The Dark Mile

Psalms 139:7-12 KJV Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? [8] If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. [9] If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; [10] Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. [11] If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. [12] Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

Psalms 139:11-12 MOFFATT’S If I say, “The dark will screen me, night will hide me in its curtains,” [12] yet darkness is not dark to thee, the night is clear as daylight.

I. PSALM 139

-There are some biblical scholars who believe that David wrote this particular psalm during a time of deep disappointment in his life. But we get to that in a moment.

-Israel at this point in time:

• Has been united under the leadership if the shepherd-king, David.

• Foes are no longer troubling them and if they do so choose to go against Israel, great armies are able to defeat them.

• It is a time of stable national security and welfare.

• The internal strife that is present from the leadership of Saul has been put to rest.

-David starts to contemplate the goodness of God and all that He has done for him both personally and for his own family. Such a state of heart will often put us in the mindset of longing to do something for God. It is a good feeling to have and these are time times that inspiration seems to flow at its highest crest in our lives.

-During this time of thoughtful leanings toward God, David starts considering who this great God really is. David had written psalms and songs about Him. He had exalted Him in worship but it quickly occurs to David that God’s place of dwelling is far lacking as to what it really ought to be. David observes that his house is one of cedars and God’s house is one of curtains (1 Chronicles 17:1).

-David is living in a grand home and yet in startling contrast, God is still confined to the tent of the Tabernacle. David gives himself to a dream of building the Lord a more permanent and grand Temple. But this dream is bigger than he is and so he seeks out the prophet, Nathan, and includes him in on the plan.

-Nathan hears out David and encourages him to do it (1 Chron. 17:2). But there is something that transpires during the night. Nathan, being the prophet, finds a voice of the Lord to come to him during the night. That voice of the Lord (1 Chon. 17:3-15) give Nathan a clear directive that even those this grand and noble desire was in the heart of David, it was not to be. He could not build the Temple. In fact, his son would build the Temple.

-Nathan, on the next day reports back to David the very disconcerting news of the reversal and tells him, “You cannot build the Temple.” David’s response shows the depth of man that he is. You can read about in 1 Chronicles 17 and 2 Samuel 7. He gives an assurance to God that even though greatly disappointed, he will take God at his Word.

-There are times in life when God teaches us more from his denials than from His permissions. Just because God denies us of a thing in our lives does not mean that we have disappointed God nor are we out of His will. It just means that God knows more about our destiny and future than we do. Often the denials are the very things that will preserve us in the future.

-History is full of examples of where that God seemingly smothered a good idea or something that seemed to be great vision to men. It would be in the later years that God would reveal to David why he could not build the Temple. But for now, he just had to trust God in His refusal.

-Has something like this ever happened to you? You determined to do something great in life or for God and the prevailing circumstances stopped you in your tracks. I can recall more than one or two times in my own life that I was filled with some great vision of accomplishment or desire and God seemingly closed the door to what I was longing to achieve and pursue.

• I have friends who wanted to be missionaries and God said “No!”