The Light of God and His Truth

"0 send out thy light and thy truth; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles. (Psalm 43: 3)

This was King David's prayer, and it should also be our prayer.  God must enlighten us and lead us by His word of truth; otherwise, we will be overcome by spiritual darkness.

I believe that all God's children who have received the degree of enlightenment which has enabled them to become aware of their own sinfulness have found no other source of comfort for their souls than the grace of God.  All such souls have an inner longing to know the presence of God's spirit--or to use the words of David in this prayer: “Bring me to thy holy hill and to thy tabernacles.”

David had also known the painful experience of a wounded conscience which was brought about by his fall into sin.  For that reason, the grace of God was precious to him.  He expressed his appreciation for this grace by saying:      “A Day in thy courts is better than a thousand.  I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness."  (Psalm 84:10)

Our thoughts and our minds are often overly occupied with that which concerns our earthly lives.  Because it is so, we can so easily be attached to the earthly or temporal things, and our spiritual lives diminish and ultimately recede into the background.  For a child of God, the situation should be the reverse it should be the opposite.  Of course, we must attend to our earthly calling and take care of our obligations, but we must not forget that everything earthly is perishable and of but a brief duration.  These temporal matters are among the things which moth and rust corrupt and where the thieves can break through and steal.

The spiritual is eternal a treasure which will not pass away.  God has promised to care for our souls as well as for our bodies.  For that reason, the Lord said: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all other things will be added unto you."  (Matthew 6:33)

We can so easily be drawn into the stream of time and pursue only the earthly.  As children of God, we have reason to watch and pray that God in His grace may lead us by His light and in His truth.  May the longing of our hearts be to know God and the one whom He has sent, that is, His Son Christ Jesus.  We are but strangers and pilgrims here, in heaven is our home.  Our true treasure is preserved in that place which God has prepared for us.  Let us try our hearts in the light of that truth which teaches us that where our treasure is, there will our hearts be also.  (Matthew 6 : 21)

May we not fare so well here in this world that we lose our desire for the better place.  Even when we prosper in that which we undertake here in this life, let us remember the words of Jesus when He said: “What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul”?  (Mark 8:36)

From the Word of God, we see that the last days will be a time of spiritual sleepiness--when the wise virgins will slumber together with the foolish as we read in the parable.  Dear children of God, let us always remember that we are enroute to the eternal goal.  God's word is our light and our truth.  This word tells of Moses, who, in his youth, had the opportunity to obtain a share in the treasures of Egypt and thereby enjoy a life of sin, but it is written of him: “By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharoah’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward.”  (Hebrews 11: 25-26)

Sin deceives and blinds the people, but God's word gives us the light and the truth which will lead us to God’s holy mountain—to His tabernacle which is the kingdom of grace here on earth.  When our lives here come to an end, we will receive the reward which Moses anticipated.  Life here is short in comparison with eternity, but it is here that we prepare ourselves for that which is eternal.  We lay aside sin, and by the power of the spirit we mortify the deeds of the flesh.

The blood of Jesus cleanses from all sin.  In the purity obtained through the blood, we are worthy to enter the eternal tabernacles which our dear Lord and Savior has prepared for us.  And we know that it is His will that we also should be with Him where He is.  (John 17: 24)  To this end, help us, dear God.

Kaare Suhr in Sions Blad, June/July 1992

Printed by Pastor A C Holmgren on August in the 1992 Seattle ALC church bulletin.

Submitted by Pastor Stan