The writer has penned the words in Psalm 18:28 For You will light (illuminate, cause to shine) my lamp; the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness. He is saying that the Lord has made his way to be brilliant and clear before him.
Isaiah records these words in 42:16 I will bring the blind (figuratively, to have a film over the eyes) by a way they did not know; ....I will make darkness light (clear, bright, illuminated) before them, ....
When an individual becomes aware of a truth in God’s Word; when it ‘dawns’ upon us after we have walked in spiritual darkness concerning what God has been trying to show us, this is enlightenment. We may come to realize what we haven’t seen before suddenly through praying or it may come to us gradually as we study the Bible. God wants to give us spiritual insight into the many truths there are in the Bible, and doesn’t intend for our understanding to be minimal. He wants for us to gain all the knowledge and wisdom concerning Him and His ways that we can. Why? The Bible records a very important verse in Psalms 119:11 - ‘Your word I have hidden (reserve protect, to esteem) in my heart, that I might not sin against You.’ In the same Chapter, verse 105 it states “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Again, the idea is presented that the Words and Truths of God gives the wisdom and spiritual insight that will guide the Christian in a darkened world.
In reading the entire account in Acts 8: 26-35, it will be seen there is an example of enlightenment, involving a man named Philip (under the direction of the Holy Spirit,) who was instructed to go to a man from Ethiopia who was reading from the prophet Esaias (that is, Isaiah). When Philip got to the man’s chariot, he asked him if he understood what he was reading. The man replied that he couldn’t, unless some man helped him. Philip was then able to preach unto him Jesus! God could have revealed His Word to the Ethiopian directly, but He sent Philip to teach Him.
At times, God used no human individual but rather divine revelation to enlighten people. Recorded in Acts 9 is the story of Saul (later called Paul) concerning his having been stopped on his journey to Damascus by a light shining from Heaven and the voice of the Lord speaking to him. Verse 3 states, ‘And as he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.’ and in verse 8 it is recorded that Saul lost his physical eyesight for three days. The Bible then tells in verse 18 ‘Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose,…’ Not only was Saul’s physical eyesight restored to him but spiritual sight as well!
Then in Acts 26:16-18, the Word of the Lord is revealed and Paul is told why the Lord did appear unto him.
Acts 26:16 But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. 17. I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, 18. to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’
Paul had lost his eyesight and then had it restored so that he was able to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to others that they might also ‘see.’ When the Light of the Gospel is received, it can turn people from the power of Satan to the power of God. A verse in connection with this is I Peter 2:9. It states that believers in Christ are people that ‘you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.’
Consider the following:
1. Psalm 19:8 The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;
2. Psalm 27:1 The Lord is my light and my salvation…’
3. Speaking of the ministry of John the Baptist, it was said that part of what he was called to do was “To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.’ Luke 1:79
4. Romans 10:14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?
5. Second Corinthians 4:3-6
2 Corinthians 4:3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4. whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. 5. For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. 6. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
6. Paul wrote in Colossians 1:9-12
Colossians 1:9 For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 10. that you may have a walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11. strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; 12. giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.
God wants to deliver each of us from the spiritual darkness that so many people seem to be in. Let us be receptive to what the Lord is trying to show us. If we have ‘listening ears,’ let us hear.