The Lessons Of The Darkness
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Hidden Riches of Secret Places
Hidden Riches of Secret Places
7 Truly the light is sweet, and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun:
8 But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity.
Remember = (make) mention (of), be mindful, recount, record (-er), remember, make to be remembered,
20 Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: For wisdom and might are his:
21 And he changeth the times and the seasons: He removeth kings, and setteth up kings: He giveth wisdom unto the wise, And knowledge to them that know understanding:
22 He revealeth the deep and secret things: He knoweth what is in the darkness, And the light dwelleth with him.
God knows what is in the darkness.
Cyrus is one of the noblest figures in ancient history. His character became a model for the Greek youth in strength, simplicity, humanity, purity, and self-restraint. We have seen that Jehovah had assured His people that Jerusalem would be restored, Isa 44:26. They probably expected a repetition of the Red Sea and the Exodus. But God does not repeat Himself; and their deliverance from captivity was to be achieved through the victories that made Cyrus master of Babylon. See Ezr 1:1-4.
God’s plans are achieved through individuals, whom He equips and raises up for their specific work. There is much in all our lives that we cannot account for, and which is due to the girding of the Almighty. We do not always recognize the real sources of our lives. They are hidden in God. He girds us though we do not know Him. Let us not gird ourselves in our own strength, but stretch forth our hands unto Him, sure that He will neither fail nor forsake. See Joh 21:18. They who thus utterly yield to God are bidden in the exercise of a daring faith to command, that is, to claim, His saving power.
1 Thus saith the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, Whose right hand I have holden, To subdue nations before him; And I will loose the loins of kings, To open before him the two leaved gates; And the gates shall not be shut;
2 I will go before thee, And make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, And cut in sunder the bars of iron:
3 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.
God reveals treasures of wisdom in darkness
Things that aren't normally seen
God teaches eternal truths in darkness
God gives eternal riches and treasures in darkness
God shows us who He is and how powerful He is in the secret places
8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
Darkness = shadiness, that is, obscurity (literally or figuratively): - darkness.
The kingdom of darkness is different
7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.
many are the days of darkness
God will reveal treasures in the darkness
God manifests the reality of His presence and power in darkness
God Moves In The Darkness
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
Not only do all beginnings begin with God, but God begins moving in the darkness.
Just because you don’t see God moving in your circumstances doesn’t mean He’s not moving.
He is alway moving and working
He’s moving right now in your behalf for His glory and your good.
It’s so dark - yes, but God is moving
No one saw God moving in the beginning - yet He was moving
God was Moving in the darkness before He created the light
17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;
18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
things which are not seen - darkness
God wants a deeper relationship
He calls me by name.
God moves in the darkness.
2. God Speaks in the Darkness
God moved, by His spirit in the darkness
12 And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.
13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years;
God was revealing to Abram in darkness
27 What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.
God speaks in the dark places
You have a heightened sense of hearing in darkness
21 And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.
22 And the Lord said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.
We hear more in the darkness - don’t
Treasures of darkness - God moves - God speaks
God speaks to encourage and strengthen
3. God Dwells In the Darkness
I want to abide in Him - dwell in Him
10 And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord,
11 So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.
12 Then spake Solomon, The Lord said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.
11 He made darkness his secret place; His pavilion round about him Were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.
Many of the Psalms were written in dark times of the Psalmists
Psalm 91:1
1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
Psalm 36:7
7 How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings.
4. God Protects Us With Darkness
5 I sent Moses also and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them: and afterward I brought you out.
6 And I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and ye came unto the sea; and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and horsemen unto the Red sea.
7 And when they cried unto the Lord, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them; and your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt: and ye dwelt in the wilderness a long season.
God will hide you from your enemies. So you can’t be hurt.
God will use darkness to hurt the ruler of the kingdom of darkness
5. God Reveals Deep Things
22 He discovereth deep things out of darkness, And bringeth out to light the shadow of death.
9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
10 But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.
God reveals things in the dark places - the deep things of God
The Holy Spirit will reveal all truth
6. God Softens Our Hearts In The Darkness
16 For God maketh my heart soft, And the Almighty troubleth me:
17 Because I was not cut off before the darkness, Neither hath he covered the darkness from my face.
God allows darkness to soften us
14 Happy is the man that feareth alway: But he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief.
It’s not fun going through darkness
Crying
7. God’s Secret Place Is In The Darkness
11 He made darkness his secret place; His pavilion round about him Were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.
God invites us to His secret places
In me, for me, through me
God invites us into secret with Him.
Praying in secret.
4 That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.
18 That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.
We need to get alone with God in secret
8. God Uses Darkness To Test Our Commitment To His Word
28 He sent darkness, and made it dark; And they rebelled not against his word.
God examines us in darkness
When God sends darkness in our lives, we humble ourselves to His Word.
