Corona Devo 3218
If this (disgusting) declaration brings a children's song to mind, then you and I are now singing the same one.
And if the song is new to you, I have a feeling that the sentiments are not. We all have worm-eating days and seasons when (it seems as if) nobody likes us and everybody hates us.
And believe it or not, David has a Psalm for that: 142.
~~~
The writings of King David are so very profound. And so very simple.
How could he (David): a shepherd, a king, a Jewish man and a warrior feel (and so aptly express) the exact emotions that we feel?
How could someone with whom we have (seemingly) so little in common capture our (sometimes) cries to the Lord, and plagiarize our (periodic) exact pleas to the Lord?
When we are low, and alone... this is how it feels...and how it goes, but how did David know that? And how did God know that?
I cry out to the Lord; I plead for the Lord’s mercy.(2) I pour out my complaints before him and tell him all my troubles.
(3) When I am overwhelmed, you alone know the way I should turn. Wherever I go, my enemies have set traps for me.
(4) I look for someone to come and help me, but no one gives me a passing thought! No one will help me; no one cares a bit what happens to me. ~Psalm 142:1-4
It's as if David sees us alone on the Friday night.
It's as if God sees us sitting solo at the lunch table.
It's as if the Lord feels our loneliness in the lows, and our sadness in the still.
Guess I'll go eat some worms.
Or...David reminds us, and God's Word guides us into another option:
Then I pray to you, O Lord. I say, “You are my place of refuge. You are all I really want in life.(6) Hear my cry, for I am very low. Rescue me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me.(7) Bring me out of prison so I can thank you. The godly will crowd around me, for you are good to me.” ~Psalm 142:1-7
How can David be so good at scripting our very thoughts and hopes?
David nails it in knowing that even in our darkness and although we despair....there is a way out, and it is in prayer to God.
Then I pray to you, O Lord. I say, “You are my place of refuge. You are all I really want in life. ~Psalm 142:5
It is in our calling-out to God through earnest prayer that we find our safe space: Him.
The Lord is our place of refuge. (“You are my place of refuge. ~Psalm 142:5)
We can cry out to Him.
We can plead to Him for His mercy.
We can pour out our complaints and tell him all our troubles.
God is here and God is near and His Word (in perfect timing today) reminds us of His presence and His care for us. Even if no one else will care or help us, He will.
...no one gives me a passing thought! No one will help me; no one cares a bit what happens to me. ~Psalm 142:4
David sums it all up for himself, but this shepherd and king and Jewish man from 2,000 years ago also sums life up for us too, even though we have never met. David's desire for God is our desire too. David realized it, he came to grips with it, and then David declared it boldly.
We can too!
Then I pray to you, O Lord. I say, “You are my place of refuge. You are all I really want in life.
~Psalm 142:6
Can we say that today? That God is really all we want in life?
I can, and I will.
You can, and you will.
Then I pray to you, O Lord. I say, “You are my place of refuge. You are all I really want in life. ~Psalm 142:6
Amen, Amen, Amen!
Lord--You are all we really want in life.
Help us to divert our hearts from everything empty and to adhere to...You.
David reminds us in Psalm 142 that we can hope in the Lord, and then (when God does) rescue us from our persecutors...we have a testimony to tell about Him!
Bring me out of prison so I can thank you. The godly will crowd around me, for you are good to me.” ~Psalm 142:7
Yes, Lord, even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death...you are good to us, and we will say so.
David defines the outline of our confined situation today.
How does he do it?
Because he (too) felt it.
And he climbed out of it by grasping God's hand through prayers and trust...and hope.
And we can too.
David, this sheperd/king/Jewish man/and warrior shouldn't know a thing about what we face today.
And yet...Psalm 142 reads like a page from our diary.
There can be only one explanation: God knew David and God knows us.
You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. (2) You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. (3) You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. (4) Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. ~Psalm 139:1-4
~~~
If it's one of those days, one of those lonely/depressing/'guess-I'll-go-eat-some-worms days....David has written something to encourage us, and it's not because he knows us,...it's because He knows God.
(1) I cry out to the Lord; I plead for the Lord’s mercy.(2) I pour out my complaints before him and tell him all my troubles.(3) When I am overwhelmed, you alone know the way I should turn. Wherever I go, my enemies have set traps for me.(4) I look for someone to come and help me, but no one gives me a passing thought!
No one will help me; no one cares a bit what happens to me.(5) Then I pray to you, O Lord. I say, “You are my place of refuge. You are all I really want in life.(6) Hear my cry, for I am very low. Rescue me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me.(7) Bring me out of prison so I can thank you. The godly will crowd around me, for you are good to me.” ~Psalm 142:1-7
Comments
Post a Comment