Sunday, July 15, 2012

July 16, 2012

"The Lord is my light and my salvation whom shall I fear?" Psalm 27:1a

One of the first things I remember being afraid of was the dark. Maybe you were too.

My mind could conjure up all sorts of frightening creature lurking in the darkness. It was comforting to have even the small amount of light that a night light could emit. That always seemed to be enough to keep the monsters and ghouls at bay.

In the ancient days of the Psalmist, darkness WAS fearful. Robbers, murderers, and thugs lurked along dark roadways, alleys and corners. Respectable people avoided the dark as much as possible.

In addition to the human miscreants there were demons that haunted the night. Night time held great terror for people of those days. Rightly so!

Here in this favorite Psalm, we are reminded that we have a light to help us not fear the darkness. That is good news since we live in a very dark world!

What IS this light that we enjoy from our Lord?

It is the light of His presence. He IS the Light of the world! "God is light and in His is no darkness at all!"

And, it is the light of His Word. The Word gives light from His knowledge that can guide our steps.

His salvation removes the spiritual darkness from our hearts and opens our spiritual eyes.

Then, there is the light of fellowship with other Christians. His followers are people of the Light so gathering with them helps remove the fear of the darkness! I John 1:7 urges, 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!"

Believe the Psalmist when he assures you that you need not fear the darkness when God is your Light! Walk in the joy and freedom of His light today!