It’s been a minute since my last post. Nearly every sphere of my life for the past 6 months has felt incredibly full, and I’ve missed writing. Some of that fullness has dwindled as of late, which I’m quite thankful for.
This past week, our pastor preached through some of Psalm 139, that lovely and often beloved psalm many of us adore. Several times throughout the sermon we delighted at the morsel of food doled out. With the conclusion of his sermon, our pastor handed out a particularly satisfying portion of the Word.
Who couldn’t rejoice throughout this psalm as the truth of God’s care and nearness to His people is expounded? The intimacy of His tender watchcare in our making? The sense that He is always there to take our hand through life’s myriad of moments?
David lays out truths about our God that should astound and leave us in wonder at who truly is this God we serve. When our preacher reached the text he labeled, ‘Inescapably Everywhere’ from verses 7-12, he exposited from these verses the truth that God’s presence in our life is everywhere…whether that be during the heights we soar to, the depths we drag through, the light we bask in, or the darkness we shudder from.
In each and every moment we experience, God’s hand is there to bring us through.
One of the things my wife and I have encouraged one another by during these last several years is, ‘you have my hand to hold’. No matter what we may experience, she has my hand to hold to get her through those rough patches. And, I have her hand to hold when I need it through the valleys we walk. Having someone’s hand to hold, someone dear and beloved, is a wonderful gift to cling to as we tread through the travails of this life.
How much more to have our God’s hand??
You see, as the preacher helped us understand, David tells us in Psalm 139 that the ‘darkness’ he refers to in verses 11-12 speak of a darkness reserved not for those hard moments of our day, not the bad meetings we may have, probably not even the 13th temper tantrum we watch our kiddo throw before lunch. No, that darkness instead is the times in our life which can only be characterized as crushing darkness. A darkness that comes from trials and tribulations which are part of a felt darkness, times we feel alone…times we feel won’t ever…ever end.
Oh, how tremulous and hopeless those darknesses feel.
In those times, we feel crushed by the experience that seems to be unrelenting. We feel that sense of aloneness that speaks to us feelings of freakishness, like what is wrong with me? We can sometimes think that the Lord has finally turned me over and left me alone because maybe I did something (or some things) vastly wrong…and, now, surely I’m not a child of God after all. Then, that great enemy of ours, Satan comes in to whisper in our ear to accuse us and confirm the veracity of it all.
But God…
Oh, but God! Let’s not forget what the psalmist said right before this felt darkness invaded our lives! Verse 10 tells us that God’s own hand comes along to take ours. His hand will lead me! His hand…His right hand will hold me!!
We are not alone. Never are we alone. Even in the darkest of days, the brightest light of the gospel that God is near to us everywhere leaps across to our hearts through the sensation that our hand is held by our omnipotent and loving God!! He walks with us through the valleys we lurch through. His hand guides us through the roiling storm that rages. He carries us when our bodies fail and our hearts melt.
Crushing darkness… When God steps in, we are not crushed. Instead, He was crushed for our sake. He was bruised and broken upon that cross so that we won’t be. Look back to the cross and remember what God has done for it was this that purchased and made possible the great truth that He will never leave you or forsake you. Because He was crushed on your behalf, remember the blessed truth that God’s hand guides you through even crushing darkness…
Till we are home…
Till We Are Home 
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