Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise Him again- my Savior and my God! Psalm 42: 11, NLT.
Holy Father, We are so blessed to know that in the midst of our discouragement we can find You; and in finding You, find rest unto our souls. In Jesus’ name we give You thanks. Amen.
Today we continue to listen to the psalmist, who, in more ways than one, seem to be echoing the discouragement, the concerns, and the spiritual chaos, of many of us living in the Twenty-first Century. The pain comes and goes like the waves of the sea. Today, like Elijah, we stand up to the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and “pray” fire down from heaven. Tomorrow, like Elijah, we are running from the threats of Jezebel, ready to die! But praise be to God-the God of Elijah will not forsake us, for He is also our God. And He is the same yesterday, today, and forever!
Yesterday the psalmist was, oh, so discouraged. He tried very hard, to lift himself “out of the dumps,” but was unable to do so. Nevertheless, the last we saw of him, he was holding on to the God who had taken Israel over the Jordan, and into Canaan. And even though the waves of the sea were “sweeping” over him, he would believe, that God could free him from his discouragement.
Today, he is on the mountaintop! “But each day the LORD pours [H]is unfailing love upon me, and through each night I sing [H]is songs, praying to God who gives me life” (8, NLT). Today, he is optimistic. There is “a song in [his] heart.” Yesterday it was the “raging sea” that swept over him. Today, God is “pouring His unfailing love” upon him. Hallelujah! The pain will subside – even if only temporarily. Enough for us to catch our breath! God went to “check on” Elijah in the cave, after he had allowed him to sleep, and had fed him.
At the beginning of our series we spoke of the power of music that is written exclusively for the worship of God. It is incalculable! It has the power to lift us up to the very throne of grace! Here the psalmist is telling us that he sings “His songs” (God’s songs), to get him “through the night!” When he lays there on his bed, and sleep evades him, he is soothed by the LORD’s songs. He sings and prays to God. This could mean that the songs are prayers set to music, or, that he alternates between singing and praying. The words of many hymns are truly prayers set to music, and are very comforting! Whatever the situation, this is what gets the psalmist through the night during the tough times! It could be a soothing exercise for the soul.
Notice the last statement of the psalmist, he is “praying to God who gives me life.” Some of our greatest blessings are the ones we take for granted. When he is feeling so down, that he cannot fall asleep, he lays on his bed and in the stillness of the night, he gives God thanks that he is alive! There are so many people who began the year 2008 with us, and before the year had even reached midway, they were gone-dead. Others began this year with a roof over their heads, and because of a “broken” Market, they are now homeless. Many have lost their jobs. Many have been diagnosed with a terminal illness in the prime of their life.
It seems to me, that many of our blessings are often overlooked, until something happens that causes us to do some retrospection. And then we begin to see people, and events, that were intended as a blessing to us. Situations that God permitted, and people that He placed in our lives, to be a blessing; yet we were never able to appreciate them, we took them for granted, until they were gone. But If we are willing to grow, something good can come out of every sad situation, for the child of God!
We will continue tomorrow.