Midnight Anthem

The clock goes on
But I, awake
Am fighting
Still fighting
My soul must not quake

The battles are threatening
My peace to take
They slash me
They thrash me
These brittle bones they break

I cry out for mercy
I beg for relief
For comfort
For solace
For an end to my grief

The tears, ever streaming
Pour down my warm face
They trickle
They puddle
Then fall in the same place

From my hands, strength is gone
From my heart, hope seems faded
In my soul
To be whole
Seems a dream that’s degraded

I know my God hears me
Yet still I know not why
He bends me
And breaks me
‘Til I’m sure I will die

And often I wish
He’d make it all end
That the Alpha
Omega
Would these trials suspend

But I know I am called
To be pure, sanctified
To be holy
Unblemished
I know I am His bride

And the LORD on that day
Will all evil displace
He will rule
And He’ll reign
And our sorrows erase

And the things which at midnight
Once seemed like the worst
Did grow us
To show us
That for Jesus we thirst

For amidst earthly terrors
And perils and strife
We learned to depend on
Our Savior, for life

So now, nearing midnight
This anthem proclaim
That God, never fails us
And great is His name

His love is forever
Everlasting, enduring
We’re bound by His grace
And by His hope securing

So cling to His promise
O trembling soul
And know that in Him
We’re already made whole

—

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!

In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade–kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.

These have come so that your faith–of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire–may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”

– 1 Peter 1:3-7