Tuesday, May 18 - Miriam

Today's reading from the One Year Bible Chronological Reading Plan is Psalm 75-78.

I was particularly drawn to Psalm 77 during today's reading.  There are times in our lives where things seem to be going terribly wrong.  Times where we feel that God is far away from us, has forgotten us, or worse yet,
stopped loving us. 

Has the Lord rejected me forever?
Will he never again be kind to me?
Is his unfailing love gone forever?
Have his promises permanently failed?
Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Has he slammed the door on his compassion? (v. 7-9)

As Christians, we know in our minds that this is not the case, but it's hard to keep from feeling that way at times.  Fortunately the second half of the Psalm answers the question of how to respond when we are feeling this way.

But then I recall all you have done, O Lord;
I remember your wonderful deeds of long ago.
They are constantly in my thoughts.
I cannot stop thinking about your mighty works.
O God, your ways are holy.
Is there any god as mighty as you? (v. 11-13)

In times of trouble, times of despair, times where we feel that God is too busy with other "more important" things to care about "little old me", and we pray but feel that he is not listening or perhaps listening but not answering, we must try to remember the great things he has done in the past and renew our trust that he will continue to care for and provide for us, even if we can't see it right now.  From Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary:

The remembrance of the works of God, will be a powerful remedy against distrust of his promise and goodness; for he is God, and changes not. God's way is in the sanctuary. We are sure that God is holy in all his works. God's ways are like the deep waters, which cannot be fathomed; like the way of a ship, which cannot be tracked. God brought Israel out of Egypt. This was typical of the great redemption to be wrought out in the fulness of time, both by price and power. If we have harboured doubtful thoughts, we should, without delay, turn our minds to meditate on that God, who spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, that with him, he might freely give us all things.

It's not always easy to trust when we can't see the way before us, but that is when it is most important.  The first verses of this psalm struck a chord with me because there have been times, usually at night, usually when I'm fretting about some problem that I can't seem to find a solution to, where it seems that God is far away and not involved in my everyday life.  Of course, everything looks better in the morning (usually), but during those night times I hope from now on to remember to focus on God's faithfulness in the past and trust that he will remain faithful and that he knows what he's doing.

Tomorrow's reading is Psalm 79-82.