Day 25: Light for the Eyes
Read: Psalm 13:1–4
Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
— Psalm 13:3 (ESV)
Reflect
Psalm 13 begins with four "How long?" questions. How long will you forget me? How long will you hide your face? How long must I have sorrow in my heart all the day? The psalmist is worn down.
Then, in verse 3, he asks for something specific. Not "fix this." Not "take it away." He prays, "Light up my eyes."
The word is ha'irah, "give light" or "make shine." It is a request for God to put light into his eyes, to cause them to shine again. This is the prayer of someone too tired to see.
You may know this kind of tiredness. It is the dullness that settles in after a long season of trouble. Everything looks gray. You cannot see a way forward, and after a while you stop looking for one. The psalmist even fears it could end in "the sleep of death."
What is striking is that his prayer is about vision, not circumstances. He does not ask first for a change in circumstances. He asks to be able to see again. He knows that if God brightens his eyes, he can face what is in front of him, even if it has not changed yet.
There is wisdom in that order. When you are depleted, light comes before solutions.
Across Scripture
When Jonathan tasted honey after battle, "his eyes became bright" (1 Samuel 14:27). Ezra prayed that God would "brighten our eyes" in a time of slavery (Ezra 9:8), and Psalm 19:8 says God's commandment is "enlightening the eyes." Paul prays for believers to have "the eyes of your hearts enlightened" (Ephesians 1:18).
Sit With It
When you are depleted, ask for light in your eyes before you ask for solutions.
Pray
Light up my eyes.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.