- I pray to you, Lord God, and I beg you to listen.
- In days filled with trouble, I search for you. And at night I tirelessly lift my hands in prayer, refusing comfort.
- When I think of you, I feel restless and weak.
- Because of you, Lord God, I can't sleep. I am restless and can't even talk.
- I think of times gone by, of those years long ago.
- Each night my mind is flooded with questions:
- Have you rejected me forever? Won't you be kind again?
- Is this the end of your love and your promises?
- Have you forgotten how to have pity? Do you refuse to show mercy because of your anger?"
- Then I said, "God Most High, what hurts me most is that you no longer help us with your mighty arm."
- Our LORD, I will remember the things you have done, your miracles of long ago.
- I will think about each one of your mighty deeds.
- Everything you do is right, and no other god compares with you.
- You alone work miracles, and you have let nations see your mighty power.
- With your own arm you rescued your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.
- The ocean looked at you, God, and it trembled deep down with fear.
- Water flowed from the clouds. Thunder was heard above as your arrows of lightning flashed about.
- Your thunder roared like chariot wheels. The world was made bright by lightning, and all the earth trembled.
- You walked through the water of the mighty sea, but your footprints were never seen.
- You guided your people like a flock of sheep, and you chose Moses and Aaron to be their leaders.
This psalm describes a time of great distress the author once experienced. Was it just a personal distress or a national distress that he felt personally? Was it maybe a time of one of Israel's captivities? We don't have these answers, but our understanding of the psalm is not affected by not knowing the circumstances. The psalm outlines a rather common pattern one goes through when distressed by some great difficulty. At first the psalmist cried out to God for His help. He was so troubled he could not sleep and refused to be comforted. But then he turned to bitterness, blaming God for his insomnia and thinking back to the 'good old days' which probably seemed much better in his present state than at the time. He meditates and he ponders and becomes filled with doubts, raising five questions. Has God rejected him forever? Has God's love ceased? Are His promises at an end? Has God forgotten to be gracious? And has God's anger cut off His compassion? Then he turned from his introspection and looked heavenward, determining to remember what the Lord had done in the past. As he remembered God's ancient wonders he was moved to proclaim, "Your way is holy. What god is great like God?" He remembered how God redeemed the Israelites and we are left with the impression, though not mentioned, that the psalmist came to the conclusion that God would also deliver him from his present distress.
Too often we get stuck in the first part, refusing to be comforted and focused on our great hurt. This turns us to bitterness, blaming God, and doubt upon doubt. And there we remain. Yes, others have found help from God, but no one has had trouble like ours and if He were truly a loving God He would not have allowed this to happen to us in the first place. Soon we gain a certain comfort from being the victim. But God has so much more for us and wants to do so much for us, but we have to come out of our self-pity and bitterness and look to God. We have to turn our focus to what He can and has done and off of our helplessness and distress. In so doing, we will indeed discover that He is the God who works wonders.
No comments:
Post a Comment