. Each time in this Psalm, he used the name Elohim which means “the supreme God.”  The same word is used 2,249 times in the Old Testament making it the most commonly used word to describe God. The New Testament equivalent, “Theos” is used an additional 1,172 times. The verse is verse eight in Psalm 42.

Read Psalm 42:8

The phrases which helped me are “lovingkindness,” “His song in the night,” and “my prayer to the God of my life.”

“God will command His loving--kindness in the daytime.” Loving-kindness is the idea of God’s great mercy flowing from His great love. Because He loves us, He shows mercy.
“In the night, His song shall be with me” He gives HIS choice of song which will be appropriate to help us in the darkness.

“And my prayer unto the God of my life”

God’s part in our sorrow and grief is to command His loving-kindness and to give THE song. My part in sorrow and grief is to focus on being wrapped up in God. I learned that as I surrendered myself to Him, it changed the equation by bringing hope by the realization that times (length of life) are in His hands.

The Marshes of Glynn:
As the marsh-hen secretly builds on the watery sod,
Behold, I will build me a nest on the greatness of God.
                                            Sidney Lanier

1. Have you ever been of aware of, or experienced a desperate situation and wondered, “How do people make it without the Lord?”

2. How have you responded to desperate situations in your life?

3. How aware are you that your times (your time on this earth) is in His hands? (read Psalm 31:14-15a) What is that thought like for you?

None of this means that all our hurts will just go away. I cannot explain why God allows continued pain. If I could explain it, there would be no need for faith. So, I go back to what I know. Just as Paul said, “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded, that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” II Timothy 2:12

Debbie’s favorite verse says “The Lord will perfect that which concerns me; thy mercy, Oh Lord, endures forever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.” Psalm 138:8. Her favorite song was “It Is Well With My Soul. Debbie’s depression was not a lack of faith but was a medical condition. 

While I may have not yet heard your story, for Debbie it seemed to be thoughts of past failures and not measuring up. For others, it could be the hurt of great disappointment, hurt of carrying a grudge, the hurt of a bitter spirit, the hurt of the realization that without God there is not hope in this world or eternity. It could the hurt of the loss of a loved one. It could be the hurt of _______________________ (you fill in the blank).

Read Matthew 11:28-30

1. What message of hope do you see in these verses?

2. Jesus said, “Come to me..” What does that invitation mean to you personally?

3. What are some examples of laboring and being heavy laden?

4. What is our responsibility in the invitation given in these verses?

5. What is the promise that Jesus gives in this invitation?

My prayer is that these devotions have been a help to you. If you would like to share your story, or, if there is something I can help you pray about, you can reach me at SITNPs428@outlook.com. 


I assure you there IS hope in this hurting world!



I am not a professional counselor, but if you are hurting and want to talk, feel free to call me (704) 813-5557. If you are experiencing thoughts of suicide, there is help and hope. You can call the Suicide and Crisis Hotline by dialing 988. You can also dial 911 or go to the closest emergency room.