I have been awakened several nights in the past several weeks with my spirit singing choruses or hymns to the Lord. There have been other times when I have been lying in bed reading a book, and all of a sudden a chorus rises up out of my spirit-man to the Lord.
It is not deliberately thought about, premeditated on, or planned consciously. My thoughts and attention are actually preoccupied with other matters, or I am sound asleep. Out of nowhere comes these words and music rising up from the deep depths of my being unto the Lord.
It is very refreshing and assuring of His love, and that He is very active all over the world ministering to the needs of His people. Could there also be something more going on in the spirit world, that He needs the assistance of His believers for?
Things that go Bump in the Night
- Night time and darkness brings the cares of this life down onto our shoulders.
- Things are quiet and our minds are finally starting to wind down, allowing our deeper thoughts and the cares of the heart to rise to the surface.
- Crime increases under the cover of darkness, although today crime is increasing more and more in broad daylight.
- Cares, tears and heaviness can settle down upon people in these alone and quiet times.
- The devil and his demons find people more vulnerable during the night, causing many of them to do bad things that they wouldn’t do during the daytime.
- Crimes and suicides are more likely to happen at night than during the day.
God Uses People to bring good, just as Satan uses people to bring evil
Could it be that God’s Holy Spirit and His holy angels counteract the dark activities of Satan, by releasing songs in the night to those who believe in Him as their Lord?
We know that God dwells in praise, and that King David organized 288 men to lead worship for Israel. Jehoshaphat instructed singers to lead the battle against Moab and Ammon. When they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments, (released His angels) and the enemy was smitten. (II Chronicles 20:1-22)
The next time He releases a song in you, whether it is day or the dead of night, stop what you are doing, bring your thoughts onto your spirit, and tune into His Presence. Allow that song to rise as praise and worship. He will minister not only to you, but also to those in need around the world.
David, Elihu, a son of Korah, as well as Paul and Silas experienced this song in the night.
In Psalm 63:6, David says, “When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches, for You have been my help, And in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy.”
Job 35:10 “No one says, “Where is my Maker who gives songs in the night.”
Elihu told Job that it was God as our Maker who gives songs in the night and who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth and the fowls of heaven. (v10-11)
In Psalm 77:6 Asaph, a Levite, says, “I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with my own heart: and my spirit made diligent search.”
In Psalm 42:6-8, a Korahite or a gatekeeper of the Temple says, “I am depressed, so I will pray to you while I am trapped here in the region of the upper Jordan, from Hermon, from Mount Mizar. One deep stream calls out to another at the sound of your waterfalls; all your billows and waves overwhelm me. By day the LORD decrees His loyal love, and by night He gives me a song, a prayer to the living God.”
In Acts 16:25, Paul and Silas began to pray and sing hymns at midnight, causing their chains to fall off, and the prison doors to open.
Our human spirit is created to desire the Presence of God’s Holy Spirit.
Psalm 42:1 says, “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.”
In I Corinthians 2:11 Paul says, “For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.”
The human spirit cries out to God as a waterfall sends its waves of sound and power over us. God uses the spirit-cry to release the power of His praise and worship to drive back the darkness of the night.
Praise sets captives free.
- It refreshes our spirit. It releases God’s angels and His Spirit to accomplish
- His will in the hearts of people around the globe.
- It removes darkness, and heaviness of heart.
- It prevents suicidal thoughts.
- It is especially powerful in the deep darkness of evil nights!
“For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but Iwill sing with my mind also.” (I Corinthians 14:14-15)
“I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm.” (II Corinthians 11:27)
Paul was accustomed to praying with his spirit, and to staying awake to ‘watch’ during sleepless nights.
Your human spirit never sleeps, just as the Holy Spirit never sleeps. Your human spirit is joined to His Spirit in the New Birth experience. Your spirit is living in daylight 24/7, enabling the Holy Spirit to move your spirit to pray and to sing 24/7.
God has not changed. He is the same today as He was yesterday. He still moves with His Holy Spirit during the night seasons. Ask Him to minister through your spirit as one joined to His. One day soon, we will understand all He accomplished by that one song in the night.
Mary Slosser who worked in China for many years used to say, “I sing the Doxology and dismiss the devil.”
Amy Carmichael said, “I believe truly that Satan cannot endure it and so slips out of the room — more or less — when there is a true song.”