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Happy To Welcome You To The Hallelujah Chorus

I will exalt you my God, the King, I will praise your name forever and ever. Every day I will praise you and exalt your name forever and ever. Psalm 145:1-2

Saturday, May 1, 2010

WHO LIGHTS MY LAMP?

Throughout the Bible "darkness" is used as a metaphor for being in a very bad place. It usually refers to ignorance (lack of knowledge) or a heart that refuses to recognize the obvious, but it sometimes even refers to eternal punishment. On the other hand "light" is used to depict God's revelation of Himself and His word and those of the human family who have heard Him and live their lives in that divine illumination.
Within this context, David wrote: "It is you who lights my lamp; the Lord my God lightens my darkness. For by you I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall. This God--his way is perfect, the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him." Psalm 18:28-30 ESV
We seem to have an instinctive fear of darkness, at least I know I do. When I first moved back to the country in Kentucky from Dallas, one of the hardest adjustments I had to make was living in darkness again. After living virtually all of my adult life in cities, where light is everywhere, I had to get accustomed to not having street lights and abundant ambient light. Although I no longer jump three feet at every little sound in the darkness around our house, my first action when entering a dark space is to reach for a light switch.
Ignorance of God and his great love is the Biblical definition of darkness. He wants us to live in his light, without fear, without blindness, without frantically groping around trying to find the light switch. But the darkness hides what we do not want to see or have others see in us. None of it is hidden however from God and probably not from those who know us best. There is a very good reason the Bible refers to Satan as the "prince of darkness", for that is where he reigns.
People who are ignorant, who don't know or refuse to know, they are the ones who truly are "powerless". It is true that "knowledge is power" because knowledge gives us the light we need to function in a consistent positive way. The "light" we receive from God, the revelation he has given us in his word and the blessing of his Holy Spirit, teaches us what to look for and what to approve in our own lives. In my experience, one of the best things a new disciple of Jesus can do for their faith is commit the entirety of ROMANS 8 to memory. There is more than enough "light" there to crush whatever fear of "darkness" might linger.
I encourage my friends who read this blog to stand with David and say, "The Lord my God lightens my darkness." As we teach our children to sing the song, "This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine. I will not hide it under a basket and I will not allow Satan to snuff it out, I'M GONNA LET IT SHINE!" HALLELUJAH! SHINE ON!

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