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Bitter-Sweet Proclamation

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Revelation 10:8-11

8 Then the voice that I had heard from heaven spoke to me again, saying, “Go, take the scroll that is open in the hand of the angel who is standing on the sea and on the land.” 9 So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, “Take and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” 10 And I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it. It was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it my stomach was made bitter. 11 And I was told, “You must again prophesy about many peoples and nations and languages and kings.”

What is it like to bring the word of God to bear? Bitter-sweet is a fair answer. It is probably wise not to expect it to be different.

In Revelation 10, John is tasked with consuming the word of God that he would then take and speak to the peoples and nations. This parallels Ezekiel 3, where the Lord gives the prophet Ezekiel a scroll to eat. Both prophets find the word sweet in their mouths. Both, before the end of their chapters, also find bitterness.

Why bitter? Why does the word that John eats make his stomach bitter? Perhaps it is because he knows the hard things he will have to say. John will communicate that the coming wrath of God will bring death and destruction on a rebellious world. Ezekiel certainly endured the bitter experience of watching the people rebel against God and harden their hearts rather than repent under the proclamation of the word.

Do you assume that proclamation is easy? Do you assume that it will always be a treat? You should not. Just consider how easily you repent. More than likely, when you are in sin, there will be a stubbornness or a blindness to your sin. Most of us do not like it when we are reproved. We ought not expect a sweet experience to be the norm when we have to use the word of God to bring conviction to bear on others.

But do not miss the sweetness. Both when John and Ezekiel ate their scrolls, the word was sweet as honey in their mouths. These men new that the word of God is good. It is sweet. Whether proclaiming grace or judgment, whether pointing out our sin or God’s loving kindness, god’s word is good. And no amount of bitterness in experience can remove the goodness of God. God’s word is always true, always right, always trustworthy, always reliable, always sufficient. God’s judgments are always just, straight, solid, unwavering, and perfect. And these things are sweet.

So, dear Christian friend, love and proclaim the word. Take the word into the depths of your life. It may walk you through times of bitterness. But God’s word will always, absolutely always, prove perfect and sweet in the end.

Our Hope to Come

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Revelation 7:13-17

13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

15 “Therefore they are before the throne of God,

and serve him day and night in his temple;

and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.

16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;

the sun shall not strike them,

nor any scorching heat.

17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,

and he will guide them to springs of living water,

and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Where is your hope? For many Christians, especially we who live in the west, our hope is not in the right place. Is your hope in the government of the US? Is your hope in your ability to financially plan for the future? Is your hope in your health? Is your hope in entertainment? Is your hope in your children and their success?

The book of revelation refers to the time in which we live as a time of tribulation (note that John calls himself our partner in tribulation in1:9). And while it may in fact point to a season of intense hardship to come, nothing about this book indicates that we live free from tribulation, free from pressure, free from pain in any age before Christ returns. In chapter 6, with the opening of the seals, we saw a set of hardships that, while terrible, have marked the history of the church from Jesus’ day until now without much of a break.

Chapter 7 then uses a fascinating technique to give us hope. The chapter opens with the sealing, the preservation, of the 144,000 from the tribes of Israel. But something is odd about the list—it is not an accurate tribal list as it leaves out Dan and includes Joseph (v. 8) and Manasseh (v. 6.) though Manasseh is a subset of Joseph. John hears of this sealing of the tribes of Israel, but when he looks he sees a greater reality. John looks and sees a countless multitude from all nations, not merely from physical Israel. John sees that Israel here is the multitude of the saved of all ages regardless of their ethnicity.

Then one of the elders asks John just who this group is, this great multitude of people worshipping God in white robes. And we learn some beautiful things. These are the saved, washed in the blood of the Lamb. And they have a future, a hope, that is far greater than any hope anyone has ever imagined.

In verse 15, the saved are before the throne of God and serve him in his temple. As we watch Revelation unfold, we will find that the temple of God is going to be the whole world made new by the Lord. In Genesis, Eden possessed many features of a temple. In the Old Testament, the tabernacle and Solomon’s temple actually were smaller temples, walled off places designed to keep sinful humanity out of the presence of the Lord. But in Revelation, God lifts the curse, completes his holy plan, and brings all of his children into his holy presence to glorify his name forever.

The saved serving God will be sheltered by him (v. 15) and will have his protection from the hardships of this fallen world. There will be no harmful hunger or thirst. The people of God will need no shelter from the elements (v. 16).

In verse 17, we see that the saved will be led by the Lamb, provided for as by the Good Shepherd, brought to springs of living water, and comforted. What a glorious thing to see that the Lord himself will wipe every tear from our eyes. God will comfort us and grant us joy that outweighs any pain, any hardship, any hurt we have ever experienced.

Our hope, believers, is in the victory of Christ. Our hope is not in American ingenuity. Our hope is not in medical breakthroughs. Our hope is not in the joy of a victorious sports franchise. Neither is our hope in having enough money to take that dream vacation, build that dream home, or buy that dream automobile. Our hope is not in preserving the environment or cleaning up the Internet. Our hope is, it must be, in the promise of the Lord of this kingdom to come. Our hope is in coming to Christ, finding forgiveness in his blood, being granted his imputed righteousness, and living forever as priests in his temple.

Anthropology 101

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Psalm 143:2

Enter not into judgment with your servant,

for no one living is righteous before you.

In Psalm 143, the psalmist pleads with the Lord for mercy. In his plea, he confesses a truth about himself and about all humanity that we would do well to understand. No one is righteous before the Lord.

Since the fall of Adam, excepting Jesus, there has not been a truly righteous man or woman walking the earth. I am not here suggesting that there have not been people who are significantly more righteous than others. Nor am I suggesting that there have not been good deeds done by quite loveable people. What I am saying, what Scripture is saying, is that there is not been, apart from Jesus, a single person who can stand as righteous before the Lord.

Why does this matter?? Consider the complaints that some wish to raise against things in the doctrine of salvation. Why did Jesus have to come and die? Why would God judge the poor man on the island who has never heard the gospel? Why would God elect some to salvation? All these questions have an answer in the fact that no human being, on his own, is righteous. All people fall short of the infinite righteousness of God. All fall infinitely short. The only way for unrighteous men to be redeemed is through the death of Jesus. The reason the man on the island is judged, hearing the gospel or not, is because he is unrighteous. The reason God elects some to salvation is that, had he not done so, none would be saved.

God is utterly and absolutely perfect. To please him—as if this were possible—one would have to live up to the standard of absolute perfection. None can. Besides, all of us have already entered the category of unrighteousness by being descendants of Adam who plunged our race into unrighteousness. No, we are in desperate need of a Savior. WE must have an alien righteousness applied to our account, or we die.

Once we understand the fallenness of mankind, we also can think more properly about the world in which we live. Why do we need political systems with checks and balances? Why do we need fences, guards, and armies? Why do we not assume that all people will simply do the right thing? None is righteous.

This would be a bleak worldview were it not for the grace of Almighty God. God has sent his Son. Jesus has lived the righteousness we could not. Jesus fulfilled God’s demand of perfection. Jesus died to pay our penalty for failure. Jesus rose to bring us life. Jesus grants to all who trust in him his record of absolute perfection. God views us with the righteousness of Christ imputed to us. The glory of the gospel is that God makes the unrighteous righteous through the gracious work of Jesus.

From Judgment to True Hope

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Amos 9:11-15

11 “In that day I will raise up

the booth of David that is fallen

and repair its breaches,

and raise up its ruins

and rebuild it as in the days of old,

12 that they may possess the remnant of Edom

and all the nations who are called by my name,”

declares the Lord who does this.

13 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord,

“when the plowman shall overtake the reaper

and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed;

the mountains shall drip sweet wine,

and all the hills shall flow with it.

14 I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel,

and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them;

they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine,

and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.

15 I will plant them on their land,

and they shall never again be uprooted

out of the land that I have given them,”

says the Lord your God.

We deserve judgment. God brings hope. This is so often the message of God to his wayward people in the books of the prophets. And it is certainly the message of Amos.

Almost all of this book has been the pronouncement of judgment from God on the northern kingdom of Israel before their fall. Around 750 BC, Israel was living large. They were wealthy and felt safe. God chose to tell the nation that judgment was coming. And the judgment to come would be devastating.

What we know from history is that the northern kingdom fell to Assyria around 722 BC. The people were led away. They were scattered. They never returned to their land. And if all we had was Amos 1:1 through 9:10, we might feel utterly hopeless for this people.

But look at the ending of the book above. God will do something that nobody expects. God will restore, refresh, rebuild. God will bring life where death was the rule of the day. The power of this section works best when you have read through nearly nine chapters of judgment, well-earned, well-deserved judgment.

What does God promise? He will restore the fallen booth of David. Once again, though the united kingdom under Davidic rule has not been seen since 930 BC, God will sit a Davidic king on the throne. Does this mean that God is going to build an Israel that looks like the Israel over which Solomon reigned? NO, what God will do will be greater. In verse 12, the Lord gives us the restoration result, “that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my name.” The restored booth of David will be greater than any Davidic kingdom, because the promised Davidic king will possess “all the nations.” This is the kingdom of Jesus, the Christ, the Son of David.

And what has God promised will come in this kingdom? Verses 13-15 show us a curse-less world. Crops will grow. Wine will be plentiful. Dwellings will be rebuilt. Safety, peace, genuine prosperity, the reign of the King, and an unshakable reward are all coming. God’s people had earned total judgment. God promised hope. And the hope God promised, the kingdom he brings and the Savior who reigns, these are greater than any hope Israel had ever imagined.

Today, the promised King has come. He is now seated on the throne of the universe. He has all authority over all nations. And we live in the light of his rule and in the true hope that his promises will come to pass. Find hope, Christian. Share the good news. Believe the promise of the kingdom of Christ that spans all the nations. Seek to glorify God by being a part of his kingdom now. Long for the return of the Savior that will bring all of this to perfect fulfillment.

Yet You Did Not Return

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Amos 4:6

“I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities,

and lack of bread in all your places,

yet you did not return to me,”

declares the Lord.

Revelation 9:20-21

20 The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, 21 nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

Yet you did not return. Yet you did not repent. These are the regular truths of lost humanity, even in the face of the true and holy judgment of God.

In Amos 4, five times we read, “’Yet you did not return to me,’ declares the LORD. Those lines, spoken to the people of the northern kingdom, all follow different judgments of God on the land. Multiple times and in various ways, God had chastened the people. The hardships they faced should have drawn the people back toward the Lord. After all, the people had agreed to terms with the Lord in the covenant at Sinai, and that covenant included provision for such judgments should the nation turn unfaithful.

In Revelation 9:20-21 as well as 16:9 and 11, we see something quite similar. When the judgments of God are poured out on the people of earth in this prophetic vision, mankind does not turn from his wickedness. Instead, the nature of the lost is to double-down on sin rather than learn from hardship. So, in the end, the people of the world store up for themselves the wrath of God to greater and greater degrees.

Do not underestimate the capacity of mankind to press forward with wickedness even in the light of true judgment and destruction. If God does not work to change our hearts, we will, worse than a recalcitrant child, stiffen our necks and shake our fists until the Lord takes from us our very lives. Even in hell, the wicked will not be truly repentant. While they will bow to Jesus and know that they justly deserve their fate, none will desire to turn from their wickedness to embrace the Lord.

When you see the nature of mankind to be stiff-necked and rebellious, thank Jesus if you have faith. Only through his sovereign power is a dead sinner made a living saint. And if you are made a child of God in Jesus, your relationship with your God is not based on your works or your goodness. Instead, your hope, my hope, our only hope is the love of Jesus and his perfect grace.

If you know Jesus, remember the nature of mankind. We never stop telling the truth to the world. WE never stop calling people to faith. But we must know that only the Lord can change a human heart. If mankind is left to himself, he fights against God and all that is good.

Finally, if you do not know Jesus, stop fighting. If you have any desire to stop fighting, know that this is a gift of God. Repent. Believe. Trust Jesus. Be saved.

Prayers We Need to Pray

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Psalm 141:3-4

3 Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth;

keep watch over the door of my lips!

4 Do not let my heart incline to any evil,

to busy myself with wicked deeds

in company with men who work iniquity,

and let me not eat of their delicacies!

In the model prayer, Jesus taught us to pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” How needful this is. Our hope is not in our goodness. Yet we long to be changed, to be sanctified, to be done with sin. The promise of glory is before all who hope in Jesus. But the struggle of our day-to-day is real.

Where do I need to be delivered from evil? Where do you? We all face different temptations depending on our circumstances, our personalities, our unique gifts or weaknesses. For me, the words of the psalm above ring the bell of a place where I pray the Lord will guard and guide.

I see two temptations in verses 3 and 4 of Psalm 141. The first is so prominent in our day that I would have any believer pray it. We need the Lord to guard our mouths. One might also add the pen or the keyboard to that request. We are quick to sin with our lips. We are quick to hurt others with our words, to say things better left unsaid, to embellish our own goodness, to magnify the failure of others. This is my own need, and I surely pray that the Lord will set this guard in my own life.

In verse 4, we see a righteous prayer not to be taken in by the wicked. May we not fall in with their schemes. At first, this does not seem like something many of us are tempted toward. But look at the last line, “and let me not eat of their delicacies!” There is the danger. The wicked have delicacies, delightful things that we want. It is easy to envy the wealthy their wealth. It is easy to wish that we could have their seeming ease, their lack of worry, their worldly stability. Even if it is a lie, we can have our hearts tempted to wish for the goodies of those who seem to have it all. And that longing can become in us the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, and the pride of life.

May we learn to pray. May we rely on the Lord to guard our lives. May we never stop battling the temptations of our flesh. And may we have the joy and comfort of knowing that our hope is not in how well we win this fight; our hope is in Christ and his finished work alone.

Known and Foreknown

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Romans 8:29–30

29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Amos 3:1–2

1 Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O people of Israel, against the whole family that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:

2 “You only have I known
of all the families of the earth;
therefore I will punish you
for all your iniquities.

Upon what basis does God predestine people to salvation? That the Lord predestines is beyond dispute, as the word clearly declares this time and time again. But how does he do so?

In this discussion, we have two key options. Either the Lord predestines people based on his own sovereign will, a divine mystery not available to us, or he predestines based on his foreknowledge of our actions. The Calvinist will argue that God predestines people to salvation based on his own good pleasure. The Arminian argues that God only predestines based on his foresight of who will and who will not choose him. For the Calvinist, the argument relies primarily on the biblical truth that no person can come to the Lord without the Lord sovereignly drawing that person (cf. John 6:44), bringing a dead heart to life (cf. Eph. 2:1-4). The Arminian, opposed to the concept of divine election based on God and not man, inserts the concept of prevenient grace—an argument that god has graciously moved all humanity to a neutral position so that the final decision is still left in the hands of mankind.

One common Arminian argument for a foreknowledge or prescience view of predestination comes from Romans 8:29, which says that those God “foreknew” he predestined. Some believe that this verse is suggesting that God predestined to salvation all those he foreknew—knew beforehand—that they would respond to the offer of grace in Christ. But is this what is being said? Is this the only option?

Without settling the full argument in a tiny little post, I want to point out one verse from my daily Bible reading that shows that the concept of God’s knowledge of a people is something different than simply God having intellectual awareness. In Amos 3:2, God is speaking of the nation of Israel. God says of Israel that they are the only people he has “known” of all the families on earth. I believe this concept bears strongly on whether or not the foreknowledge of Romans 8:29 has anything to do with an Arminian understanding of predestination.

What can the word “known” mean in Amos 3:2? Can it mean intellectual awareness? No. Why? God knows all things. God has intellectual awareness of all peoples. No way can God say that Israel is the only nation of which he has had intellectual awareness.

How is Israel different than the other nations? Israel is a nation that has entered into covenant relationship with the Lord. They are set apart, not because of intellectual awareness, but because of intimate, relationship-based knowing. Remember that the word for knowledge is used euphemistically for the intimate relationship of husband and wife, and you will get the point. God is saying of Israel in Amos 3:2 that Israel is the only nation that he has known, the only nation that he has taken to himself as his own.

Now return to Romans 8:29. Those whom God foreknew, he predestined. In verse 30, we see that all he predestined, he subsequently called, justified, and glorified. Thus, all the predestined are saved. Nothing breaks this chain. And we must conclude that all the foreknown are saved.

Are all human beings saved? No. only those who are predestined are saved. Are all foreknown? It depends on what foreknown means. If foreknown means intellectual awareness, then all are foreknown and should be predestined to salvation. If foreknown means intellectual awareness, then the chain is broken. And note that no language in any part of this verse says anything about foreknowledge of particular actions or choices. That concept is inserted by the Arminian.

But if the “known” in foreknown means the same as known means in Amos 3:2, that God took them to be his own, then the chain makes perfect sense. Beforehand, God chose a people to be in relationship with him. Those he foreknew, took to be in relationship with himself, he predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son. Then he called them, justified them, and glorified them without any possibility of failure.

May a Christian Apply the Standards of God Even to the Lost?

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Amos 1:3-5

3 Thus says the Lord:
“For three transgressions of Damascus,
and for four, I will not revoke the punishment,
because they have threshed Gilead
with threshing sledges of iron.
4 So I will send a fire upon the house of Hazael,
and it shall devour the strongholds of Ben-hadad.
5 I will break the gate-bar of Damascus,
and cut off the inhabitants from the Valley of Aven,
and him who holds the scepter from Beth-eden;
and the people of Syria shall go into exile to Kir,”
says the Lord.

The prophecy of Amos begins with the Lord pronouncing judgments on lands that surround the northern kingdom of Israel. One might imagine the judgments of God falling on neighboring lands, encircling Israel, coming closer and closer until the northern kingdom is squarely in the sights of the Lord. With the first pronouncements, the people of Israel probably celebrated. But as the pronouncements drew closer and closer to Samaria, the people likely got more and more nervous.

For me in this reading, the thought that got my attention is not the slow and steady shelling of the lands around Israel until it is finally hit. Instead, it is the fact that God first pronounces judgments on Syria, Philistia, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, and Moab. (A pronouncement is made against Judah as well, but that is not what grabbed my attention.) In Amos 1 and 2, God pronounced his judgments upon lands and peoples who never agreed to follow him or his ways.

One common misconception that I have recently heard voiced is that the people of God have no right to bring the morality of the faith to bear on those who do not know the Lord. If a person is not a Christian, some reason, we cannot attempt to impose the standards of the Bible upon them.

But look at any proclamation in the first 2 chapters of Amos and see what the Lord is doing. God is judging lands like Syria for their cruelty and evildoing. In the section I cite above, God judges Syria for their harsh treatment of Gilead. One might say that this is OK, because the Syrians were hurting other people . But stop and let yourself think of the point that God clearly makes here.

For what reason is God judging Syria? In simplest terms, God is judging Syria for their sin. This nation is crushing people, killing people, and this is wrong. Why is it wrong? Is it only wrong because you say so or I say so? No, that cannot be it. In Genesis 9, God is quite clear that murder is an attack on the very image of God. In Exodus 20, when God outlines his covenant with Israel, God shows us that to unjustly take a life is to go against the holy standard of right human behavior. The leaders in Damascus have treated people wrongly in clear violation of the standard of God. And the Lord has pronounced punishment upon them for this treatment. And this is just of God, even if the people of Syria have never heard the law of God proclaimed and even if they have never agreed to follow the Lord or his ways.

So, do we have the right to bring the word and standards of God to bear in our discussions with and our response to the lost world? Absolutely we do. Whether the world agrees or not, Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth. Jesus commands all to believe in and follow him. To violate that standard is to oppose the one who has final and lasting authority. If this is not the case, then we must conclude that God did not have the right to judge the six surrounding nations outside of Israel and Judah in Amos 1 and 2. And I do not think we are ready to declare that God overstepped.

Do not be confused here. I am not at all suggesting that any lost person who obeys the basic morality of God will somehow earn his or her way to heaven. In Adam, all humanity fell. All of us are already guilty of violating God’s holy standard. No amount of law-keeping will earn us heaven. We must have Jesus and his perfect atoning work on our behalf if we are to have life with God. Neither am I pressing toward making Israelite civil law the law of every nation. But, and this is the point, we still live in God’s world. We all still live under the “all authority” that Christ claimed for himself (cf. Mat. 28:18). And so, when God says murder is wrong, it is wrong for the Christian and the lost person alike. When God says adultery is wrong, it is wrong for the Christian and the lost alike. All of God’s ways are right, and no person on earth has the right to live in opposition to the commands of the God who made us.

So, yes, believers have not only the right but also the responsibility to apply the word and ways of God in every situation. And, yes, we must reject any claim that we cannot bring Scripture to bear, even in situations that involve those who have never surrendered personally to the lordship of Christ. Christian, do not fall prey to the false argument that says that you have to keep your Bible to yourself. Your Bible is the expression of the will of the one, true, ultimate, complete, and final authority.

Giving is Good

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3 John 5-8

5 Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, 6 who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. 7 For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. 8 Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.

On Sunday, our church hosted a dear missionary family serving the Lord in Ecuador. It was so sweet to hear them share with us about the work that God is doing through their ministry of offering seminary training to indigenous pastors, even those who cannot read printed text. We, of course, reminded our church that this team needs our prayers and our financial support.

How fascinating, then, that my reading for today took me through the short epistle of 3 John. Here we see John commending a church for welcoming, supporting, and sending out faithful people who were taking the gospel into new places. This is holy Scripture, the voice of God, reminding us that sending is good. In fact, contributing to the work of faithful missionaries is partnering in the mission itself. John tells us, “we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth” (v. 8).

From time to time, you will actually hear Christians putting down giving. Some will argue that it is sheer laziness for Christians to “merely” give to missions. And I would agree that we should encourage believers not to think that writing a check is the final fulfillment of Christian duty to the Great Commission. But may we not ever deny the biblical claim that sending missionaries, giving to their support, praying for their wellbeing is in fact partnering with them on mission.

Every one of us is under the authority of Jesus. Every one of us is called by Jesus—who has all authority in heaven and on earth—to make disciples of all nations. And all of us are wired and gifted differently. Some are front-line evangelists. Some are prayer warriors. Some are financially blessed givers. Some are behind-the-scenes servers. All are needed to take the gospel to all nations for the glory of Christ.

So, Christian, find missionaries you trust. Love them. Give to support them. Go and encourage them. Pray for them regularly and let them know that you are doing so. Meet their needs. Give to them beyond meeting their basic needs that they might experience the comfort of knowing they are loved and supported by folks far away. Do not put down giving, because giving is good.

Darkness Not Darkness

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Psalm 139:11-12

11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,”
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.

When we think of darkness as we study the Scripture, we tend to think of a moral metaphor—dark equals evil while light equals good. But this is not the only symbolic use of darkness. Darkness hides. Darkness obscures. Darkness is the refuge for the evil who wishes to hide his actions. Darkness is a threat against the safety of the innocent. Darkness is dangerous.

In Psalm 139, David has been rejoicing and marveling in the fact that God is all-present and all-knowing. God knows him inside and out. God knows David’s thoughts before he thinks them. God knows David’s words before he speaks them. God surrounds David, no matter where he goes.

Then, in verses 11-12, David speaks of darkness. The darkness cannot hide David. God sees right through it as if seeing in the noonday sun. And both negative applications of darkness can be applied here to help us to see the goodness of God.

Consider darkness as the shelter for the evil. When we want to do wrong, we want to hide. We want to say, “You can’t see me.” We want to avoid being known. But God sees. God knows. God is there. God is able to penetrate our deepest disguises and to do so without any effort at all.

We must let this fact impact how we think about our sin. We are not hidden from the Lord. No matter where we go or what we do, we are not hidden from his sight. We cannot do evil in a place where it is not visible to the God who made us.

Darkness is also dangerous, even depressing. Sometimes we feel hidden. Sometimes we feel like we fade away from being important to anybody. Sometimes we may wish to be known, but we feel like nobody sees us, nobody knows, nobody cares. But God sees. God sees through our darkness. Nothing can obscure his sight from us. He knows where we are. He knows what we need. He knows our hurts and hopes, our struggles and dreams. Even better, he, because he made us, knows exactly what we actually need and not merely our sin-warped desires.

God sees you in the dark. Let that call you to remember that darkness of any sort cannot hide your sin.

God sees you in the dark. Even more in keeping with the context of this psalm, let this comfort you if you know the Lord. You cannot be pulled away from his loving gaze. You cannot be dragged away to someplace he cannot find you. You cannot feel something he does not understand. You cannot melt into obscurity as if you do not matter to him. God sees you, and this is glorious.