You, Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.

The situations we find ourselves in as human beings are not automatically clear to us. Like fish in a barrel or hamsters in a shoebox, we don’t really understand where we are and what we should do. Apart from some help and explanation coming from the outside, we are lamps without flame, lost in the dark, and having no good idea of what direction to take forward.

We’ve lost our ability to light up the path before us and find our way. We act like we know the way, but we just stumble around in the darkness. We need help.

David knew where to go to get his lamp rekindled. He knew that only God above could light the fire in him that would show the way forward. All the other options, all the other gods that people looked to for flame were dead embers that only darkened the darkness even more. Only the Spirit of God from above could fire up his soul with the wisdom and insight necessary to see through the darkness to the true meaning of his situation and to the way forward.

It was for this reason that David became known as “the lamp of Israel.” And it was so the lamp would never be extinguished that his men would not let him go to war anymore (2 Samuel 21:17). When your lamp is rekindled, then people will gravitate to you. The lamp will turn the darkness around you into light and people will follow you because you know the way. People with the fire of the Spirit within them understand. They are wise.

If you are a child of God, then you have been baptized with the Holy Spirit (Mark 1:8). Like David, your lamp has been fired up, and you have the ability to see in the darkness. Perhaps you didn’t realize this. Perhaps you were distracted by a dark situation. If you settle down and look to the true Light, however, you will find there the wisdom necessary to move forward in faith.

By John Huisman, friend of Bible League International