Photo Credit: LisaAttractLove at Pixabay.com
Date: June 30, 2020
With our world in such tumultuous times, I think it’s fair to say we all are experiencing some form of uneasiness regarding what we will be facing in our future. With that being said, I want to focus on someone God chose to bring us encouragement during days like these.
David was indeed chosen and inspired by the Holy Spirit to write over thirty Psalms. There are actually 141 chapters in the Bible devoted to the life of David. Our Father obviously wanted us to pay close attention to his prayers, words and emotions. I believe the popularity of his writings comes from the raw emotions he conveys. We can relate to this man on many different levels. Yes, we are in different circumstances than David, but the emotional results are oh so very much the same!
David’s writings reveal how God was his sole refuge during his most difficult times. The hard issues of loneliness, fear, despair and worry are carved in his writings, yet even in the midst of all that, David managed to find joy. Some of his most beautiful statements came during some of his worst days. The Lord used this man to help teach us how we too can overcome our own struggles. Much of David’s writings were thought to be written from the confinement of dark caves and the solitude of the wilderness and desert. Ironically, we use these words (cave, wilderness, desert) to describe seasons of tremendous uncertainty in our lives.
With all that in mind, one particular verse David wrote brings me much comfort and gives me great hope. This praise written as a song reminds me that all trials last but a season.
Psalm 30:5
For His anger lasts only a moment, but His favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but joy comes in the morning!
Last year I received a call I had been waiting for, as my daughter was expecting her fourth child. Months of excitement and anticipation had gone by, and at last we had come to the final hours. Another grandson was soon to arrive. It was time for me to quickly get to her home to be with the other children, and watch her and her husband embrace the children and say goodbye before heading off to the hospital.
As the door closed behind them, two of the kids ran off to play, but my five-year-old granddaughter stared at the door. Then she went to the window to watch her mama and daddy drive away. (This little one always had a tendency to worry.) As she turned to me the tears started rolling down her cheeks. The whole birthing process was more than her sweet mind could understand, and in a moment her “normal” became very uncertain.
As she sat in my arms and cried on my shoulder, the last words of David’s psalm came to my mind. I shared with her that our feelings of fear and uncertainty are promised to always be met with joy in the morning, and together we followed our talk with prayer.
Looking back the Lord was once again so good. His timing is impeccable. It was nearly dawn when I received the news: a picture of my beautiful new grandson. My joy had been made complete, now it was time to reveal it to my granddaughter.
Soon after I received the photo, my granddaughter awoke. I couldn’t wait to show her the image of her new baby brother! I will forever remember the look on her face: instant love combined with undeniable joy. It was then I was able to remind her of our sweet Father’s promise that “joy comes in the morning!”
We currently all find ourselves in a time of continued uncertainty. Some of us may be experiencing the loneliness of an isolated desert, or the darkness of a cave due to financial struggles. Perhaps it’s feelings of being lost in the wilderness, or not being able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Whatever emotions we are experiencing, David did too. Five simple words, and one true promise, that joy comes in the morning ALWAYS!
Psalm 55:22
Cast your cares on n the Lord and He will sustain you. He will never let the righteous fall.
Psalm 55:16-18
But I call to God and the Lord saves me. Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress and He hears my voice. He ransoms me unharmed from the battle waged against me.
Psalm 61:1-3
Hear my cry, oh God, listen to my prayer. From the ends of the earth I call to you. I call as my heart grows faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For you have been my strong tower against the foe.
It’s been said David that did a lot of self-talk. He always kept God’s word in his heart and spoke out loud God’s powerful qualities. I like that. This is not a bad time in our lives to emulate some of this incredible man’s strategies against the pressures in which we currently find ourselves.
When we fear getting sick, let us pray, “The Lord will sustain us on our sickbed and restore us from illness.” When we hear “experts” say our country will never be the same again, let us pray that the Lord’s “joy will come in the morning!” When we see images of food lines forming around the world and in our very own country, let us pray, “You will turn our wailing into dancing.” When the media keeps telling us about all the problems in the world let us pray, “We will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” When nations and governments want to impose control, evil and malice, let us pray, “Lord you are our stronghold in times of trouble. You are our help and deliverer.”
David asked the Lord to “please let Your face shine upon me.” Father, we pray Your face will shine upon us once again. I imagine that this suggests we have to first be looking straight at our Father in order for His radiance to shine upon our faces. Let’s not be looking to the left or the right, distracted by all the chaos and subsequently miss this blessing. He stands waiting to sweetly hold our face in His hands as we trust and look straight at Him. As David asked himself, “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me?” And then answered his own question with this solution: “Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my savior, my God.” Lord, our hope and trust are in you, today, tomorrow and forever more!
Delighting in safe pasture,
Linda
