Psalm 112:4 – “Let It Shine”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of this verse:

⁴In the darkness light will rise to the upright ones,

    Gracious and compassionate and righteous.

Yes, yes, yes. “Rejoice not against me, mine enemy, when I fall, for I shall arise, and when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me!” “The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear?” “Thy Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

This is a subject near and dear to my heart. I know we’re all wired differently and different things bother different people different ways, but, for me, one of the things that drives me almost psychotic is confusion. I hate to be confused. I hate it when I don’t understand, when things don’t make sense, when they don’t add up. I think that is one of the reasons I have so enjoyed engineering. I remember sitting in classes where we were studying so many things, like why a bullet rises and falls, and why music must be in octaves, and why the sunset is red and dirt is brown. So many things that make perfect sense. But the best words of all were Jesus’: “And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”

And so He has.

I also love II Cor 4:6, “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

“And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was.”

I think those simple words are the story of my life.

Those simple words are basically the reason I’m sitting here typing. One day the Lord stepped into the darkness of my life and said, “Let there be light,” and there was! I remember being a young man and so enjoying how the Lord opened my eyes and made my world make sense. I savored every glimmer of light He shined in my heart and so, it wasn’t enough for me to attend church, I wanted to study the Bible myself. Someone showed me how to use a Concordance and a Vine’s and I was “off to the races!” I think at one time I had four file drawers filled with the notes I’d accumulated from studying the Bible. But of course, it wasn’t the notes on paper that I have so cherished, it is the wonderful truths He’s showed me, how He’s made life make sense, how He has freed me from me and given me hope and all His good gifts.

Of course it is still true that my life is full of darkness. There are still so many things I don’t understand. But as I go on studying the Bible it seems like He doesn’t go two weeks and He drops another atom bomb on my heart. He shows me something that absolutely rocks my world. “Now I see!” Bit by bit by bit He steps into my darkness and once again says, “Let there be light,” and there is! I love how He said, “Call unto Me and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not!”

Just from my recent studies, my head is still reeling thinking about how this world is His world, my life is His life, my job is His job, how it’s not a matter that I have all these challenges and I need Him to step in and help me … but, rather, they’re the challenges He has created because He’s doing a great work in this world, and the big question is not whether He’ll help me but whether I’ll get on board and be a part of what He’s doing! That sudden realization propelled me light years ahead in putting away my endless grinding worry and also has begun to actually let me experience real Holy Spirit joy in my life. It’s all been there in Psalm 111 all these years, but I didn’t see it until I slowed down to study it and He turned on the lights.

And this thing of grace righteousness – that is so profoundly encouraging to me. I’m so glad to know that what matters is not legal righteousness (“Here’s the rules and I do a good job keeping them”) but grace righteousness, the righteousness that is present in my life because grace has changed me. What I need is not better rule-keeping. What I need is to sit more at Jesus’ feet, fall more and more in love with Him, hear His gracious words and understand His big loving heart, so that I suddenly find myself different because “I’ve been with Jesus.” That just so totally blows my mind!

And I could go on and on.

Now, once again and just for the record, I have to say there is still so much I “don’t understand” about life and who I am and what I’m supposed to be and why things are the way they are, but this simple little verse absolutely ignites my heart and fuels me with hope: “Even in darkness, light shines for the upright.”

Shine on, Great One!