The psalmist, Asaph, finds himself in a night-time crucible. God has withdrawn. But Asaph, while treading deep waters, shows us a pattern, an ancient rhythm:
I will call to remembrance my song: and in the night I commune with mine own heart, and search out my spirits. Psalm 77:6
The rhythm begins with complaint and ascends in song. David’s psalms illustrate this pattern frequently, but here Asaph, too, unapologetically pours out his complaint. It sounds something like this:
What’s wrong with me, God?!
And then, with even more gut-level honesty:
What’s wrong with You, God?!
But Asaph doesn’t stop there. Like the pattern showed often by David, he transitions to take a Deep Breath of Remember. A breath so deep, it takes the rest of Psalm 76 and the entirety of Psalm 77 to fully rehearse the ancient works and wonders God has accomplished for His people. It’s a powerful and beautiful song bursting from a heart intent on glorifying God.
Asaph’s song punches through the thick, foggy layer of his current circumstances filled with a multitude of voices demanding his attention and allegiance. His choice, in essence, means he must forget the moment in order to remember the moment rightly. Remembering realigns his loves!
Do you have a song in the night? A song that abandons the grip of disordered, misplaced loves and dreams of a selfish “good life?” A song in which you discover you can glorify God and enjoy Him forever?[1]
Consider these few snippets of Asaph’s song of remembrance:
Who is so great a God as our God?
The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee; they were afraid: the depths were also troubled.
Thy way is in the sea, and thy paths in the great waters: and thy footsteps are not known.
As you begin to craft your own personal song in the night, consider Who it is you’re singing to. Listen to Asaph’s contemporary singer, David, as he turns his complaint to a song of remembrance:
The Lord,
- My strength
- Stony rock
- Defense
- Savior
- My God
- Might
- Trust
- Buckler
- Horn of salvation
- Refuge
- Worthy to be praised
- Show’s lovingkindness and mercy.
[1] Taken from Westminster Catechism Question #1: What is the chief end of man?
Barnyard of Heaven 