This evening is the last programmer of Light in the Night for 2007. We give thanks to Almighty God for bringing and seeing us through to this day. We know that there are testimonies out there in gratefulness to God in your passage through 2007. Indeed through many, through many dangers toils and snares we have already come. T’was grace that brought us safe thus far and grace will lead us on. Let us all be grateful to God for what he has done for us in 2007 and then refocus our trust on Him for the present and the future as he knows best.
Our theme song is: Lead kindly light. We make it a point to play the tune out in its entirety at the end of the programmer. Lead kindly light was written by J.H. Newman in 1833. He died at the age of 89 years. Newman noted that his hymn was written out of the context of Psalms 73:24 which reads: "Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel and afterward receive me in glory. " light in the Night feels led tonight to share the words of Newman’s Hymn with you.
Lead, kindly light, amid the encircling gloom, lead thou me on;
The night is dark and I am far from home; lead thou me on.
Keep thou my feet, I do not ask to see the distant scene;
One step enough for me.
I was not ever thus, nor prayed that thou shouldst lead me on;
I loved to choose and see my path; but now lead thou me on;
I loved the garish days, and spite of fears, pride ruled my will
Remember not past years! So long thy power hath blest me,
Sure it still will lead me on o’er moor and fen,
O’er crag and torrent, till the night is gone, and with the morn
Those angel faces smile which I have loved long since, and lost awhile.
Let us walk swiftly now through Psalms 73, and see if there is a word or a blessing for us in it. In verses one to three the Psalmist wrote: truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. But as for me my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped. For I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. And the Psalmist continued that they had no pangs their bodies were sound and sleek. They were not in trouble as other men were. They were not stricken like other men. Therefore pride was their necklace. Violence covered them as a garment. Their eyes bulged out with fatness. Their hearts overflowed with follies. They scoffed and spoke with malice. Loftily they threatened oppression. They set their mouths against the Heavens and their tongues walked through the earth, the wicked and the ungodly prospered in the world. They increased in wealth.
Here the Psalmist became broken and said that it was all in vain that he kept his heart clean and washed his hands in innocence. All along he was plagued and stricken. The righteous was not only made to drink of the bitter cup of affliction but to drink all of it. And it seemed that care was taken that they lose not a drop of the unpleasant portion. The waters were wrung out unto them that they may even drink the dregs of the cup.
The Psalmist said that such experiences created a strong temptation in him to cast off his religion. There are those today even among God’s profession, ones who think "does God know or how can God know?" they seem to believe that things are left to blind fortune and not directed by an all seeing and gracious God. The Psalmist did not go as far as I question the omniscience of God being everywhere but he questioned the benefits of religion.
He was about to take matters into his own hands to help himself where he felt God had abandoned him. God seemed to be the lover more of the wicked than of the righteous. And it would seem that in some ways as the Psalmist J.H. Newman was experiencing a similar condition and Newman wanted to take action on his own to help himself as the Psalmist was tempted, when he wrote his Hymn: lead kindly light.
The Psalmist could not understand why the wicked were flourishing and God’s people were merely existing. And he questioned the purpose of keeping one’s heart pure and one’s hands clean. But here we must be reminded that when the pure in heart, the blessed ones shall see God they will not say that they cleansed their hearts in vain. The Psalmist was able to keep his ground and to gain the victory however, by continued respect for God and the people of God.
He controlled himself from speaking out his thoughts. For him he had concluded that in vain he kept his mouth. If you yourself have been to that point to think evil clap your hand over your mouth and let it go no further. We must think twice before we speak once. There are things we think which should not be spoken. May correct the unspoken first thought. Proverbs 30:32 says if we have thought evil we should put our hands upon our mouths. The psalmist was extremely envious against the prosperity of the wicked and he was blaming God. He tried all on his own understanding to work it out in his thought but only became more envious against the prosperity of the wicked and the oppression of the righteous. With all his displeasures and discontent he went into the sanctuary of God. He checked the Scriptures. He prayed to God to make the matter plain to him. God gave him a new perception.
God’s house and God’s word must be the resort of a confused soul. The prosperity of the wicked is short and uncertain. The high place upon which God allows them is slippery ground. Their destruction is sure, sudden and indeed great. They flourish in the mourning and fade by mid-day and are taken out at evening. Practical common sense is not enough to understand the Justice of God. In such matters it is beguiling. The resources of bogie left him both puzzled and weary.
Then was it the sense of the presence of God in the sanctuary that restored his confidence and made alive his faith in simple goodness and blessings from God? In Ps.73:24 the psalmist indicates that God led him with his counsel. In Ps.73:21-22 he confessed that bitterness of soul and resentfulness of heart of heart made him stupid and ignorant which dulled his sensitivity and response to God. He would have destroyed himself if he did not turn the matter over into the hand of God. In short if he did not let it go and let God he would have been destroyed by destroying himself by his own misleading thoughts and action.
The psalmist came to realize and to accept that God knows it all and he knows what is happening. God would never neglect the righteous. He rains and shines on the just and the unjust. Reckoning day is always on the way. The psalmist was relieved to leave the matter of life and the divine nature of justice in the hands of a just God. Then he was at ease. There was therefore no need to hate the wicked for his prosperity and to be angry with God.
J.H Newman settled himself and wrote in his Hymn :( Keep! Guide, My feet, my steps). I do not ask to see the distant scene for one step is enough for me. He wrote again. I love to choose and see my path but now, lead me on. You lead me and my friend will be satisfied. If it is a problem or a burden, let it be and let God take control. Let God hold your hand and walk you through 2008, remembering that His is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever, Amen
