Please read Psalm 13
As we read this Psalm we find in the first verse a
desperate cry from David. He was going through a very difficult situation and his feelings were of despair and hopelessness!
Have you been in this situation? I have… many times, to a point when I’ve cried
like the Psalmist:
“Will You forget me forever? How long
will You hide Your face from me?” (Psalm13:1)
Of course, God did not forget David. God did
not hide His face from David -or any of us- but David felt
like it. When we have such strong feelings then the feelings create their own
reality, which can in a way distort the truth. David felt God had
forgotten him, and felt God was hiding. So, in a sense, it was true
for David, but true according to what he was feeling at the moment, and
not according to fact.
It is so important to remember we are not to rely on
our emotions, on our feelings because:
“9 The
heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?”
(Jeremiah 17:9)
We can't live by our feelings because of this. In
this sense, it was all right for David to feel these emotions, and good to take
them to God, but he should never accept the reality of feelings as a definite
reality.
But we should:” 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not
think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh”. Romans 13:14
I praise our Father for
His Word, for those amazing Psalms we can run to whenever we are under trials
and as soon as His Word starts to sink into our souls, as the rain sinks into
the dry land… then we feel renewed, and our lament turns into praise though His
Holy Spirit in us! (Psalms 30:11)
Yes, as we continue to focus on God then our burden
seems lighter and then we can pray like David did on verse 3:
“Consider and answer
me, O Lord my God;
Give light (life) to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,” (AMP)
Give light (life) to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,” (AMP)
“Give light (life) to my eyes”… in the NIV we also read “lighten mine eyes”. This is what Paul prayed for the Christians in Ephesus:
”... that
the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the
spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your
understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His
calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and
what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according
to the working of His mighty power.(Ephesians 1:17-19)
Right after praying
this way, he actually received God’s light into his spiritual eyes so he could clearly
see and recognize WHO he was trusting, -right at that moment and many other
times before- just as if a fog had cleared away from his eyes!
“But I have trusted and relied on and been
confident in Your lovingkindness and faithfulness; My heart shall rejoice and delight in Your salvation.”
(13:5)
Finally his hope was renewed and he recognized he
could always trust in God's mercy. Yes, when we can't trust anything else,
we should always trust in His abundant mercy!
“I will sing to the Lord, Because He has dealt bountifully with
me.” (13:6)
With enlightened
eyes, David then is able to bring to his memory “who” he is in God, and
joyfully can declare God's goodness, and so can we!
“Let
this one great, gracious, glorious fact lie in your spirit until it permeates
all your thoughts and makes you rejoice even though you are without strength.
Rejoice that the Lord Jesus has become your strength and your song - He has
become your salvation.” (Charles Spurgeon)
Yes, let us rejoice in Him
because of His unfailing Love, He IS and always has been so GOOD to us, even
when we deserve nothing from Him!! To Him be the Glory and the Honor Forever!!
Mari
