Let God be your light

Greetings:
Reading the Psalms we discover that David often cried out for help, most of the time in anguish and despair.
He usually yelled for God's attention, when all else had failed.
Does that sound familiar?
David was a strong man, but the strongholds of evil were heavy upon him and when he was backed in a corner, he always cried out to the Lord for help.
Does that sound familiar in your life? It sure does in my own life.
We wait and wait and sometimes we pray a meek prayer and try to work things out on our own.
How many times does that work?
In Psalm 88, we see the depth of despair we can fall in.
1 O Lord, God of my salvation,
    I cry out to you by day.
    I come to you at night.
2 Now hear my prayer;
    listen to my cry.
3 For my life is full of troubles,
    and death[b] draws near.
4 I am as good as dead,
    like a strong man with no strength left.
5 They have left me among the dead,
    and I lie like a corpse in a grave.
I am forgotten,
    cut off from your care.
6 You have thrown me into the lowest pit,
    into the darkest depths.
7 Your anger weighs me down;
    with wave after wave you have engulfed me. Interlude
8 You have driven my friends away
    by making me repulsive to them.
I am in a trap with no way of escape.
9  My eyes are blinded by my tears.
Each day I beg for your help, O Lord;
    I lift my hands to you for mercy.
10 Are your wonderful deeds of any use to the dead?
    Do the dead rise up and praise you?
11 Can those in the grave declare your unfailing love?
    Can they proclaim your faithfulness in the place of destruction?
12 Can the darkness speak of your wonderful deeds?
    Can anyone in the land of forgetfulness talk about your righteousness?
13 O Lord, I cry out to you.
    I will keep on pleading day by day.
14 O Lord, why do you reject me?
    Why do you turn your face from me?
15 I have been sick and close to death since my youth.
    I stand helpless and desperate before your terrors.
16 Your fierce anger has overwhelmed me.
    Your terrors have paralyzed me.
17 They swirl around me like floodwaters all day long.
    They have engulfed me completely.
18 You have taken away my companions and loved ones.
    Darkness is my closest friend.”
Our lives often get complicated really fast. Like David, we find that there are no easy answers.
If we look objectively at life, we often see the frayed ends where confusion rules. It was never meant to turn out this way.
Like David, we sometimes believe that God has forgotten us. It does seem impatience is a significant issue with many of us. Often when it gets really bad, we find ourselves turning to surrogates to fill the gap – alcohol, drugs, immorality and the list on and on.
How many of you know that life sometimes get to a point where we can't see any relief. There is a  constant, gnawing pain, which can be physical, emotional, or spiritual.
Saturated with despair, and then glazed with desperation, we must extend our human condition and just accept that things are not always what they should be.  We must conclude that this darkness is within our capability and experience.  It could happen to you, or anyone! You are vulnerable. We all could slide into the dark.
But in Psalm 13 (NLT), we find David's answer and our answer.
It says, “Turn and answer me, O Lord my God! Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die.”
I  love this version because it says ”sparkle”. David spoke of being restored. He seeks a reason to keep living.
David goes on to say, “Don’t let my enemies gloat, saying, “We have defeated him!”. Don’t let them rejoice at my downfall. But I trust in your unfailing love.  I will rejoice because you have rescued me.
I will sing to the Lord because he is good to me.”
How many of you know that you can have a sparkle in your eye, even when things are going bad?
How many of you know that in the darkest hour, God is always there?
Often good jewelers display their diamond necklaces on a black background.
Why?
The darkness intensifies the brightness of the jewels. They become even more beautiful when displayed  in a manner that makes them 'pop out' in their beauty.
Life is like that.
When we are at our darkest hour, let's do what David did. He sang and praised the Lord when his world was crashing down and gained his strength from it.
Always remember that the darkest part of the night is just before dawn.
Those of us who know deep down the “blackness of darkness” have just started to savor the light.
Be blessed.