Walking in the Land of the Living – Psalm 116

 

I love the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live. The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came upon me; I was overcome by trouble and sorrow. Then I called on the name of the LORD: “O LORD, save me!” The LORD is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion.  The LORD protects the simplehearted; when I was in great need, he saved me. Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the LORD has been good to you. For you, O LORD, have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before the LORD in the land of the living.  Ps. 116:1-10

 

Why do we often wander about in the land of the dead and dying and forget how to really live?   I think a large part of the reason is because of the frequent and overwhelming trouble and sorrow we find ourselves in.  Life is not easy.  As a matter of fact it can be quite difficult and painful.  J I Packer notes in his book Knowing God, in an interesting little chapter called these Inward Trials, that to not acknowledge these inward trials and dark times is a mistake.  He says it is wrong “to give the impression that normal Christian living is a perfect bed of roses, a state of affairs in which everything in the garden is lovely all the time, and problems no longer exist – or if they come, they have only to be taken to the throne of grace, and they will melt away at once.    This is to suggest that the world, the flesh, and the devil, will give a man no serious trouble, once he is a Christian; nor will his circumstances and personal relationships ever be a problem to him nor will he ever be a problem to himself.” 

 

Life is not only not easy, but problems don’t always just “melt away” as Packer notes.  But how do we move on from difficult times, and those times that seem to lead us into the valley of the shadow of death as it speaks in the 23^rd Psalm? 

 

How do we begin to really live when life is hard?  We call on the name of the Lord…every day…with a sincere and humble heart.  We say “O LORD, save me!”  We cry to the Lord for mercy.  The Lord hears His people.  His answers may come in ways that are not as we hope or expect and the timing sure can be different than ours, but He does hear.  He does respond even in the darkest night of the soul.  What we find when we look back on the rescue of the Lord is that His ways were so much better than ours.  He is gracious and righteous and full of compassion and He desires to show this to us.

 

As it says in the Psalm, “be at rest once more, O my soul, for the LORD has been good to you”.  His goodness has brought me back to the land of the living and I walk with great joy even though I have had my times in the dark night.  It is all because of Him that I can truly live.

 

Blessings, scott

© copyright 2008 for Wellspring

Make Me Know Your Ways – Psalm 25

Make me know your ways, O LORD;

Teach me your paths.

Lead me in your truth and teach me

For You are the God of my salvation

For You I wait all day long. Ps. 25:4-5

 

Psalm 25 has become one of my friends.  It is like the 23rd Psalm in the way it has entered my heart and mind.  It is one I am memorizing and making part of my prayer life.  From the very beginning it starts with a simple prayer of trust in God.

 

To you O LORD, I lift up my soul

O my God, in You I trust.

 

It is my way, of letting God know that I need Him.  It is my confession that I cannot trust myself.  This has been a lifelong journey to really, truly embrace this prayer.  But God in His kindness has brought me here.

 

This Psalm, as noted above asks for God’s help in knowing His ways and paths and truth.  I have wanted to know His ways for a very long, long time.  Sometimes they seem so mysterious, maybe I should say almost always mysterious.  I have in my impatience wanted to know His paths immediately.  Perhaps in the past, I was mixing up wanting to know all the little details I should follow with knowing His heart.  Yes, in most cases that was probably the case.

 

After this detour on the journey of praying for the wisdom of His ways, as a prayer for blueprints, I pray this prayer now because I want to know Him.  I want to really know Him and His heart.  And equally important I am learning to wait for Him.  All day if need be.  Day after day.  Through darkness and light.

 

He doesn’t leave me alone on this journey.  He meets me.  I can trust Him to lead me.  You can too.

 

Find a Psalm, make a Psalm your personal prayer.

 

Blessings,

Scott for Wellspring © copyright 2008