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 77:6 I said, “Let me remember my song in the night; let me meditate in my heart.” Then my spirit made a diligent search:
Psalm 77:7 “Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favorable?
Psalm 77:8 Has his steadfast love forever ceased? Are his promises at an end for all time?
Psalm 77:9 Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” Selah
In our last passage, Asaph was describing troubling times, times when the Lord Himself was keeping him awake at niight
As a refresher, let’s look back at verse 2 & 4 to remember Asaph’s confession.
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 77:4 You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
Imagine, claiming that the Lord is holding open your eyes, keeping you from sleep, even forcing Asaph to look at something difficult. It is in this condition that Asaph, the man of God begins to question the very nature of God, His favor towards him, His steadfast love, His promises to the nation and His apparent anger, even to the evaporation of His compassion.
How is it that when we are being confronted with difficult information, we default to assuming God’s nature and character has changed? Is He not the eternal One, the One who does not change?
Malachi 3:6 “For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.
And yet, this is a common temptation for each of us, as we face trials. We tend to assume the never changing One has changed, and that for the worse. But before we go much further, it is good to remember that though the Lord is constant in His love for us, there are periods when we have brought sorrow or disappointment on Him.
Ephesians 4:30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
So how should believers relate to the Lord in times of trial, when we may be facing difficult truths in our lives? It is only natural to lash out to the One who loves us most, claiming He has changed, that His love has vanished, that He is “mad at us”.
This is the natural way my friend, and is the path of least resistance. As we rub shoulders with those around us, we witness this reaction to trial constantly. If we are having a difficult time with another, we tend to attack, either through gossip, slander, or defaming their character. When we relate to God in the midst of a trial, we tend to do the same, but if there is any justification in relating with another sinner in this fleshly way, I trust you will agree there is never justification for dragging the name of the Lord through the mud. After all, as Paul upbraided the Corinthians, we are not “mere men”, living as those around us!
But we have a saint that is asking some harsh questions. Questions that in a perfect world should never be asked. But Asaph is asking. As we go through this psalm, we will find that at the end of this struggle in Asaph’s life, he returns to the truth of the Mighty One.
The struggle of faith is very real as we enter difficult times. We do not live in a perfect world, but as we wrestle with circumstances that warp our understanding of God, we have a God who stretched out His hands toward us, even in His death, proving He is a Savior who welcomes us, even as we don’t understand properly.
If you are in the midst of a struggle in your faith, be honest with the Lord and seek Him instead of naturally lashing out at Him. As we will find out in the next portion of the Psalm, as Asaph recalls the Lord’s past deeds and actions, a part of our seeking the Lord is simply remembering the history we have with Him.
It is good to to take time each day to remember the Lord’s goodness toward us in His past actions! He is good.
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.
