Harp Songs in the Night

The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime; and His song will be with me in the night—A prayer to the God of my life. (Psalm 42:8)

I’ve always loved the above scripture, especially the idea of the Lord giving songs in the night (Job 35:10). A song sung in the night, against the darkness can only come from a heart that has been touched by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ; a heart where the word of Christ richly dwells.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace{gratitude} in your hearts to the Lord. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. (Colossians 3:16-17)

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)

There is a strong connection between the words of our mouth and the meditations (what dwells in our heart); for the mouth speaks or sings from what fills or dwells in the heart (Matthew 12:34). This made me smile, since a few days before, as I was meditating on the fact that the ‘inhabitants of the Rock’ sing a new song; the Lord gave me a new song! The following are the scriptures and new song the Lord gave.

Sing to the LORD a new song and His praise from the ends of the earth … Let the inhabitants of the rock sing; Let them shout from the top of the mountains. Let them give glory to the LORD and declare His praise in the coastlands. (Isaiah 42:10-12)

From NetBible Isaiah 42:10 & 42:12; praise = song, hymn of adoration, high praise; from halal to shine.

A Harp in My Heart

Lord there is a harp in my heart
And only You can play it
There is a song in my spirit
And only You can sing it

Awake my heart
Awake my soul
to sing!

Jesus, Jesus, O Jesus
Deep in my soul
Jesus, Jesus, O Jesus
You are beautiful my sweet
Sweet Song.

My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make melody {in my heart}. Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn{with my song}. I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing to You among the nations. For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. (Psalm 57:7-10)

From NetBible Psalm 57:7; steadfast = fixed, established, prepared

The LORD is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation {victory}; This is my God, and I will praise Him {prepare Him a habitation}; My father’s God, and I will extol Him. (Exodus 15:2)

From NetBible Exodus 15:2; prepare him a habitation = to make a home, beautify, adorn with praise

May my meditation be sweet {pleasing} to Him; I will be glad in the LORD. (Psalm 104:34)

From NetBible Psalm 104:34; *the psalmists meditations are expressed as songs of praise

The harp in my heart is a beautiful picture of the word of Christ dwelling there, prepared through meditation ready to be awakened by the Holy Spirit. When awakened a new song springs forth. A song of high praise, a habitation where the Lord lives beautified and adorned by it. This new song shines glorifying the Lord. This idea of the harp symbolizing much more than a musical instrument to praise the Lord also came up in my previous articles Harps of God.

The harp goes with the singing of the song of Moses and the song of the Lamb; it is associated with singing a new song. The new song above (Revelation 15:2-4) seems to spring forth as a celebration of victory, a celebration of deliverance by the Lord’s mighty hand. It is also a celebration of the confession of truth, of the goodness and greatness of the Lord. A similar thing is seen in Psalms 33:1-5; 43:3-4 and 71:22-24.

Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise, and apply your heart to my knowledge {utterance, words}. For it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart and have all of them ready on your lips. So that your trust may be in the LORD. (Proverbs 22:17-19)

My mouth will speak wisdom, and the meditation of my heart will be understanding. I will turn my ear to a proverb; with the harp I will expound{open} my riddle. (Psalm 49:3-4)

The above verses especially, contain an interesting idea. Meditating keeping Christ’s words, His truth in your heart brings forth music from your heart as the strumming of a harp. This music is a celebration of the confession of truth which opens the tabernacle of the testimony. A new song is sung imparting the Lord’s wisdom. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy! (Revelation 19:10)

From NetBible: Psalm 19:14 and Psalm 92:3; *mediation – higgayown [01902] means resounding music, musing. In Psalm 92:3 higgayown refers to music made by a harp.

I wrote the following in my article “Make Music in Your Heart.” Pleasing meditations of the heart are like making resounding music in the heart to the Lord! A pleasing heart song, like music made by harp to the Lord! Be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and *make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 5:18-20)

From NetBible: Ephesians 5:19; *make music –psallo [5567] also refers to music made by a harp.

As we speak to one another, sing and make music in our hearts to the Lord, we are filled with the Spirit and He dwells in our midst. This caused me to look back at Psalm 92:3 which links the melody made by a harp to the meditation of the heart in Psalm 19:14.

It is good to give thanks to the LORD and to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning and Your faithfulness by night, with the music of the ten-stringed lyre and the melody of the harp. (Psalm 92:1-3)

Wow! Did you see that? Declaring His lovingkindness in the morning and His faithfulness by night is linked to the melody of a harp. Is it such a jump then to the idea that these “songs in the night” given by the Lord are “harp songs” new songs of high praise created by meditations of the heart dwelling on the word of Christ? Look back at Psalm 42:8. This really encouraged me: these “songs in the night” are —A prayer to the God of my life.

From NetBible Psalm 42:8; prayer = tephillah. A few hebrew transltions read this as praise. Just look how close these words are. – tehillah means a song or hymn of high praise from halal to shine.

These harp songs, new songs of high praise in the night; they shine bright the glory of God against the darkness of night revealing the face of Christ. They are a beautiful prayer/praise lifted up and sung to the living God, our Lord Jesus Christ.

He has put a new song in my mouth — praise to our God; many will see it and fear, and will trust in the Lord. (Psalm 40:3)

From NetBible Psalm 40:3; praise = song, hymn of adoration, high praise; from halal to shine.

For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6 )

Harp Songs in My Heart

Lord there is a harp in my heart
And only You can play it
There is a song in my spirit
And only You can sing it

Awake my heart
Awake my soul
to sing!

Harp songs of my soul
Songs in the night
Heart blossoms unfolding with the Son’s light
Melodies bearing the sweet fragrance of life
Joy unspeakable, pure delight
Songs of grace lifted up to God
A prayer/praise to the God of my life

Heart blossoms, flowers of joy
Revealing the face of Christ
Light in the darkness
The Lord my shield
My strength
My song.

Jesus, Jesus, O Jesus
Deep in my soul
Jesus, Jesus, O Jesus
You are beautiful my sweet
Sweet song.