Let’s be honest, all of us have a dark side. All of us have a sinful nature with which we struggle. The apostle Paul makes this clear when, in Romans, chapter seven, he writes these words -
I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do . . . For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! (Romans 7:15-16, 23-23)
Last Spring, Sherri and I went to see one of our favorite bands at the amphitheater in Orange Beach, Alabama. Tedeschi Trucks combines the incredible vocals of Susan Tedeschi and the amazing guitar of her husband, Derek Trucks, together with a band consisting of drums, bass guitar, keyboards, sax, trumpet, trombone, and some amazing background vocals and harmony.
The opening song for their Orange Beach show was one of my favorites - “Don’t Let Me Slide.” You can listen to the song with the lyrics here.
Susan sings about searching and never finding until “you” took my hand. And now, “you” want to make me wake up every morning. But as the song continues, and the lyrics unfold, we begin to hear the struggle in her heart; the fear that she will slip back into the darkness. “Lord,” she cries out, “don’t let me slide into my dark side.”
This is a worship song that reminds me of many of the psalms in our Bibles. It’s raw and it’s honest. Consider the words of David in Psalm 28 - “To you, Lord, I call; you are my Rock, do not turn a deaf ear to me. For if you remain silent, I will be like those who go down to the pit.”
When was the last time you heard a worship song like this in church? Probably never. But we could stand more songs like “Don’t Let Me Slide.” Like I said, there is a raw honesty that penetrates and touches us in the deepest places of our hearts and souls.
Part of what it means to mature as a disciple of Jesus is a growing self-awareness of just how badly we need God’s grace in our lives; how desperately we depend on Him for our daily bread, nourishing and sustaining us in our walk with Christ Jesus.
“There but by the grace of God, go I” is a quote often attributed to the Great Awakening evangelist, George Whitefield, after he saw a drunk passed out on the side of the road. George Whitefield understood what Susan sings about in “Don’t Let Me Slide.”
It is only through a daily dependence on God’s grace that you and I are able to be the disciples He is calling us to be. I’ve witnessed too many servants of Christ slide into the darkness. Some have returned, battered and bruised spiritually, but with a renewed understanding of their desperate need for God’s guidance and grace. Some, sadly, are still wandering in the darkness.
With that in mind, I conclude this post with the words of David in Psalm 32 after his sins of adultery and what amounted to the murder of a woman’s husband; a journey deep into David’s dark side -
When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night, your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.’ And you forgave the guilt of my sin. (Ps. 32:3-4)
Thank God that even when we slide into our dark side, He’s always there to forgive and restore us.
In Christ,
Dan
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