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Persevering Until Morning

Blog - morning

“I wait for the Lord, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.” (Psalm 130:6)

I thought that this month I would select some of my favorite passages of scripture to do a meditation on. Psalm 130 is one of my favorite psalms. In it the psalmist cries out to the Lord with pleas for mercy (vs. 1). He recognizes that he is steeped in iniquity and were it not for the Lord’s mercy this would be his undoing (vs. 2).

While the whole psalm is great, it is particularly verse 6 that strikes me. I have read a lot of fantasy novels in my time. One image common to many works within that genre is the night watch. I don’t fully know what the night watch entailed for the Israelites of David’s day, but the sense I get is that the watch has a lot in common with the image I am familiar with.

You see, the night watch is a difficult time. No one wants to sign up for the night watch. Not only is it lonely, it seems long and one has to fight sleep. It is a dangerous time, a time when the enemy prowls around looking for an advantage, looking to overtake the sentries and gain entrance to the encampment. It is not pleasant. It requires perseverance. Oh how the person on watch longs for the morning, looking for the first glimmer of sunrise when his watch will be over.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, we are all on the night watch. We live in the night, the Shadowlands as C.S. Lewis has called it. The enemy is prowling around looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). We need to be vigilant. We need to be watchful. We need to be on guard. How easy is it, though, to be lulled to sleep? The night is deep and it is almost morning. The end is near!

Oh, but when the morning comes, the time of watching and waiting will be over. In this time of sin, there is hope. There is forgiveness and plentiful redemption to be found in the Lord. We trust in the glorious hope of the gospel of Christ through his Word. It is a lamp in dark places until the morning star rises in our hearts (2 Peter 1:19). We have glimpsed the morning and yet the morning is not fully here. Let us not let our guard down, thinking that the watch has ended, thereby giving Satan a foothold in our lives. No, let us persevere to the end. Let us find comfort in the promise of morning that we have in the gospel, that is guaranteed through the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:14), but let us keep watching with hope and anticipation for the rising of the sun in all its fullness and glory.