Stirring Myself Up – June 13, 2023 (170/365)

Psalm 13

How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever?

How long will you hide your face from me?

How long must I take counsel in my soul

and have sorrow in my heart all the day?

How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

Consider and answer me, O LORD my God;

light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,

lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,”

lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.

But I have trusted in your steadfast love;

my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.

I will sing to the LORD,

because he has dealt bountifully with me.

It’s not so funny to ponder over how my mind is more or less blank right now, even if I am aware of all the responsibilities that have been given to me. Or you could also call it the weight I place upon myself, the pressure I put in my mind – perhaps only to project that I am harder on myself than anyone else is. It’s like I know what I want to do, but I can’t seem to get myself to take the first step. And I’m through trying to figure it out on my own.

No, I find that in times like this, I resort to just getting into Scripture that’s more or less burned into my mind, reflex verses that I could say no matter what, and no matter when. I resort to saying, that even in what is or isn’t in my mind, and no matter what I find myself feeling – That the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, and His mercies never come to an end. His mercies are new with every morning, and I suppose that’s enough Truth for us to proclaim to ourselves and to all, that God’s faithfulness is great; In fact, so great, that in the song adaptation of the same verses found in Lamentations, we find ourselves singing ‘Great is (His) faithfulness’, twice.

I don’t find myself relating to the Psalm shared above right away, because I do know Christ paid a great price, if only for me to know that I am always in God’s mind – He does not forget me, in fact, I bring to remembrance 1 Peter 5:7; that is, that we can cast all of our cares upon Him, because, again, He does not forget me, but on the contrary, He is always thinking about me. And even in these moments that I feel drained for no reason, when I feel no motivation or inspiration to get into doing what I know I need to do, I still know that even in these times, my God does not hide His face from me; in fact, Christ paid a great price so I’m made worthy – not only to see and seek His face, but also to RUN to His throne of grace in my time of need (Hebrews 4:16).

This part intrigues me, though… where the Psalmist writes, ‘How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day?’; One thing that I see here is that if we count on our own souls for counsel, let us not be surprised if it comes with sorrow. We could only trust in ourselves so far… but our failures and our being fallible have their use, in that they remind us of the good news – that is, because of Christ, we can lay claim to the blessings that the Lord gives to His children; especially since it is written, that such blessings ‘makes rich, and He adds no sorrow with it’ (Proverbs 10:22).

We in the body of Christ have received what I call the Blessing of Blessings – that is, the same King of Kings and Lord of Lords. It’s in Christ that we are directed to take counsel in first; and this is in line with seeking God’s kingdom first (Matthew 6:33). It also makes sense, considering that before we take advise from our own words, the words of the world, or even Scripture (the Word), we are already under the tutelage of Christ, who is the Living Word, or the Word that has become flesh, the Word that dwells within us.

With all this considered I could not necessarily say that I shall never have sorrow in my heart – but one thing is for sure: Since Christ is the Counsel in our Souls, any sorrow that makes its way to our shores is temporary, at best.

It is a privilege for me in these moments, to be directed by the Holy Spirit, and to confirm, by this proclamation, that the words of Christ are true: Even in these lackadaisical, lazy times for me, the Holy Spirit does not fail in reminding me that I have been made righteous by Christ; For it is by this righteousness that I am led to believe that I am never alone – that I am with the Creator of the Universe, and He is with me. Let it never be said that I am not in His mind – and in those times when I don’t feel His presence, well, even then, let it not be said that He has forgotten about me… For I am blessed beyond measure, as is everyone in the body of Christ – We are blessed with no less than Christ HIMSELF. He is with us, alive in us.

He IS with us, in a capacity far greater than most of us would realize; We have far more than His teachings, His wisdom, His traits. Again, I say, He is ALIVE in us! A demonstration of salvation that goes far beyond concept or theory, He is literally WITH us, and this is true no matter what I’m feeling, no matter what’s in my mind and what isn’t going on. The Truth that stands is that I am always with Christ, and He is always with me.

It’s by Christ’s presence that I am able to stay at peace; Even at times when the enemy seems to be prevailing, or during times when much more of my being is being tested and taken away by those who call themselves my adversaries, the peace I state I am in – well, it’s born and maintained from the Truth that Christ did so God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – is with me and as close as He could ever be to me, as I am to Him, perfectly reconciled and fully connected to Him; I am allied to Him and He is fully faithful to me, even if the worst should ever happen to me.

The Psalmist asks for redemption, lest those who call themselves his enemies would gloat over him. And while I may sympathize with his words, I would rather join him in saying what follows; He says it, just as I would recall the verses in Lamentations: He trusts in the steadfast love of the Lord, sure… But, I would give a hearty ‘Amen!’ to him, as he proclaims that he rejoices in God’s salvation.

Indeed, so do I. I rejoice in the salvation that I have – present, no matter what. Close to me, in the highs and the lows, with me, to the end of my physical body; with me, to the end of time, and beyond. Ever faithful, ever glorious – I rejoice in the salvation I have, because He has me as well – Jesus Christ is my Salvation.

I have much to do. But this had to be done.

Oh, give thanks to the Lord,

for His lovingkindness endures forever.

Until the next post, God bless you.