Dear Friend,
When I was young, we used to drive our Ford Fairlane through the newly minted, dark tunnels under the Smoky Mountains in the Appalachians. A few of those tunnels were so long and dark that no matter how sunny the day the darkness inside was pitch black around us, even with the headlights on. The echoing noise was eerie and loud. I remember finally seeing a faint glow up ahead, a dim light that began to grow brighter until finally the sun burst in at the edge of the tunnel and our car drove out into brilliant sunlight that glimmered off the beautiful river running at our side and made the green of the dense forest deep and gorgeous.
It was the light at the end of the tunnel that had burst upon us and brought the world back into focus.
One dictionary defines the phrase “the light at the end of the tunnel” this way: signs of improvement in a situation that has been bad; signs that a long or difficult piece of work is almost finished. Another says: “happiness and success after a period of difficulty.”
I think we all have, at one time or another, been in a dark and winding tunnel, waiting for that light at the end to burst upon us, waiting to emerge back into the world in all its glory and splendor. For some of us, the tunnels have been shorter and not quite as scary—for others of us, we’ve had to ride through some very dark tunnels as we made our way back to light.
David, the ancient king of Israel, wrote the song that we call Psalm 63 after being betrayed by one of his best friends. Even though king, he wrote the psalm in the Desert of Judah to which he had fled, weeping as he went and with his family in tow, to save his life after the rebellion against his throne. He cried out to God through his deep pain of betrayal and finally emerged into the light once again, to take back his kingdom and life as a wiser king.
Psalm 63 (NIV Translation)
A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah.
You, God, are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
where there is no water.
2 I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.
3 Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
4 I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
5 I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
6 On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches of the night.
7 Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings.
8 I cling to you;
your right hand upholds me.
Thank you for reading our FaithPrayers weekly posts. We pray that you will be highly blessed this week.
Live in the Light,
Mary Ann Offenstein
Founder and Director of Operations
FaithPrayers National Prayer Line