aloud to God, and he will hear me.
In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;
in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying;
my soul refuses to be comforted.
When I remember God, I moan;
when I meditate, my spirit faints.
You hold my eyelids open;
I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
I consider the days of old,
the years long ago.
I said, “Let me remember my song in the night;
let me meditate in my heart.”
Then my spirit made a diligent search:
“Will the Lord spurn forever,
and never again be favorable?
Has his steadfast love forever ceased?
Are his promises at an end for all time?
Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has he in anger shut up his compassion?”
Then I said, “I will appeal to this,
to the years of the right hand of the Most High.”
I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
yes, I will remember your wonders of old.
I will ponder all your work,
and meditate on your mighty deeds.
Your way, O God, is holy.
What god is great like our God?
You are the God who works wonders;
you have made known your might among the peoples.
You with your arm redeemed your people,
the children of Jacob and Joseph.
When the waters saw you, O God,
when the waters saw you, they were afraid;
indeed, the deep trembled.
The clouds poured out water;
the skies gave forth thunder;
your arrows flashed on every side.
The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind;
your lightnings lighted up the world;
the earth trembled and shook.
Your way was through the sea,
your path through the great waters;
yet your footprints were unseen.
You led your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and Aaron."
-Psalm 77
I read this this weekend and it has ascended to near the top of my list of favorite psalms. It is just full of amazing things. First, the psalmist is in the midst of a trial. He is melancholy, and yet he begins by saying he will call to the Lord and he knows the Lord hears. This is important because the second half of the first half of the psalm is about God seeming to not be there, so the fact that he says this and knows it even if he can't feel it is sweet. Next, he acknowledges that he is in the midst of a bad time, and his frist instinct and action is to seek the Lord. Not to mope around or go buy whiskey or do something stupid, but to recognnize the trouble that you are in and seek the Lord above all else as the cure. Then he goes to talk about how God seems to have left him. But what does he do then? He looks back at all the things God has done. He remembers how great God truly is.
Application time: there are times in my life where I go on living and cannot feel God's presence. I feel so far and solated from Him. Often times this leads to despair. To feel so disconnected from Him who gives life meaning leaves life feeling quite empty. And I am too quick to not look to the Lord immediately. But I need to remember that He hears our cries, even if we don't realize it, if we can't feel Him all the time. And more than that, I see the need to remember who God truly is. To look back at all He has done, to search His Word and recall all the wonders He has done. To reaffirm His love for me, that even if I can't feel it at the moment, I can see so clearly evidenced by the simple fact I am still alive right now.
This is just a sweet psalm and I wanted to put it out here. God is so amazing and I don't know what else to say unless I want to make up more words for how great He is. I did realize one thing. That if I focus my whole being on the Lord, on who He truly is and how He truly loves me, it makes me want to either jump up and down in joy and make up words for how great He truly is, since no word exists to do that justice, or it makes me want to cry. I don't cry, a defect I have left over from the old days, but if I were going to cry it would be because of the love of God, that He loved me so that I would love Him. That is amazing, since I know all the crap I've done.
Thank you God for loving me.
No comments:
Post a Comment