15th December 2025

Singing Through Tears  

. . . Hope in God . . .

Psalm 43:5

Today's Bible Reading: Psalm 43.

In the song, “I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day,” based on a poem from 1863 by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, is a truly unusual Christmas song. Instead of the expected Christmas joy and mirth, the lyric forms a lament, crying out, “And in despair I bowed my head / There is no peace on earth I said / For hate is strong and mocks the song / Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

This lament, however, moves forward into hope, reassuring us that “God is not dead, nor does He sleep / The wrong shall fail, the right prevail / With peace on earth goodwill towards men.”

The pattern of hope rising out of lament is also found in the lament psalms of the Bible. As such, Psalm 43 begins with the psalmist crying out about his enemies who attack him (v 1) and his God who seems to have forgotten him (v 2). But the writer does not stay in lament, he looks up to the God he does not fully understand but still trusts, singing, “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Saviour and my God” (v 5).

Life is filled with reasons for lament, and sadness, and we all experience them on a regular basis. But, if we allow that lament, that sorrow, that sadness to point us to the God of hope, we can sing joyfully, even if we sing through our tears.

Prayer: I cry to You, Father, as I struggle under the burdens of life. Remind me that my help comes from above, from the Maker of heaven and earth. In my Redeemer's name I prayer. Amen.