I See My Counselor Every Day + “Set In Dark Places”
Set In Dark Places.
“Last night, I opened my Bible to Lamentations 3:6:
“He hath set me in dark places…”
And then noticed Psalm 88:5,6 in the sidenotes…
“Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the depths…”
Sometimes, God Himself places us in dark depths. I personally know from experience the meaning of these words. Dark depths. Dark places. Seasons that I could only qualify as a “dark night of soul,” which seemed to have no escape hatch. Pitch blackness, with no shred of light, where all I could feel was the darkness of night. “…even darkness which may be felt.” (Ex. 10:21) It is darkness without description, but if you’ve experienced it, you understand. You know the meaning of dark places. You know the seasons when God has “set” you there.
The writer of Lamentations continues on, “He hath set me in dark places, as they that be dead of old. He hath hedged me about that I cannot get out:” (v. 7) I am stuck in this inky blackness…it’s tendrils are wrapping around my mind…it’s velvet veil seems to be suffocating my thoughts. I cannot get out. There is nowhere to go. There is no running. I’ve been set here. “…He hath made my chain heavy. Also, when I cry and shout, He shuts out my prayer. He has enclosed my ways with hewn stone…”
These words may seem hyperbolic to some, but to others they will feel to be the most accurate description of their current season or a former season. Inexplicable DARKNESS. Inescapable DARKNESS. with no release. Just the inner knowledge that God has “set” you there.
Those DARK PLACES are filled with mystery. Unknowns. Uncertainty. Often, the voice of questions mixes and mingles with the voice of the Accuser. He attempts to use dark places as proof that God doesn’t love, that God isn’t good, that God doesn’t care. He, like Job’s companions, will say “it’s all your fault.” He will attempt to use a dark assignment as verification of God’s unfaithfulness and God’s absence. But while the dark is deep & the darkness is mysterious, I know that in the dark, I’m not alone.
“…when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me.” (Micah 7:8) When the perplexing questions of darkness consume my thoughts, GOD IS STILL THERE.
Job reiterates the concept of Jeremiah and Heman in Psalms 88…” He hath fenced up my way that I cannot pass, and hath set darkness in my paths.” (Job 19:8) And, like Jeremiah, Job continues: “He hath stripped me of my glory and taken the crown from my head. He hath destroyed me on every side, and I am gone: and mine hope hath he removed like a tree.” THE WORDS and EMOTIONS and FEELINGS of cloaking darkness. DEEP DARKNESS. DARK DEPTHS.
And, while darkness is a reality at certain junctures of life…the darkness IS NOT MEANINGLESS.
1. God WORKS in the darkness…
“In the beginning God CREATED the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form and void, and DARKNESS was upon the face of the DEEP.” Gen 1:1
In the DARKNESS, God CREATED. God began His creative process in the dark expanse of eternity. Darkness did not prevent creation…Darkness facilitated creation. “All life emerges from dark places.” (Rev. Robert Tisdale) Every single living thing emerges from DARKNESS and from seclusion. Every tree begins below the surface, emerging from a dead seed, eventually bulging and burgeoning through the darkness with the tiniest shoot toward the sun. Every human life, God’s highest expression of creative ability, begins in darkness. “You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.” (Ps 139:15 NLT) God CREATES IN DARKNESS. He does His finest work there.
2. God is in control of and undaunted by darkness.
“The day & the night are both alike unto thee.” (Psalm 139:12) “Darkness was UNDER HIS FEET.” (PS 18:9) “He made darkness His secret place; His pavilion round about Him were dark waters, and thick clouds of the skies.” (Psalm 18:12)
3. God grants revelation in the darkness.
“He discovers deep things out of darkness, and bringeth out to light the shadow of death (Job 12:22) CSB translates this as, “He reveals mysteries from the darkness, and brings deepest darkness into the light.” There are things learned in darkness that could be learned nowhere else. We learn more of God in the dark than at any other time. Deep revelation of who He is happens IN the depths. Just as a blind person lives in darkness, and has all other senses heightened, so it is in our spiritual lives. We learn the sound of His voice. We feel His presence, because our sight is cut off. Our FAITH becomes our eyes in dark places, and while we are ‘sat’ there, we learn.
4. God gives treasure out of dark places.
“And I will give thee the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel. (Isaiah 45:3) A few minutes ago, I walked away from writing, and I felt like God dropped a thought in my spirit. “MINES ARE DARK.” Just as every form of life, begins in the dark, every treasure (that I can think of) comes from dark depths; and is costly to mine. Diamonds and gold and rubies and titanium. Platinum. Silver. Iron. Coal. Aluminum. Copper. Topaz. Jade. Emerald. Sapphire. Turquoise. The list could go on. EVERY valuable treasure that I can think of, outside of paper currency and living things, is FORMED IN and MINED FROM darkness. Even the ocean depths produce the radiance and beauty of pearls. Diving deep is required for retrieval. Charles Spurgeon said, “Those who dive in the sea of affliction bring up rare pearls.” Darkness and depths are the place of production for treasures. “Gemstones are created deep in earth’s core & pushed closer to the surface through natural processes. Earthquakes, volcanoes, and plate shifts are a few examples of these processes. This process still leaves gemstones miles underground, though they are now close enough to the surface to be mined. Diamonds and peridot are the deepest gemstones to mine, resting 125 miles below ground. Most other gemstones can be found 3 to 25 miles below the earth’s surface.” (noesjewelry.com) (OK. this is one random website not taking #’s as absolute fact) but the most expensive treasure is mined from the deepest places, and finding treasure is made possible by natural processes & storms. The deeper you go, the darker it gets. The darker it gets, the more valuable the treasure. But the treasure must be mined. We must choose to learn and glean the treasure of dark places, dark depths.
So, while my natural mind cannot comprehend or understand dark places, I trust in dark places, I learn in dark places, I am formed in dark places, and if I handle the dark places I am entrusted with correctly, I will come out of them with TREASURES….more valuable than any physical treasure…more precious and priceless than gold, diamonds, rubies, or pearls. Treasure of inestimable worth. As Paul wrote, “The unsearchable riches of Christ.” (Ephesians 3:8)
So, when God walks me into and SETS me in dark places, I will trust His formative process…I will remember He’s with me, and that He will be my light there, “When I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be light round about me.” (Micah 7:8) and remembering is key in the darkness. Jeremiah runs through an entire list of how dark & horrible his situation and season of dark places is — in Lamentations 3, and then he makes his famous transition by remembering… “This I recall to mind, therefore have I hope, it is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not, they are new every morning. Great is Thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in Him. The Lord is good unto them that wait for Him, to the soul that seeketh Him. Lam 3:21-25) Jeremiah thinks back and remembers the Lord’s mercy, compassion, and faithfulness, and these fuel hope & patience in that dark place.
When I trust in the darkness, and when I remember in the darkness, then I have hope in the darkness, and know God is growing and creating in the darkness, and I can learn in the darkness, and mine treasure there. And when I realize ALL of this, I can sing in the darkness.
Like Paul and Silas at midnight, in the inner prison, a song will bubble up; well up on the inside.
“You shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept, and gladness of heart…” (Isaiah 30:29 ESV) The other prisoners heard their song echoing through the darkness, and I will follow their lead, and SING IN THE DARK.
“God…gives songs in the night….” (Job 35:10) The best songs come from the darkest places. My voice will be heard ringing His praise through the darkness. The darkness may take my sight, but it cannot stop my worship. I may be SET in darkness, but “Great is Thy faithfulness.”
“Yet in the darkness, still I will sing
Even though my eyes can’t see
I will praise you for the victory
I will sing, I will dance
I will praise you in advance for the victory…
For the victory” –Heidi King
Darkness will come to an end. It has an expiration date. Morning always dawns. But while we’re assigned darkness, it’s an opportunity to…
….trust…learn…grow…find God there…mine the darkness for treasure…and learn a new song.
My voice will sing Your praise from dark places.
“He hath set me in dark places.” Lamentations 3:6
Thank you for joining me for this journey!
Go grab your Bible and your journal!
I look forward to the power of this habit in your life. This is Unedited.