The Lord is my light

[0:00] we shall now endeavor to consider as we shall be enabled words you will find in the book of Psalms the book of Psalms Psalm 29 Psalm 27 Psalm 27 at the beginning the Lord is my light and my salvation whom shall I fear the Lord is the strength of my life of whom shall I be afraid when the wicked even mine enemies and my foes came upon me to eat up my flesh they stumbled and fell though an host should encamp against me my heart shall not fear though war should rise against me in this will I be confident especially the first part of the psalm the Lord is my light the Lord is my light for the past few sabbaths we've been trying to consider another confessional profession of the psalm namely the Lord is my shepherd and here he says the Lord is my light and in its own place this is as important as the other fact which he states that the Lord is his shepherd it is quite clearly written on the page of scripture that man's condition as he is in himself that is a fallen creature but a state in that condition may be described as a state of darkness and it is so described he who has saved you from the power of darkness and translated you into the kingdom of his dear son to him be glory and honor world without end and again we read that partly the reason that the

[4:00] Lord saves his people or rather part of the obligation that devolves upon them as saved by the Lord is this that they should show forth the praises of him who called them from darkness to his own marvelous light to his own marvelous light light now this light is not to be dissociated from the sun here the psalmist says not only that the Lord gives light that is true but he says the Lord himself is my light and in that part of the epistle of John we read this morning we have this statement this is the message which we have heard from him this is it it sounds up in this that

[5:27] God is light and in him is no darkness at all God is light that is one thing that is a truth that is not affected by our relation to it or our reaction to it God is light but then the psalmist goes further he says that God is light indeed but then he says God is my light not only is he light but he is my light now we read also this morning of those who did not know whither they went because that darkness had blinded their eyes and who are they those who have not this light which is

[6:43] God they know not whither they go because that darkness has lighted their eyes but we read of more than the fact of darkness we read of the power of darkness who has saved you from the power of darkness darkness and the power of darkness is very subtle and very great the power of darkness we speak of the kingdom of darkness we read of the angels who kept not their first estate for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever the power of the power of darkness now in order to be acquainted with the meaning of light as the psalmist uses that term we must of course be acquainted with force of fact and the power of darkness now don't you see it is in relation to this power that the psalmist makes this confession at all the

[8:33] Lord is my life apart of it though an host and camp against me I will not fear though my enemy is wise have to eat my flesh I will be confident in this the Lord is my light and my salvation of course and he is my salvation because he is my light hence here there is a definite allusion ye an immediate vat earth to the power of light though great as the power of darkness is and it is great it is not as great as the power of light in in one sense at least it may be said that there's nothing in the world as powerful as light all things ultimately at least so some would make go could be explained in terms of light it is reported of one man an eminent scientist who said something like this give me light and I can explain anything to begin with light where does light come from without it the world is chaotic explanation is impossible but light now we know that

[10:19] God said let there be light and there was light but I don't think that is the light which the psalmist refers to here we have to make a distinction in the interest of logical order between the light which God created and the light which is God himself he created light these are the terms of creation of course let there be he called light out of darkness and of course it comes from him as the source of all creation the author of all we but then this was further the lord himself is my light not only that he gives light he and he gives the light the physical light that which is in the realm of the physical but he also gives me spiritual light and this light is none other than himself though he was as we said acquainted with both the light and the power of spiritual darkness the darkness blessed indeed are those described by the apostle

[12:20] John in these terms the darkness has passed and the true light now shine darkness has passed the true light not only the light but the true light now shine light now I take it that John does not in the ordinary sense make a distinction there between heart's light in the usually accepted sense of matter and true light what it means I take it is this not only does light shine in the physical world that is light and is true light in its own nature but this is the true light light this light is more than even the light which we see every day by physical eyes this is the true light it is that which illumines the mind that which gives light to the understanding that which gives direction to the conscience that which softens the heart it does all these characteristics and many more he is mine he is my light why why does he say so because he sat in darkness and those who sat in darkness saw great light and those who were in the region and the shadow of death even on them or to them light has spread up and in these words the

[14:30] Israel of God may be described there are those on whom the light has shone there are those who have light and whose light is God is God it would be difficult to describe what light is many things may be said of it it may be broken up into its past giving so many different colors and so on so on so on but what did that do really is difficult if not impossible to gasp we might say of it what someone said of electricity the professor asked the class does anybody here know what electricity is one student said yes will tell you tell us what it is then oh he tried to but then he had to say well

[15:53] I forget what a pity said the professor the only man in the world who knew what electricity is has forgotten nobody knows what it is we know what it does but what it is in its essence we know not that that we can see of light what precisely it is and certainly in this sense we cannot say much about it for it is God himself it is God and we know how we are at the very outset how ignorant we are of what God is we know certain things about him he has revealed certain things concerning himself but what he really is is beyond the comprehension of any creature in heaven or on earth well this is what is said of him he is light but then the point that is of most important to us is that the psalmist says he is my light he is my light when

[17:20] I sat in darkness darkness as what was to become of me darkness as to my own destiny darkness as to the things that were most important to me then the Lord shone upon me giving the light of the knowledge of his glory in the face of Jesus Christ in the hour of my darkness he shone upon me as someone put it he put out the darkness we usually have heard to putting over the light but the Lord puts out the darkness by introducing himself as the light of life now accompanying this shining the shining of his countenance the shining of his glory in the face of

[18:42] Jesus Christ there were certain things which though they are difficult to describe here they may define description yet accompanying this light we say there were certain things that will never be forgotten he is my light and in connection with his making himself thus making himself to me my light within himself in this way there are certain things that can never be forgotten and the first of all first of all is this it is in his own life that God can be known we refer and refer rightly

[19:49] I believe to God's revelation of himself in works of creation and much has been written on that much along a poetic strain some used to be said commonly who we rise from nature to nature to God and much beautiful literature has been written in that connection but I believe basically it is wrong nobody can rise from nature to nature to God nobody can rise even from the revelation God has made of himself in his word to the God of the world what is absolutely indispensable in this connection is that the

[20:50] Lord himself should shine that he should make himself known as the light for it is only in this way only in his own light can he be known there is no other light in which we can know God as own can know him as it is God and as him not in any other light but the light of his own countenance as the sun is seen by its own light the light diffuser so God is known by the light that comes from his own blessed countenance it is futile to discover him in any other way hence in order to know him the most appropriate endeavor and attempt of the creature is this to acknowledge his ignorance and say

[22:22] Lord show me thy hand we could go over the whole creation whom through the last universe if that were possible we could study all that has been written of God and at the end we would be as ignorant of him as we were at the beginning it is a case of his revealing himself his making his light to shine upon us when we sit in darkness there were certain things we say associated with this revelation that the psalmist could never forget there was the wonder of knowing God the wonder of knowing him as the

[23:23] God of peace the in short the wonder of knowing him as his own God how could he ever forget the blessed surprise that the Lord gave him when he said I am thy God God God his heart responded and couldn't but respond in the deepest gratitude I am thine while Matthew answered saying mine oh yes thine but

[24:26] I am not worthy or fit for such a none nevertheless I say I am thine and I will be thine doesn't matter what comes doesn't matter what may happen I am thine and thine I shall be so the Lord says and then this honest is perfectly justified in saying this the Lord is my night he has enlightened me in this he has put life upon the most difficult problems that ever did or could assail my night he has he has hauled this for me he has explained and expounded what my eternal destiny is what my eternal destiny is to be my night light but of course he doesn't mean this in the abstract merely how was this done well there is only one way and this is significant it is the same word that he uses in the 23rd psalm it is

[26:12] Jehovah is my light now can you come to psalm 46 for instance where we read God is my refuge and my strength it is not the word Jehovah uses there at all it is another Greek word it is another Hebrew word he uses for God but here he says Jehovah is my light it is he and who is Jehovah he is among other things he is the God of the covenant he is the covenant God of Israel and as the covenant God he is my light in no other way could he be my light in no other way could he be in this relationship with it is on the basis of his own covenant on the basis of what he has himself accomplished it is entirely due to what he is hidden of himself that he can be my light it is not for anything in me it is not for any achievement of mine it is not for any surgery that

[27:47] I have done but he is my light because he is the covenant God of his land he had here a foundation a foundation that could not be moved many things could be said against the position he takes up here by saying God is my high the enemy could assail him in many weeks he could be assaulted from many wars but the foundation stands further and it is this God is my life not because of any qualifications of mine not because of any diligence of mine not because of any search of mine but he is my my life because he is

[29:00] Jehovah the covenant God of Israel here in I stand I stand on what God is and what he has revealed of himself to me that foundation we say cannot be moved or how different from the hope which is in the creature it doesn't matter how the creature has entertained it but if its basis is in the creature it is not only capable of being assaulted but it is doomed to destruction from the very beginning it will be put to shame anything and everything that has its foundation in the creature oh how blessed then to be enabled to draw out comfort assurance from

[30:23] God himself the Lord is my light I have sat in darkness not knowing whither I went or whither I was going the darkness blinded my eyes I sat in the region and in the shadow of death but the Lord Jehovah the covenant got for his own name sake he became my life and showed me where I was going he showed me the way the way to himself he enlightened me to discern his loving kindness his tender merciless he encouraged me to hope in himself he is indeed my light let others draw their life from what source they will let others boast of their light but mine is

[31:57] Jehovah and I had none other not only is he my light but he is my only light and this I prove day by day it doesn't matter what I may have if I don't have the light of his countenance I am in darkness darkness of ignorance the darkness of the shadow of death now he goes on this is but an introduction to what he has to say again as the Lord is my light and because he is my light he is also my salvation he is my salvation and here perhaps the meaning of the word salvation is security it is he who protects me it is he who puts back my enemies when they rise up against me to eat my flesh that is to consume he is my salvation he will protect me as he enlightens me he also protects me notice is the idea that the psalmist puts before us while he protects me from my enemies he enlightens me in the knowledge of himself that is the blessed liberty that the believer has in this life moments of it at least that the Lord undertakes to instruct him and instructs him in the truth and at the same time watches over him protects him isn't this what the church said isn't it something similar to this that she had in mind when when she made the confession

[34:35] I sat down under the shadow with great delight that is protected protected from the sun protected from from all ills I sat down under the shadow with great delight and his fruit was sweet unto my taste what fruit was that himself as he instructed her concerning himself as he became her light in other words his fruit was sweet unto my taste in the Lord let us pray O Lord do thou be O light whatever else we need we certainly need light and we need this light day by day we need it to increase we need the light of the knowledge of God in the face of Jesus Christ not only to shine on us but to shine on us increasingly there are depths of darkness in our being that nothing but the light of God can enlighten

[36:07] O Lord send thy light for give us to know ourselves but ourselves in the light of thy grace and graciousness in Jesus Christ cast us not from thy side graciously accept of us in the beloved in him forgiving all our sins and thine shall be the praise Amen Amen Amen