August 9

Light dawns in the darkness for the upright—for the gracious, compassionate, and righteous. — Ps 112:4 BSB

Sometimes, we find ourselves in such dark paths that it feels like we’re completely out of God’s ways, as if there is no more grace in our souls than in those who are dead in trespasses and sins. When we look back at the past, view the present, or look toward the future, a dark cloud seems to rest over everything. Despite all our searching, we can’t find any satisfying evidence that we have even a spark of true religion or one grain of grace. We doubt whether the Spirit of God has ever touched our consciences at all.

In such dark, benighted states, we need light. We need the blessed Sun of righteousness to arise. We need the south wind to blow, driving away the fog and lifting the clouds, so that the light of God’s countenance can shine into our souls. We need to see where we are and what we are, and to know, despite our base and vile state, that we still have a saving interest in the love of the Father, the blood of the Son, and the teachings of the Holy Spirit. And when his word begins to distill like the rain and drop like the dew, when the Lord speaks just one sweet testimony, one small word, one kind intimation—oh, what a change it makes! The clouds part, the fog clears, and the soul becomes sweetly convinced of its saving interest in the blood and love of the Lamb.