Humans are emotional beings. We can experience emotional highs and emotional lows, often times close together. There may be no better example of that than in the song writing of Hank Williams. In 1948 he wrote a fun song titled “I Saw the Light” that boasts of “no more darkness, no more night,” and goes on to say “Now I’m so happy, no sorrow in sight.” It is an upbeat song that demonstrates the good feelings that Williams was experiencing.
Just one year later, however, Williams came out with another song titled “I’m so Lonesome I Could Cry.” That tune says in part, “Did you ever seen a robin weep when leaves begin to die? Like me, he’s lost the will to live. I’m so lonesome I could cry.”
How did Williams go in one year from “I’m so happy” to “I’m so lonesome”? I realize they are only songs, but Williams has explained that he wrote both songs based on things he was feeling at the time. He went from an emotional high to an emotional low in a very short time. We probably all have a little Hank Williams in us. We have probably been there, feeling happy and on top of the world, then feeling sad and at the bottom of a valley. That is part and parcel to living in this world; we are going to have good days and bad ones.
But because of the sacrifice of Jesus our souls can be in a settled state. Before coming to Christ we were all in a low place. Things might have been going well in life, but in our soul we were separated from our Maker. At salvation everything changes, and our souls become elevated to a place that transcends our circumstances. Things might not be going well in life, but in our soul we are united with our Maker, and that brings a joy that the world cannot take from us.
In a rather understated verse, the anonymous writer of Psalm 126 said, “You have done great things for us; we are glad (v.3).” It sounds simple; it certainly lacks the poetic flavor of much of the psalms, but how else can it be stated? God has done great things, and we are glad. God sent His Son, and we are glad. Jesus bore our sins, and we are glad. Jesus died for us and rose again, and we are glad. God has forgiven us, and we are glad. If you have experienced these great things, you can say along with psalm writer, “We are glad.”
That is a gladness that cannot be lost because the results of our salvation are forever settled in heaven. Hank Williams went from very high to very low, but we have the opposite experience. At salvation we go from very low to very high, and we can truly say “no more darkness, no more night.”
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