Psalm 63:1-2
O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you;
my flesh faints for you,
as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory.
The Dark Night of the Soul is a phrase from a 16th century Spanish mystic named John of the Cross. It describes someone who knows God but feels distant from him. When this night becomes morning, so the thought goes, we love God more. There is something to it but this psalm from David says something quite literal. When David wrote this, he was actually in a dark forest and a barren wilderness with King Saul hard on his heels. Yet, in this trust psalm, David praised God that, even in this dark night, God’s power and glory were on full display. He was not distant at all. David could be near him in the sanctuary, the desert, and in a dark wood.
Come to Cape Community Church tomorrow and learn that David’s thirst came from the fact that he simply wanted to know God more. In other psalms, David lamented that God seemed far off but, in every one of those instances, David’s trust shone through the darkness. He never had a dark night because he meditated on him in his bed and never took his eyes off him like a watchman. Come and see how we can see light in the darkness this Christmas and feel the love of Jesus at all times here on earth.
Dear Lord, thank you that on that silent dark night, you came into the world as light. Help us to thirst after you when our night is dark. In Jesus’ name. Amen.