One of the new pastimes I’ve been trying my hand at in quarantine, like many others I’ve seen, is gardening. My parents put together a small group of herb sprouts as a birthday gift for me back in March, and we’ve been working on diligently growing and maintaining our little sprouts into a small garden. Granted, it’s only a few tiny plants in a planter on our tiny apartment balcony, but it’s a nice process to witness and help along. Plus, hey, someday soon we’ll have a bunch of fresh herbs!
Reading David’s Song of Deliverance in 2 Samuel 22, one line reminds my meek little plants reaching desperately towards the sun overhead for life. In all of David’s trials in becoming king, in the war and bloodshed, fleeing from friends & family alike for his life & years of both suffering and countless victories, the Spirit of the Lord was with David & delivered him through everything. In acknowledging this and offering his praise, David says in 2 Samuel 22:29: “For you are my lamp, O Lord, and my God lightens my darkness”.
I love David’s inclusion of this line in how the Lord enables us to overcome impossible feats and achieve unthinkable things. Like those minuscule herbs depending on the sun for sustenance, David describes God as the source of light which has guided and provided for him. It must have seemed wild to those around David that any hope remained after being targeted for death by Saul and the tragedies that followed his family and friends. But when the Lord spoke to David, David listened and obeyed. Even in his moments of weakness when he sinned, David repented and accepted his punishment as God’s righteous justice. So when the world around David sought to destroy him, he found hope again and again in God’s promises. David doesn’t hesitate to admit in this chapter that he would be lost and crushed by his enemies without God. But it required being faithful and believing that God chose him to lead His people, and would see His decrees through no matter what the moment held. Like a lamp that must be kept burning in order to see your way, this faith must be held close and maintained as we navigate our way through life as our source of hope.
The world around us continually throws its worst at us; from global crises and the world itself seeming to fall apart around us, to people who delight in slandering, denigrating, and demeaning the faith of those who look to Christ. But as Psalm 119:105 also says: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” When we keep God’s word in our heart, He sees us through the worst a broken world can offer. His promises of eternal life give us hope that war, persecution, threats of murder, and worldly despair can not extinguish, even to the ends of our own earthly lives. The light of hope, that baffles those who have tried and failed to find hope in the fickle things of this world, burns brightest when we trust God and live for Him.
So in this time, what does that look like to you? What does obeying God’s word and being faithful look like in your life? From simple words of positivity and encouragement, to donating your time, money, and skills to helping those in need; from patience and trust to the leaders in charge of our country right now, to simply being able to smile and look forward to what tomorrow brings; now more than ever, acting out your faith speaks volumes. When God’s presence guides you through the hopelessness that perplexes those fixated on this world, you tell them of a God who offers greater things than the fear and anguish around us. We each need God’s word, the lamp that lightens our darkness, that lights our path, more than ever; and the people of this world need us to shine that light for them more than ever. How will you let God’s light shine in your life and for the lives of others today?