Excerpt chapt 15 Night Seasons

Chapter 15
~Night Seasons
“I will bless the LORD, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons.”

We are now to the section in Psalm 16 that addresses ‘night seasons’. A ‘night season’ can be defined as a season of time where one can feel stuck in a pit of despair. There is no assignment of time to this season, but for some it can seem like a lifetime. My experience with a ‘night season’ cannot and should not be compared to another. I had the faithfulness of my husband by my side and many loving church family members, as well as my loving natural family members, to encourage me on in my relationship with Christ.


You know by now that the “Hedged in by God's Grace” Bible study was birthed out this very difficult season of my life. The winter of 2007 was a black hole of despondency. I was convinced this was a physical and emotional barrage from hell. I knew Satan wanted me to believe I was never going to have healing and never going to live a life of victory. I knew he was a liar but, honestly, there were days I could have given up and believed the lies over what I believed was contained in God's Word.


Medication was not working. Rest was not working. Praying and reading the Word was not working. I was basically crippled in my mind and body. Depression is not just about being sad. I knew I had nothing to feel sad about. A brain chemical imbalance robs your ability to think clearly and robs you of who you really are meant to be as a person. It is like wearing a lead blanket and walking in mud up to your knees all the while weeping for "no reason".


In the winter of 2007 a few weeks of prescribed medication did bring a modest balance to my brain chemicals. I could stay awake for most of the day, and at this point I could travel with my husband to church as well as undertake short shopping trips. This was an accomplishment considering my only other outings, for the most part, were to my doctor’s office.

In Psalms 16: 7, the word ‘reins’ speaks of our center parts (literally kidney or organ) from which our emotions spring forth. I think we might call this the soul, mind, will, and emotions. Other versions of the Bible call it the heart. So when your heart gives you counsel it is telling you something from a soulish or carnal perspective. Carnal is not necessarily an evil thought; it’s just a thought that is from a human perspective.


I don't know about you, but during certain times of my life, I've been pretty fickle in my heart. One day I'm whining and complaining and the next everything is sunny. So my heart is not reliable. The Word of God, however, is perfectly reliable. I do believe that we can train our heart to believe God's Word over our circumstances, but realistically we better not rely on our hearts during the difficult seasons of life. I am convinced that what the author of Psalms 16 is attempting to communicate is that we should not walk by sight but by faith when it comes to things of the heart. (2 Corinthians 5:7)


I recently looked more closely in the Strong’s Concordance at the last phrase in this verse and discovered that ‘night seasons’ (layil) means “gloom”. I looked up the root of this word and I was amazed. This root word means "staircase, winding stair, shaft or enclosed space with steps or ladder."

How many of us who have "fallen" into depression felt it was like being trapped in a deep, dark pit with a winding stairwell? I recall one friend calling it the “downward spiral” of life. I will attempt to share a very personal and scary event before I experienced healing manifested in my life.


In the early spring of 2007, after enduring a very long hard winter while unsuccessfully trying different medications to fight depression, it was then, in the middle of the night, I awoke screaming. This had never happened to me before and it was extremely frightening for both my husband and myself. Before the panic completely gripped me and I was left unable to physically speak, I pleaded for my husband to pray in the Spirit for me.


In my mind, I was being dragged down a deep, dark stairwell. I could not see the person dragging me, but could feel his grip. I could see it was a winding stairwell and I didn't understand the significance until I read the meaning of the word ‘night season’. I could hear my husband praying in the Spirit and then I heard the Holy Spirit say; "Now you are going to count the steps as you come up."


In my mind I could see the first step leading up from that evil pit. I could barely force my vocal cords to move, "one" but it was audible. "Two," while panic was still gripping me. "Three," and my speech was only a garble. I slowly counted the steps upward. My dear husband had no idea at the time why I would be counting. I’m sure it frightened him to his core.

By the time I got to seven or eight I knew I was going to be okay. I can’t remember how high I had to count, but I didn’t stop counting the steps until, in my mind, I reached the top of the stairwell. This seemed so real in my thinking, and if the Holy Spirit had not instructed me to come up those stairs, I'm certain I would have been hospitalized that night. Even after all these years, it still brings tears to my eyes as I try to relate this event to you.


My emotions desperately tried to dictate to me that night. Fear and torment thought it had won, but the counsel of the Holy Spirit made all the difference and I WILL BLESS HIS NAME!

Verse 8 of Psalms 16 is like a continuation of the thought in verse 7. ”I have set the LORD always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.” Before studying this verse in depth, I thought this word ‘set’ meant the same as when we set a book on a shelf or vase of flowers on a mantle. My understanding of it was that we would know just where the LORD would be when we needed Him.

This word ‘set’ or shavah, in fact, means to “agree with, or resemble”. It also means to set in place, like one would set the time on a clock or set in place a standard or belief. When we set the LORD before us we are setting a paradigm and we know that nothing can move that standard. We set our thermostats to our climate control devices in our home or car and know that it is secure. As the elements outside are raging heat or a fierce winter blast , our inside dwelling place is a perfect 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

We can purpose to ‘set’ the LORD, and what we know about His nature, as well as our inheritance, firmly in our heart (reins). We can feel confident that we are committed to adopt what we know is the truth and we will not be swayed by the circumstances around us or the raging storms that may barrage us in life. I call this “cementing the understanding” in your heart, so nothing can persuade you otherwise.

You may want to do a word study in your Bible on the Names of God in order to be more familiar with His character. By knowing the nature of God we can feel secure in our relationship with Him.