August 18

"When I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me."—Micah 7:8.

HERE is faith's bright picture sketched on the dark ground of trouble, wherein the beautiful colors of Christian assurance are brought out to view. The passage will apply to the experience of the believer. Notice

A DISTRESSING PERIOD. "When I sit in darkness." All the ungodly are in darkness, but the children of light are sometimes called to walk in darkness. When is this the case? There is the darkness of worldly trials. There are many painful seasons arising from our connection with the world: the anxiety of business, losses in trade, and a thousand other sources. Periodontal bereavements. How often is the domestic circle broken into by the relentless hand of death! When this is the case, we may be said to sit in darkness. Mental disquietude. The Christian sometimes witnesses the dark season of desertion. God hides his face, and withholds the influences of his Spirit; and he cries in sorrow and anguish of soul, "Oh that I knew where I might find him!"

A DELIGHTFUL PROMISE. The Lord shall be a light unto me." The believer's firmament is never so dark but there are some rays of hope. The relief the Christian anticipates is suitable in its nature. God is a light unto us in our seasons of darkness, by comforting us in them, and assuring us of his gracious designs, and a happy issue. His word, his Spirit, and his grace, are a light unto us; a light to direct, revive, and animate. Personal in its application. "To me." What benefit is it to us, to know that he is a light to others if he is not to us? Certain in its realization. "The Lord shall be a light unto me." We are assured of it from what God is, what he has said, and what he has done. Let us exercise confidence in the Father of lights, and live in the anticipation of that world, concerning which it is said, "There shall be no night there."