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Psalm 18:28
For you will light my lamp, LORD. My God will light up my darkness.
26With the pure, you will show yourself pure. With the crooked you will show yourself shrewd.
27For you will save the afflicted people, but the arrogant eyes you will bring down.
28For you will light my lamp, LORD. My God will light up my darkness.
29For by you, I advance through a troop. By my God, I leap over a wall.
30As for God, his way is perfect. The LORD’s word is tried. He is a shield to all those who take refuge in him.
Notice
David’s lamp depends on God for its light, and his repeated “will” expresses trust while darkness is still part of the sentence.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What, if anything, would you name as “my darkness” in a prayer today?
Write on thisWhat helps or hinders you in sharing David’s confidence that God will light his lamp?
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Where else Scripture says this
12 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.
This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Psalm 119:105Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light for my path.Both use a lamp to describe light that comes from God; Psalm 119 names his word as the lamp.
John 8:12Again, therefore, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.”Both speak of light overcoming darkness; David trusts God to give light, and Jesus promises light to those who follow him.
Psalm 27:1By David. The LORD is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid?David names the LORD as the source of his light in both psalms, with Psalm 27 also naming salvation.
Psalm 34:5They looked to him, and were radiant. Their faces shall never be covered with shame.Both associate turning toward God with light, though Psalm 34 describes radiant faces rather than a lamp in darkness.
2 Samuel 22:29For you are my lamp, LORD. The LORD will light up my darkness.Both declare that God will “light up my darkness,” while Samuel also names the LORD himself as the lamp.
Job 29:3when his lamp shone on my head, and by his light I walked through darkness,Both describe God’s lamp and light amid darkness; Job recalls that help, while David expresses confidence in what God will do.
Isaiah 42:16I will bring the blind by a way that they don’t know. I will lead them in paths that they don’t know. I will make darkness light before them, and crooked …Both describe God making darkness light, with Isaiah also promising guidance along unknown paths.
Matthew 4:16the people who sat in darkness saw a great light; to those who sat in the region and shadow of death, to them light has dawned.”Both describe light reaching into darkness, with Matthew naming people in the region and shadow of death.
Luke 1:79to shine on those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death; to guide our feet into the way of peace.”Both speak of light amid darkness, while Luke also describes guidance into the way of peace.
1 Peter 2:9But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out …Both credit God with light that changes darkness; Peter describes a people called out of darkness into God’s light.
Psalm 118:27The LORD is God, and he has given us light. Bind the sacrifice with cords, even to the horns of the altar.Both name the LORD as the giver of light; Psalm 18 anticipates it, while Psalm 118 declares it received.
Proverbs 20:27The spirit of man is the LORD’s lamp, searching all his innermost parts.Both connect a lamp with the LORD, though Proverbs uses the image for the human spirit searching a person’s innermost parts.
Where this verse fits
Fear for the future. feeling distant from God. waiting.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
You do not have to deny darkness to pray these words. David names it as his own and trusts God to bring light into it.
Now put it in your words.
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).