What else is there to do – rather, what else is there to feel or express, but to just let out how we trust and depend on no less than the Creator of the Universe, whom we can confidently call our Father?
What else is there to say, but to shout out that we are thankful for His presence and His guidance in each and every season, and in all situations we are in?
The more the world insists that we give up and abandon hope, the more we are brought to trusting Him.
The more we see the darkness, the more the Light actually shines.
That’s what I keep in mind, even if I am fully aware of all the setbacks and all the bad things going on.
Thank You, Father, for the reading of Your Word.
Psalm 38
Do Not Forsake Me, O LORD
A PSALM OF DAVID, FOR THE MEMORIAL OFFERING.
1 O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath!
2 For your arrows have sunk into me, and your hand has come down on me.
3 There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin.
4 For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.
5 My wounds stink and fester because of my foolishness,
6 I am utterly bowed down and prostrate; all the day I go about mourning.
7 For my sides are filled with burning, and there is no soundness in my flesh.
8 I am feeble and crushed; I groan because of the tumult of my heart.
9 O Lord, all my longing is before you; my sighing is not hidden from you.
10 My heart throbs; my strength fails me, and the light of my eyes—it also has gone from me.
11 My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague, and my nearest kin stand far off.
12 Those who seek my life lay their snares; those who seek my hurt speak of ruin and meditate treachery all day long.
13 But I am like a deaf man; I do not hear, like a mute man who does not open his mouth.
14 I have become like a man who does not hear, and in whose mouth are no rebukes.
15 But for you, O LORD, do I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer.
16 For I said, “Only let them not rejoice over me, who boast against me when my foot slips!”
17 For I am ready to fall, and my pain is ever before me.
18 I confess my iniquity; I am sorry for my sin.
19 But my foes are vigorous, they are mighty, and many are those who hate me wrongfully.
20 Those who render me evil for good accuse me because I follow after good.
21 Do not forsake me, O LORD! O my God, be not far from me!
22 Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!
I don’t think I’m about to paraphrase everything that David composed here… I’m just going to say, I feel him.
But unlike David, I’m not about to go ahead and say that I feel him when he says that it’s God’s arrows that have sunk into me, and it’s His indignation and wrath that have fallen upon me.
I WILL say that there ARE the iniquities that go over my head, and I do suffer physically because of my bad choices.
Here I’m also reminded of the unique situation David was in – He was essentially living with a New Covenant mindset, while in the Old Covenant, where the Israelites were still held accountable for their obedience and their shortcomings; Where, even if they weren’t aware of their sin, they were taking the opportunity presented by God’s perfect Law, and offered sacrifices just in case; Well, at least that’s how I imagine it. Contrast this with how we are today, where, even if we aren’t aware of any good we’ve done, our Father is faithful to cause everything concerning us, and all we’re concerned with, to work for our good.
Sorry, I veered a little too much off course there – but what I’m essentially saying is that, I believe that David experienced a Pentecost generations earlier than the appointed time, where the Holy Spirit was poured into him:
Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.1 Samuel 16:13
Or, look at that – in a time when the rest of the kingdom of Israel needed to offer sacrifices in order to enter into the holiest presence of God, ‘the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David‘.
So these words that David writes, in Psalm 38? I’m led to believe that they were words that only he could share. For, sure, the Spirit of the LORD was within Him, but the One who would come out of his bloodline had yet to lay down His life to serve as a sacrifice for the entire world.
David had the Spirit at a time that sin still had dominion, and the Old Covenant was still in effect.
So you could imagine that it was a double-whammy for him to experience both the indignation of the Most High, and natural consequences, when He sinned; BUT at the same time, He remained intimate with the LORD, much so that he is able to compose such emotional pieces.
Though it all, folks, I’m led to see two things – from our New Covenant stance, that is, where we enjoy the manifest presence of our Father by the power of the Holy Spirit, where we enjoy being free from the chains of sin and the desires of the flesh, where we are proclaimed fully and absolutely righteous unto eternal life, equipped and blessed in the heavenly places, for good works and fruit to bear naturally.
Ahem. Right, I’m led to see two things – (1) The sheer peril present in this world working against us from the outside in, and the temptations of the flesh sabotaging us from the inside out, and (2) how, even in our own iniquity, we could still come to the Father, asking Him for help, and trusting on Him alone.
Because, it’s true. Mom’s gone through something really heavy lately and I couldn’t help but feel an overflowing love for her, by way of wanting to help her with all that I can – and it’s leading me to see those two precise things again: (1) Simply, how fucked up the world is, and (2) how, even in all that’s going on, our God is and will always be our trustworthy Father, in whom we trust, and in whose Word we continue to dive into.
I suppose that’s where all this is leading. I’m not ashamed to share that we’re all in a pretty tight spot right now when it comes to things happening to us – our household, and with me personally – BUT I’m not about to end things there.
Much like the tortured Maccabees who the late great Timothy Keller talked about, I’m here to say through the pain, and through the rejection, and through the regret, and through the loss – that we should continue to keep trusting the Lord.
As I’m telling myself to keep trusting in the Lord, so I’m telling all of us here, and that includes you, good sir or madam – trust in the Lord.
Trust in the Lord. Abide in His shadow. Dwell in His secret place. Rest in His embrace.
Take in His words, for His words are Spirit and they are Life, in all seasons.
Meditate on His promises, and keep them close to your heart, for they are life to your bones, health to your body.
Speak to Him, and keep your senses out for all He has to say to you.
Give Him glory and thanksgiving, for He makes all things beautiful in His perfect time.
I mean, it’s not like we aren’t going to go through seasons where it’ll hurt like hell in all aspects of our being… but we have hope, because, again, He makes all things beautiful in His time.
Praise and glory to the God of our Salvation.
Lift worship to the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Thank You, Lord, for everything. Amen.
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