November 19, 2019 -- Psalm 119:55 -- Preparing for Night-time Praises
/I remember your name in the night, O LORD,
and keep your law.
Psalm 119:55 English Standard Version
How often is the night time darkness used as a cover for evil?! No doubt many people cut loose in the night time hours and do things they would be ashamed of in the daylight. In sharp contrast to this, King David is vowing to keep His heart pure. He remembers, calls to mind, the Name of the LORD, in the night time hours. He reflects on the glory of God His King. David gives to the LORD the night watches so that his heart will not be inclined to evil.
The Law of the LORD begins with this great truth: we are to have no other god, nor worship any idol. David keeps his mind occupied with the law of the LORD and so his mind and his body are kept pure. It is easy to let the mind wander at night: thinking of those who have offended me, those who owe me, those with whom I am angry. In short, the night time can be used to rehearse evil thoughts and intentions. All of these thoughts become sacrifices of time to the idol of self. God the Glorious is not in front and centre seated on the throne of our hearts when we spend our times occupied with such thoughts.
David chose to use the times of night-time wakefulness to remember the LORD and know the LORD as His delight. How that changes the night. It becomes a time of intimacy. A time to meditate on the law of God and grow in delight of and appreciation for that law, which is the rule guiding our grateful living.
How well have you prepared for wakefulness in your night times? Perhaps you just take up the remote and flick through channels. Maybe you scan websites that lead you to dark and forbidding places? Maybe you live by the light of fridge thinking: “Hmm, what can I snack on?” My point is this: even though many of us regularly experience periods of wakefulness, we are often surprisingly unprepared for these wakeful times of the night. Here are some suggestions of what to do instead:
-Place a bible next to your bed, perhaps one that is a different translation than you normally use, so that your mind has to focus on what you are reading, and pray about whatever the Spirit is showing you;
-Recite the passages of Scripture you have memorized over the last little while, and pray;
-If that last suggestion is foreign to you, start memorizing Scripture and draw near to God, and pray these passages;
-Read the Law of God: Exodus 20:1-17; or Psalm 119 one or two stanzas; or Ephesians 5:3-20 (or whatever other passage the LORD places on your heart) and pray that the Spirit of God will keep you in the pathways of righteousness for the sake of the Name of Jesus.
LORD of Glory, to Whom we raise our songs of praise in the watches of the night and bless during the brilliance of the day-light hours offering our hymns of worship—keep us in the pathway of Your law. Let the sacrifice of Jesus and His salvation direct all our living. We confess how easily we stumble back to old patterns of sin and unfaithfulness, therefore, give us Your Spirit in ever greater measure so that our hearts, minds, souls and strength are fully put into Your service. Amen.
