December 18

The LORD is God; He has made His light to shine upon us. Bind the festal sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar. — Ps 118:27 BSB

The Psalmist clearly possessed light, for he says, "God is the Lord, who has shown us light." He had this light within him as "the light of life." This light had shone into his heart, and the rays of divine truth had penetrated his conscience. He carried with him a light that came from God, and in this light, he saw everything clearly. Through this light, he could discern what was good and what was evil, what was sweet and what was bitter, what was true and what was false, what was spiritual and what was natural.

The Psalmist didn’t claim that this light came from his own efforts, wisdom, or actions. He didn’t say it was the result of nature transformed by his will or hard work. Instead, he gave all the credit to God as the sole source and giver of that light. If God the Lord has ever shown you or me the same light, we carry with us a deep conviction that this light has come from Him.

Indeed, there will be many clouds of darkness that may cover this light—doubts and fears will often hover over our souls, like mists and fogs, making us question whether the light we’ve received is truly from God. But in those solemn moments when the Lord revives His work in us, when He draws our hearts closer to Him and brings us into His presence, when He hides us in the hollow of His hand and gives us access to Himself, we carry with us a conviction, despite all doubts and fears, that we have light—and that this light has come from God. Why? Because we can remember a time when we walked in no such light, when everything spiritual and heavenly was dark to us, and we were dark to them.