Nothing good happens after midnight. I remember my father imparting this wisdom to me growing up, even though I, a middle-class suburban teenager, knew nothing of the world’s dangers. Still, I knew what he was getting at—we don’t need much life experience to understand that darkness breeds darkness, and friends, these are dark days.
Don’t get me wrong, our time is no darker than every day since the Fall in Genesis 3, but for the Western church and its people, it’s hard to ignore what feels like hardship after hardship. Don’t believe me? Just look at the number of pastors leaving the ministry, how trendy “deconstruction” has become (here, as a means to reject the faith, not to rediscover our foundation in it), the disaster COVID wrought on our world, or our struggles with racial reconciliation, idolatrous politics, and religious terrorism. Ignoring the present darkness creeping over our people, land, and time is hard. The good thing about darkness, though, is that in it, the light is easiest to find.
At just twenty-five words, the well-loved hymn Doxology is brimming with light. Pound-for-pound, this mini-but-mighty hymn packs a powerful punch of theological density. Did you know that if you dig into its history, you’ll find a wonderfully reassuring word for those walking through a season of darkness? That’s because its four lines were not intended to be a hymn on their own but a concluding stanza in a series of hymns, with one particularly useful for us now, Midnight.
Written by 17th-century Anglican bishop Thomas Ken, his original hymns Morning and Evening were designed as devotional prayers for his pupils at Winchester College to recite at the beginning and conclusion of their days. Sometime later, Ken realized he was missing something: a pastoral hymn for those stirred from sleep in the night due to fear, anxiety, or insomnia. Thus, Midnight was written, and at over twice the length of Morning and Evening, its thoroughness is a balm of constant application. Excluding the ending doxology we have come to know, Midnight consists of 10 stanzas, each containing a helpful truth about our fears and anxiety. You, pastor or layperson, would do well to remember these truths. I hope you will be encouraged by them.
1. Depend on Divine Protection
My God, I now from sleep awake,
The sole possession of me take;
From midnight terrors me secure,
And guard my heart from thoughts impure.
At the midnight hour, when roused from sleep by fear or unsettled thoughts, before anything else, we must turn to God—our sole possession—for divine protection and solace. Like King David, who practiced rising at midnight to pray (Psalm 119:62), we must take our worries and fears to God. Nothing else is of greater importance in seeking comfort for what ails us.
2. Recognize Unseen Spiritual Activity
Blest angels, while we silent lie,
Your hallelujahs sing on high;
You joyful hymn the ever-blest,
Before the throne, and never rest.
At moments when the world sleeps, but you find yourself awake, consider the heavenly host that proclaimed Jesus’ birth to humble shepherds (Luke 2:13-14). Even in the darkest hours, divine praises fill the skies, and God’s plans and purposes are being worked out around us. This hidden spiritual realm is a powerful backdrop to our lives, reminding us that we are part of a grander narrative that often unfolds beyond our perception and understanding.
3. Remember the Temporal Nature of Suffering
I with your choir celestial join,
In offering up a hymn divine;
With you in Heav’n I hope to dwell,
And bid the night and world farewell.
It’s hard not to be consumed with the things that trouble us. Still, what a help it is to remember that those things that trouble us will one day be consumed. All our days thereafter will be spent in a place where suffering and sorrow have ceased (Revelation 21:4). As believers, we are all promised a final farewell to the night and this world. Soon, we will dwell where tears are wiped away and death is swallowed up in victory. This eternal hope allows us to confront the temporal challenges of our earthly existence with a perspective anchored in divine promise.
4. Trust God’s Eternal Plan
My soul, when I shake off this dust,
Lord, in Thy arms I will entrust;
O make me Thy peculiar care,
Some mansion for my soul prepare.
As we face the certain threshold of death, the promise Jesus made about preparing a place for us in His Father’s house comes sharply into focus (John 14:2-3). Death, then, is not an abyss but a doorway, a transition into eternal life underpinned by divine design. This reality instills profound trust in us, allowing us to part with this life in the peaceful assurance of God’s enduring plan for our eternal well-being. With the weight of the future lifted, how free we become to face our fears of today.
5. Place Yourself in a Humble Perspective
Give me a place at Thy saints’ feet,
Or some fall’n angel’s vacant seat;
I’ll strive to sing as loud as they,
Who sit above in brighter day.
It’s difficult to suffer our troubles when we learn to celebrate the reality that we cannot do it all alone, that all we have on earth is lost, and that all that is stored up in Heaven we hold forever. In the presence of Christ, Mary chose to sit at his feet, humble and full of devotion—a posture that was commended by Jesus himself (Luke 10:38-42). What must it be like to be commended by Jesus?! Sometimes, remembering to die to ourselves, to soak up the lessons in our situation, to be the least of these, is all the perspective we need to put our troubles in their place.
6. Pursue Preparedness
O may I always ready stand,
With my lamp burning in my hand;
May I in sight of Heav’n rejoice,
Whene’er I hear the Bridegroom’s voice.
This is not a commercial for the Boy Scouts, but the need for spiritual preparedness becomes more acute when sleep is elusive. The parable of the Ten Virgins illustrates this, urging us to keep our lamps filled and wicks trimmed (Matthew 25:1-13). Such readiness is not for some distant event but a present lifestyle (salt and light!), marked by the joyful anticipation of the Bridegroom’s voice. Are you at a loss for how to use the restless midnight hour? Prepare!
7. Live in the Light of God’s Glory
All praise to Thee, in light arrayed,
Who light Thy dwelling place hast made:
A boundless ocean of bright beams
From Thy all glorious Godhead streams.
Remember that God himself is the source of an unquenchable light when the darkness feels overwhelming. In the act of creation, he summoned light into existence, separating it from darkness (Genesis 1:3). This divine illumination is more than a metaphor; it’s a promise that God’s glory can pierce any form of spiritual gloom, guiding us along the paths of righteousness.
8. Fight Human Frailty
Blest Jesus, Thou on Heav’n intent,
Whole nights hast in devotion spent;
But I, frail creature, soon am tired,
And all my zeal is soon expired.
When exhaustion sets in and our zeal wanes (it will), the image of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, absorbed in prayer, starkly contrasts our frailty (Matthew 26:36-46; Luke 22:39-46). His unwavering focus on God’s will is a compelling model, reminding us to fortify our commitment to spiritual disciplines, even when weariness tempts us to do otherwise. We won’t get it right every time (give grace in your frailty), but the model of Jesus puts us on the trajectory of perseverance and blessing.
9. Seek Spiritual Renewal
Shine on me, Lord, new life impart,
Fresh ardors kindle in my heart;
One ray of Thy all quickening light
Dispels the sloth and clouds of night.
When our spiritual lives seem dim, and our first love for Christ has waned, the message to the church in Ephesus from Revelation comes into focus (Revelation 2:4-5). The call to remember, repent, and return to our first works reminds us that spiritual renewal is possible and essential. A singular focus on God can revitalize us, sweeping away the clouds of night.
10. Guard Against Temptation
Lord, lest the tempter me surprise,
Watch over Thine own sacrifice;
All loose, all idle thoughts cast out,
And make my very dreams devout.
In the wilderness, Jesus faced temptations head-on, using Scripture as his shield (Matthew 4:1-11). Such divine reliance is also essential for us, especially when confronting the allure of worldly desires or subtle doubts. Armed with God’s Word and a vigilant spirit, we can resist temptation and maintain our spiritual integrity.
Conclusion
You’ll feel better when the sun comes up. It’s funny how the wisdom of a father can be readily met by the comfort of a mother, like these words I heard so often from my own. In some of the darkest days of my youth, if my mom wasn’t praying, she was always subtly reminding me of the light. Anything is possible in the light when it all is to his glory.
It was in the light that I most recently heard Doxology. I was at a preaching conference hosted by our church. In the first morning session, our unaccompanied voices lifted the hymn high into the rafters and the rich wood-paneled walls of the Great Hall while the morning light streamed in through the impossibly high windows. As a layperson, I knew I was surrounded by many pastors walking through a season of darkness, but in that worship moment, you never would have guessed it by the corporate lightness of the room.
What was good for Ken’s students to remember in the 17th century can be good for us to remember in our modern context. What pastor, teacher, volunteer, or believer hasn’t awoken at night, questioning the adequacy of their ministry, doubting the effectiveness of their teaching, or burdened by the plight of their congregation? Here, we lock arms with the saints that came before us.
In a world teeming with distractions and disappointments, Ken’s midnight hymn is a testament to the timelessness of faith, the constancy of God’s providence, and the enduring comfort found in Scriptural truths. It is a clarion call to focus on what truly matters, urging us to still our hearts in reverent awe, entrusting our earthly fears and eternal hopes to the one who neither slumbers nor sleeps—the only one worthy of our praise. And so we do:
Praise God from whom all blessings flow
Praise Him, all creatures here below
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
