In The Darkest Of Nights.

It’s another lovely warm evening, and I take a look outside at the night sky once again. I sit there for a few moments and watch the stars glisten overhead. Faint satellites are sliding by. Aircraft move overhead with their navigation lights flashing.

It’s all too easy to get very comfortable here in the quiet and the solitude. But pretty soon my mind wanders to other things. I think of friends and family overseas. And I say a quick prayer to God to keep them in His hand. I think of past friends who I knew over the years and wonder how their lives have fared. I think of other friends who are dealing with long term and short term sicknesses. I say another prayer for them.

And I continue to look at the sky in wonder at the majesty of God. And how insignificant we seem to be on this planet…

Psalm Ch 8 (3)When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained. (4)What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?

 
King David of Israel must have spent many, many nights pondering about God under the night sky. And why wouldn’t he? His life was pretty eventful.

But, it’s very easy to get too comfortable sitting under the nightsky. Eventully we can become desensitised to our troubles and just enjoy the starlight for a while. But this is not the way things are meant to be. We are meant to use the night hours for reflection on the things of God and the works of Jesus. And we use our daylight hours to go out and talk about Him.

King David writes in another place…

Psalm Ch 19 (1)The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. (2) Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge.

I wonder if King David thought much about his younger days. About when he knew the prophet Samuel?  Samuel was the prophet who ordained David to be King. Samuel would have been near the Valley of Elah when Goliath was taunting Israel. David was just a younger shepherd boy then out in the fields a few valleys away.

I was listening to a sermon lately by Pastor Alistair Begg from Cleveland, Ohio. He was talking about Samuel and of when he was a young boy in the temple just starting out on his priestly journey. It can be read about in 1st Samuel Ch 2 and following on.

The chapter talks about the old priest Eli who was in his older years. And of his two sons who were failing in their duties as priests of the Temple (v12). It talks of how they were intimidating other worshippers (v16), and of how they were being abusive with the offerings (v17).

But young Samuel is also mentioned four times within the passage as being a small light in a very dark place. Consider these statements from the text….

V11 - But the child ministered to the LORD before Eli the priest.
V18 - But Samuel ministered before the LORD, even as a child…
V21 - Meanwhile the child Samuel grew before the LORD.
V26 - And the child Samuel grew in stature, and in favor both with the LORD and men.

But Samuel just kept on doing what he was meant to be doing in the temple and did not appear to involve himself with the affairs of other people. He just sat in his own place of study, performed his duties, and continued to praise and serve God.

And I look to the night sky again. This same sky which was gazed upon by those men from old testament times. And I guess that they must have came to the same conclusion that I did. And that is to just leave it all to God.

And then I get another thought which said to me that I have no control over the things that are going on around me. A lot of the weights that weigh me down are not mine to carry. Just as the affairs and dealings of Eli’s sons were nothing to do with Samuel. These things are in God’s hands.

Consider what the writer of the Book of Hebrews wrote in chapter 12….

Hebrews Ch 12 (1)Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, (2)looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Did you spot that wee phrase there? “Lay aside all weights and sins”. You see, all sins are weights. But not all weights are sins. Weights, in this context refers to the things that worry us. Our everyday lives Our anxieties, etc.

God does not want us to try harder. He just wants us to trust Him more deeply. He wants us to praise Him more. And I say another prayer to God and thank Him for His control over all of these things.

My times are in Your hands.
My God, I wish them there!
My life, my friends, my soul, I leave
entirely to Your care.

My times are in Your hands.
Why should I doubt or fear?
My Father's hand will never cause
His child a needless tear.

Email - TheseLivelyOracles@hotmail.com
Internet - www.theselivelyoracles.co.uk
Facebook - These Lively Oracles
Twitter(X) - @livelyoracles58