Counsel for those who walk in the dark.
"Let him trust in the Name of the Lord, and stay upon his God." Christians "walk in darkness when their evidences for heaven are clouded, their joy in God is interrupted, the testimony of the Spirit is suspended, and the light of God's countenance is eclipsed." The first reference of this passage is to the anxieties of the latter part of Hezekiah's reign, when national dangers were great, and many political parties existed, one recommending one course, and one another. It was very difficult to decide what course to take. Good men, who wanted to do right, "walked in darkness." Use the figure of going an unknown path on a dark night. We only feel safe as we hold some one's hand, and let him guide us. God is the true Guide, and darkness and light are both alike to him. There is a sense in which one must always be walking in the dark. "We are not sufficient of ourselves even to think anything as of ourselves." "It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps." We can never see more than one step at a time. The future is altogether unknown. If we were sure of ourselves, we can never be sure of others. There is no possibility of our knowing how they wilt act under given circumstances. Only in vague and uncertain ways can we ever plan, for all our plans are formed in the dark. It is God's law for us that we shall walk through life in the dark. The question is—Must we walk alone? That question our text answers. No; we may stay ourselves on our God. Illustrate by the artistic conception of Noel Paton concerning the guide through the death-valley, in his 'Mors Janua Vitae' picture. God would have us cherish the spirit which says—
"I'd rather walk in the dark with God
Than go alone in the light."
The "Name of God," in which we are to trust, is the name of a safe Guide—so the ages say, so the saints of all the ages say. He is the Great-Heart for pilgrims, whether they walk on the hill-ridges of prosperity in the light, or along the valleys of fear and trouble, where the shadows lie thick and heavy.—R.T.