MAGNIFY ~ Day 29

~ Day Twenty-Nine ~

MAGNIFY

No Other Name

The Book of Job ~ Chapter Twenty-Nine

"Oh, that I were as in months past,

as in the days when God watched over me;

when His lamp shone upon my head,

and when by His light I walked through darkness;

just as I was in the days of my prime,

when the friendly counsel of God was over my tent;

when the Almighty was yet with me."

(Job 29:2-5a)

MORNING MEDITATION

Lamp

In ancient Israel, families would let their lamps burn all night, so that everyone would know that their house was inhabited. A house without light signified that it had been deserted. The lamp signified the life and dignity of a family, therefore Jewish families would rather go without food than let their lamps go out. "How often is the lamp of the wicked put out? How often does their destruction come upon them, the sorrows God distributes in His anger?" (Job 21:17). It's no wonder that Job's friends and all his neighbors looked upon him with such contempt, since not long ago he was such a bright light in the community.

"There I will make the horn of David grow;

I will prepare a lamp for My Anointed."

(Psalm 132:17)

The oil lamp was a person's only source of light at night in ancient Israel. Without it a person had no way of seeing the path in front of him. For the believer, the Word of God is our Source of light to guide us through the dark night of this wilderness world. "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (Psalm 119:105). Without the guidance of the light of His Holy Spirit indwelling within, and the light of His Word giving us understanding and illuminating the path under our feet, we would stumble and fall over every obstacle and eventually be led astray. "For You are my lamp, O LORD; the LORD shall enlighten my darkness" (2 Samuel 22:29). The Lord promised His servant David that he would always have a lamp in this world (2 Kings 8:19); He promised His servant that his house would always be filled with light and never be deserted by God. Jesus, the light of the world (John 8:12), came into the world, and deposited His light into the hearts of every believer, so that His house, His church, would always be filled with light, and so the light of David's lamp would never go out, until He, who is the fulfillment of the promise returns and fills the whole earth with His light. "There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever" (Revelation 22:5)! Jesus, the true light which gives light to every man (John 1:9), has brought life and light into our lives, dispelling the darkness of sin by the light of the gospel, and causes all that we do to flourish and produce flight as we abide in His light and love. Like the Levitical Priesthood of old, we, as the royal priesthood (1 Peter 3:9), have been given a sacred trust to steward the light that we have been given, faithfully. We have a responsibility to keep the wicks of sin trimmed and the oil in our lamps continuously flowing, lest we be found like the five foolish virgins, unprepared to welcome our Bridegroom when He returns (Matthew 25:1-13). May every church, Christian home, and believer's heart be filled with the light and love of Jesus Christ and placed high upon a lampstand, so that the bright light of the gospel will spill out into the streets and "fill the whole earth with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea" (Habakkuk 2:14). "Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together" (Psalm 34:3).

"Arise, shine; for your light has come!

And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you.

For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,

and deep darkness the people;

but the LORD will arise over you,

and His glory will be seen upon you.

The Gentiles shall come to your light,

and kings to the brightness of your rising."

(Isaiah 60:1-3)

AFTERNOON DEVOTION

Read: Job Chapter Twenty-Nine

"Men listened to me and waited,

and kept silence for my counsel.

After my words they did not speak again,

and my speech settled on them as dew.

They waited for me as for the rain,

and they opened their mouth wide as for the spring rain."

(Job 29:21-23)

Months had gone by with no sign of relief from his affliction. Job had patiently endured the severest of all possible human circumstances and worst of all counsels from his so-called friends. When their rebukes finally came to an end, Job was prepared to make his final defense; but before he did, he took a little trip down memory lane. Job remembered the good old days when the light of God's countenance shone upon him and he walked in the favor of the Lord. Light was breaking through the clouds of his affliction, and for a moment he rose above the ash heap and forgot his pain as his thoughts settled on the person of God and all the wonderful ways He had worked in Job's life. Job knew that God was the Source of all his wealth, influence, and achievements. He remembered a time, not long ago, where all was light between the Lord and himself. The Lord's presence was always with him, the conversations between them were sweet and open, and his true Friend never kept him in the dark, but shared with him His secrets. "Just as I was in the days of my prime, when the friendly counsel of God was over my tent" (Job 29:4). The Lord's light kept the lamps in his house lit, filling his whole house with so much light that it spilled out of the windows into the city streets where passersby basked in the benevolent rays of God's favor and goodness that had come to rest on Job's head. He was well-respected in the public square; everyone knew that he walked with God, and so they honored him as a man blessed and highly-favored of the Lord. "When I went out to the gate by the city, when I took my seat in the open square, the young men saw me and hid, and the aged arose and stood" (vv. 7, 8). Job walked humbly with the Lord, and he showed mercy and administered justice to the people (Micah 6:8). He was a man of compassion and generosity, whom the Lord could trust with great riches, both materially and spiritually. He let the light of God shine through him before all men so they saw his good works and glorified God in heaven (Matthew 5:16). "I was eyes to the blind, and I was feet to the lame. I was a father to the poor, and I searched out the case that I did not know" (vv. 15, 16). Job brought honor and glory to God as he brought hope and encouragement to the people speaking the truth in love and comforting them with heavenly words that fell like refreshing rain upon their heads. "And my speech settled on them as dew. They waited for me as for the rain..." (Job 29:22b, 23a). Let us take time today to look back with gratitude for all the blessings the Lord has brought into our lives, and offer a prayer of thanksgiving, giving glory to His name. And may we repent for not stewarding the light of God's love and favor that we have been entrusted with as we should, and pray that the Lord would keep the light of our lamps burning a little while longer so that we can illuminate our communities with the love of Christ. Let us lay our hearts bear before the Lord and allow Him to purify and consecrate them more fully with the washing of water by the Word (Ephesians 5:26), so that His light can shine more clearly through us and not be diminished in any way. "Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place - unless you repent" (Revelation 2:4, 5).

"And I said, "This is my anguish;

but I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most High."

I will remember the works of the LORD;

surely I will remember Your wonders of old.

I will also meditate on all Your work,

and talk of Your deeds.

Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary;

who is so great a God as our God?"

(Psalm 77:10-13)