My wife and I are reading through the Psalms in our evening reading and occasionally a nugget of the Psalms jumps out of the page. Don’t you love it when, after years of reading the “Old Book” passages become alive, reinforcing old teachings or simply warming your heart.
This is the book of Psalms, and it is rich.
I pray I can communicate a portion of the blessing we receive from this wonderful book.
Psalm 77:1 To the choirmaster: according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of Asaph. I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me.
Psalm 77:2 In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted.
Psalm 77:3 When I remember God, I moan; when I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah
Psalm 77 speaks to us in the dark nights of our seeming ineffective prayers, when the Lord is apparently no where to be found. Days of “feeling” the Lord close by are mere memories. We know deep down something is missing, something is wrong.
This is the psalmist’s experience, and more so. He knows there is something wrong, and he refuses to accept any imitation, and replacement, any form of consolation or comfort.
This psalmist is Asaph, and he is one who has lived through some very disappointing periods in the life of the nation of Israel. Whether or not this psalm reflects some national crisis, or is more of a personal inner conflict remains to be known, but Asaph is struggling.
He speaks of God, that He will hear. Is this an act of the will on God’s part, that is, does Asaph have confidence that God will at least listen to his cries of complaint in the future? Is Asaph expressing a faith that his cries will be heard, (and answered) in the future?
Or is Asaph declaring that God is actively hearing his prayers and answering his prayers immediately, as we find the same phrase in Isaiah.
Isaiah 65:24 Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear.
I am of the opinion (somewhat worthless) that Asaph is speaking of God hearing him, that is answering him in the future, for Asaph speaks of a continual crying out to God. He speaks of days of trouble and weariness in the night, of stretching out his hand and refusing to be comforted.
No periods of praise or thanksgiving, but only the sad moaning and fainting spirit of a troubled saint.
Where is all the joy, all the praising and positive feelings associated with the modern Christianity? Where is the “best life now” that is promised to the masses? Messages of continual ease and prosperity may be popular, but for Asaph, he wants truth, he wants reality, he needs God to show up. And this trial, whatever he is going through, is causing a deep desire to well up.
He won’t be comforted until he get’s a response from the Lord, and he will know it when God answers.
Asaph speaks volumes to the modern Christian, to me especially, for there have been times when the silence of God has been deafening. When I have struggled with apparent insurmountable trials, with delays mounting up, and problems festering. An inner hollowness that nagged.
For my friend that may be struggling, take hope in the fact that Lazarus was resurrected. All of Mary and Martha’s hopes had come crashing down at the death of their brother, and the Lord intentionally waited.
For Mary and Martha, the wait created a situation that only God could resolve. And resolve He did with a miracle so beyond the expected! This is the God we worship, One who not only has all authority, but even in our struggles, is setting our situation for His mercy to be evident.
Our struggle is the wait.
As for Asaph, he was in the midst of a trial that was crushing him. Yet he said God will hear. In the midst of a trial, to have the faith of stating God will hear, though there is no answer yet, is the faith we are to reach for. Emotions, fears, emptiness and doubts can assail us, but hang on.
Jesus will deliver. He is that One whose nature it is to deliver, and in a most miraculous way. But the wait can be a struggle of faith. Look to Him, and in the struggle, He will provide to get you through. For the remainder of the psalm, we may find hints as to how the Lord pulls us through trials and troubles!
Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you found something of interest in this post and would appreciate a comment, to begin a discussion.
Considering the Bible 