I remember Your name in the night, O LORD, And I keep Your law. Psalms 119:55
The world is full of “fair weather friends”, those who will be your friend as long as everything is sunshine and roses. But, at the first sign of stormy weather they are nowhere to be found. In other words, as long as it is pleasant and beneficial and in some way to their advantage to call you a friend then, you are their friend! You may be thinking that the person being described here is no friend at all and you would be right. A friend is a friend at all times; through the good and the bad, during the hard times as well as the easy times.
Job experienced his share of fake friends. When everything was going his way and he had money and standing in the community, everyone wanted to count themselves as a friend of Job. Then, when one thing after another was taken away until Job had literally nothing left in this world, he had no friends left save the three that ended up needing Job’s forgiveness and prayers because of the things they said about him. Once Job’s fortune was restored back to him and even multiplied, here come all of his “friends” to celebrate with him.
The prodigal son had no trouble making friends as he began his life of prodigal living until he had squandered all of his inheritance. Then, he found himself not only without finances but also without friends. The Apostle Paul had times when crowds were gathered around him and other times when he was all alone (but the Lord never left his side). King David experienced times of great popularity and other times when his people wanted to stone him! There are plenty of examples but we must move on.
Jesus had times when great crowds followed Him and cried out wonderful, prophetic words concerning Him. And then, He had His faithful twelve whom He had hand picked to be His disciples, these had declared their devotion to Him even unto death. But alas, when the night came for Him to be taken away and eventually crucified, they all fled (one had already left Him; Judas His betrayer). So much for His closest “friends”. And what about the great crowds who had heard Him teach and been touched by His healing hand? They would all lift up one voice crying, “crucify Him, crucify Him”.
It’s one thing to acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ during the daylight hours when everything is going great. Songs of praise just naturally burst forth for, after all, you remember the goodness of God and you want to give Him the glory He is due for all of the good things in your life. That’s the easy part.
It’s an entirely different matter when the light of day has been replaced by the darkest of nights. Everything looks different at night and it is much more difficult, if not impossible to see what lies ahead. Sure, everything around you is the same as it was during the daylight hours, but then you could see your way clear and now; darkness seems to extinguish every ember of hope within your heart that the sun will ever shine again.
This is the time to remember His name, hold on by faith to Jesus and the promises you have from the Word of God. When darkness closes in on you, remember His name in the night!
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