There is a song that only you can sing – it’s the song of those who have experienced the mercies of God. In your suffering, you can sing this song in praise as God teaches you new songs in the night. He will carry you through your sorrow.
Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada sharing hope, where there's always, always a new song to sing.
Every morning that breaks, there are mercies anew;
Every breath that I take is your faithfulness proved.
And at the end of each day, when my labors are through,
I will sing of your mercies anew.
For your mercies, they will never end;
For ten thousand years, they remain.
And when this world’s beauty has passed away,
Your mercies will be unchanged.
And when the storms swirl and rage,
There are mercies anew.
In affliction and pain, you will carry me through.
And at the end of my days, when your throne fills my view,
I will sing of your mercies anew.
You know, this song reminds me that only the redeemed can sing about God’s mercies. It's very much like that curious line in Revelation 14:3 that tells us that in heaven, there will be a song that will be only sung by those “who have been redeemed from the earth.” It says no one can learn that song but those who have experienced the mercies of God. No angel, no archangel—if they could, they would have to pass through the pain and trials which you and I have endured on earth. And that, of course, is something they cannot do. Only the children of the cross will be equipped to learn that song.
Mrs. Charles Cowman once wrote:
“Therefore, friend, think of your times of trials in this life as a music lesson. You are being trained to sing in a choir. You cannot yet see, and there will be parts in the chorus that only you can sing. But there will be notes too low for the angels to reach… The deepest notes will belong to you… They belong to those who suffer. In the darkest night, He is composing your song. In the valley, He is tuning your voice. In the storm clouds, He is deepening your range. And in the rain showers, He is sweetening your melody… and as you pass from hope to fear, He is perfecting [the] message of your lyrics.”
I love that. And then, Mrs. Cowman, in this remarkable devotional of hers, Streams in the Desert, she writes this poem. She says:
“Is the midnight closing around you? Are the shadows dark and long?
Ask Him to come close beside you, and He’ll give you a new sweet song.
He’ll give it and sing it with you; and when weakness slows you down,
He’ll take up the broken cadence, and blend it with His own.
And many a heavenly singer among those songs, suns of light,
Will say of His sweetest music, I learned it in the night.”
Yep, that poem is about you, isn’t it – the songs that you have learned in the nighttime of your life? But sing them with confidence, because no angel or archangel can sing them; only you can sing the mercies of our great and glorious God.
© Joni and Friends