Psalm 43:3-4 - May 15, 2009

Ps 43:3-4 "Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me; let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell. 4 Then will I go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight. I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God." NIV

Have you ever been paralyzed in your decision making because you feel like you are in total darkness. There are times in this life when we know the destination but we don’t know how to get there. And there are other times when some of us are so completely in the dark that there is not even a sense of direction there is only a hope for some light to be relieved from the desperation of your isolated condition. Our longing for light is not to help us achieve some great goal; our longing for light is simply a desire to find out where we are so that we can begin to breathe without the oppressive weight of uncertainty that comes when we feel that we have lost our way.
The scriptures carry within them great hope and promise for such times as these. Isaiah the prophet was sent to the people of Israel during a time in their history when the entire nation was lost, paralyzed by the darkness of sin and the oppression of enemies that have been permitted to harass them because of their sinful ways. The good news is that even in their broken condition God is mercifully reaching out to them to offer hope in the midst of trial. Isaiah stands as a watchmen over God’s people and like a man calling to a friend across a darkened room as if to say “just follow the sound of my voice”, points them towards the promise of God.
Isa 9:2 “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” God is always calling out to us, through this messenger, that circumstance, a particular passage of scripture, saying “come to the light." You don’t have to stand in the darkness any more. The Father chose to send His own son into our darkness, to stand before the generations of man and declare in John 8:12 "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." Every little detail of Jesus’ life was a ray of light into the darkness. Every word from His mouth a beacon of truth shining into the heart of man to guide us back to the source of life!
The psalmist of Psalm 43 has captured the essence of God’s mission to deliver us from darkness as he cries out in verse 3, “Send forth your light and your truth, let them guide me.” His longing is for light and truth and his destination is the presence of God. The psalmist cries out, acknowledging his need for direction, and declaring his desired destination. “God show me how to get to you!” The psalmist knows the joy of God’s presence but has become lost along the way. It was not his wickedness that had separated him, but still he can feel the absence of intimacy that had become his source of comfort and peace. The beauty of this image is that he is not willing to stay in this paralyzed place. His conditions do not become his excuse but rather his motivation to cry out. The psalmist understands that by seeking he will find that by crying out he will awaken the heart of God to answer with light from Heaven. This is the cry of a worshipper! What a declaration he makes in the verses that follow. “Then will I go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight. I will praise you with the harp, O God, my God.” He knows God as his joy and delight, but a distance has grown between he and the Lord and he is unwilling to settle for his fallen state. His heart cries out as if to say, “I was created to worship you! Help me to find your presence and renew my song!” Let that be your prayer today. Don’t settle for a darkened distance between you and the light of God’s presence. Cry out to Him and He will lead you into the glory of His light.