August 2, 2023: Psalm 139:11 - God is Our Light in the Darkness

“If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall fall on me,’ even the night shall be light about me…’” - Psalm 139:11

God is an all-knowing God. God is an all-powerful God. God is an all-seeing God, and He sees all, whether it is night or day, darkness or light. There is nothing we do that can be hidden from Him; He sees and knows everything. These words can make us be fearful if we are trying to hide something in our sin and shame, but they can also be a comfort to us, reminding us that God is always with us, no matter how dark the darkness.

While crimes occur at all hours of the day, according to a June 14, 2019 article from Securitymagazine.com, “violent crimes are more likely to occur at night.” This is no surprise since the darkness of night provides opportunities for criminals that the day does not afford them, including running and hiding in the darkness of night and also catching people off guard as they sleep when they are not on guard and watching for people who might seek to hurt them. (See: https://www.securitymagazine.com/articles/90384-murder-robbery-and-driving-while-impaired-happen-at-night)

While criminals may be able to escape their crimes while here on earth, God sees everything:

“He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him.” (Daniel 2:22)

“There is no darkness nor shadow of death where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.” (Job 34:22)

When we reject the truth of God and His Son Jesus’ free gift of salvation, we reject the light and we gravitate instead toward the darkness, toward the sin, toward Satan:

“He who believes in Him [Jesus] is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.” (Jesus Christ; John 3:18-21)

“There are those who rebel against the light; they do not know its ways nor abide in its paths. The murderer rises with the light; he kills the poor and the needy; and in the night he is like a thief. The eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight, saying, ‘No eye will see me’; and he disguises his face. In the dark they break into houses which they marked for themselves in the daytime; they do not know the light. For the morning is the same to them as the shadow of death; if someone recognizes them, they are in the terrors of the shadow of death.” (Job 24:13-17)

The book of Isaiah warns those who embrace the darkness and reject the light of God:

“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20)

And yet, in the United States and in other countries, governments are changing laws and are becoming increasingly soft on crimes, resulting in even more crimes being committed. That is because they have done exactly as God through the prophet Isaiah told them not to do: they have put darkness for light, and light for darkness. Woe to our nation and all nations who reject the light of God for the darkness of Satan! Anyone who seeks refuge in the darkness, in their sin and shame, will reap the penalties for their woeful decision:

“He pours contempt on princes, and disarms the mighty. He uncovers deep things out of darkness, and brings the shadow of death to light. He makes nations great, and destroys them; He enlarges nations, and guides them. He takes away the understanding of the chiefs of the people of the earth, and makes them wander in a pathless wilderness. They grope in the dark without light, and He makes them stagger like a drunken man.” (Job 12:21-25)

When the apostle Paul, formerly known as Saul, had been seized by the Jews, arrested by the Romans and appeared before King Agrippa, Paul recounted the day when he was on his journey with several others to Damascus to go and persecute Christians when he was struck by the light of Jesus Christ, and his life was forever changed:

“…at midday, O king, along the road I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and those who journeyed with me. And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ So I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles [non-Jews], to whom I now send you, to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’” (Acts 26:12-18)

Paul was so blinded by the light of Jesus during his encounter with Him on the road to Damascus, he was blinded for three days. On the third day, his sight was restored and he was filled with the Holy Spirit of God. The light of Jesus Christ did a powerful work in Paul’s life from that day forward, a work that only Jesus could do: He changed Paul’s heart, a heart that once sought darkness instead of the light, a heart that once was filled with the power of Satan to one that was filled with the power of God. God used Paul in mighty ways to turn people from darkness to light, to turn them from the power of Satan to the power of God, through the light of Jesus Christ.

How many of us have wandered in the darkness, some of us for many years, before we encountered the light of Jesus and before our lives were converted, before our hearts were converted, as Paul’s was? How many of us have spent long and difficult nights in the darkness, waiting for morning to come, for that sense of dread to be lifted from us with the first rays of the morning sunlight? There is just something about the dawn of a new day that gives us renewed hope, a hope that everything will be alright.

Jesus is our light, He is our hope, and when we are filled with Him, we will have that sense of comfort and peace that He is with us, no matter how dark the night, for His light will get us through, leading us on the path of righteousness in Him. We must always remember that and not desire to return to the darkness:

“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore He says:

‘Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.’

“See then that you walk circumspectly [carefully], not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” (Ephesians 5:8-17)

Notice that the Scripture above does not say we were once in darkness. Rather, it says, “For you were once darkness.” When we haven’t turned to Jesus, we are darkness and darkness is what we show to the world, but when we turn to Jesus, we are light in Him and we reflect His light to the world. Thus, once we are saved by believing in Jesus as our Savior, we must not become like the world that rejects Jesus but reveal to the world, or to make manifest, the evil deeds of darkness; we must shine the light on the darkness. Have you ever walked into a kitchen late at night when no lights are on and you can’t see anything because there is no light present but when you turn a light on, even a small light, you saw cockroaches scatter across the floor, back into the shadows from where they came? That is what it is like to shine the light on the darkness; darkness hates the light.

Brothers and sisters in Christ - those who have been born again by believing and trusting in our hearts that Jesus is the Christ, the only one who can save us from our sins - as our world grows darker by the hour, let us remember what God’s word says to us regarding the light of Jesus Christ:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (John 1:1-5)

“Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.’” (John 8:12)

“Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness nor handling the word of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. 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 4:1-6)

“The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” (Psalm 27:1)

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psalm 119:105)

“This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:5-7)

“The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb [Jesus Christ] is its light.” (Revelation 21:23)

“And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts.” (Romans 13:11-14) ✝️