Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. (Ps. 90:14)
IT’S ALWAYS DARKEST BEFORE DAWN. Just as the darkness of night is broken by the rising of the sun in the morning, Moses prayed that the dawning of the Lord’s love would overcome the darkness of His anger.
Moses led the Israelites as they wandered in the desert for forty years. Four decades is a long time. It feels even longer when you’re listening to the same complaints from the same people over and over. It’s understandable that Moses was ready to finally rest and enter the Promised Land.
Yet these were but a shadow of what is to come. Hebrews 4:1 reminds us that “the promise of entering his rest still stands.” And while Moses was able to see but not enter the Promised Land, Jesus has gone to His Father’s house to prepare a place for those who trust in Him. And that place will not be restricted to the geographical borders of Israel and portions of surrounding nations. There will be a new heaven and a new earth, and our place will be with God in the Holy City from heaven.
But we must not wait until we get there to “sing for joy and be glad all our days.” Yet even after death we have hope because the darkness that covered the earth on Good Friday was broken by rising of the Son three days later.
Sing (or pray) words of joy to Christ, whose light has shined in the darkness.
Steve Johnson teaches at United Christian Academy in Stanardsville, Virginia, and frequently preaches at area churches. He enjoys life with his wife and six-year-old son.
