- araratchurch
- Mar 21, 2022
- 2 min read
“I am weary with my groaning; All night I make my bed swim; I drench my couch with my tears. My eye wastes away because of grief; It grows old because of all my enemies. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity; For the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping. The Lord has heard my supplication; The Lord will receive my prayer.”
Psalms 6:6-9 NKJV
Looking at the images on the news of people suffering is sometimes overwhelming. There seems to be so much pain, so many tears, yet it seems that there is so little we can do about it. Sometimes that person who is suffering and crying is you; and in those times, you may wonder if anyone really sees your tears.
Someone once said, “Smile and the world smiles with you; cry and you cry alone.” Now, you may have at least one friend who does care when you have sorrow; but it is in the midst of sorrow, that we do tend to FEEL more alone, whether that is the case or not. Additionally, it’s easier to convey our happiness about something to someone than it is to share and expose our inner grief.
There was a song we sang when I was growing up: “I Must Tell Jesus.” The bottom line of the message of the song was that I must tell Jesus, because Jesus can help me, Jesus alone. Sometimes we may not only feel this way, but often, it may actually be the truth. There is a level of sorrow, grief, and sadness, that can only be soothed by the Master’s touch.
In our portion of Psalms today we see that David is pouring out raw emotions to the Lord. He is not ashamed to “cry his eyes out” before his Shepherd, knowing that He sees, hears, and will answer.
In another place David expresses that the Lord stores up our tears in His bottle and writes about them in His book!
“You number my wanderings; Put my tears into Your bottle; Are they not in Your book? When I cry out to You, Then my enemies will turn back; This I know, because God is for me.”
Psalms 56:8-9 NKJV
Our Lord is intensely personal with His own. He cares when we are hurting. He is ready to comfort the sorrowful soul.
For today let us know and understand what David knew:
God sees your tears.
- araratchurch
- Mar 20, 2022
- 2 min read
100 Days with David - Day 6
“But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy; In fear of You I will worship toward Your holy temple. For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous; With favor You will surround him as with a shield.” Psalms 5:7, 12 NKJV
For many years of his life my father was a very physically powerful man. He was one who would do questionable things like tying a refrigerator on his back and carrying it up a hill. His large hands had an iron grip; and if he grabbed hold of something, it was not likely to prevail against him. I was in awe of my father and I always felt safe if he was near. On the rare occasion that I needed correction, just one word or look from my father brought me to immediate tears; and I never needed him to lay a hand on me in discipline. On the other hand, I never was afraid that he would hurt me; I knew he would only ever do good things to/for me.
Because of my relationship with my father I am stymied when I hear pastors, teachers, and so on, minimizing the fear of the Lord and sometimes actually presenting it as something we should never have! We do not fear the Lord as someone who is at cross purposes with Him. Rather, we walk in reverential fear and awe of His mighty power, inestimably overwhelmed by His awesome presence.
In our opening passage for today we see a portion of Psalms 5. In this psalm David is contrasting himself with those who do not fear the Lord, those who are living wickedly. He talks about the great mercy of the Lord which allows him to come into His presence. But, when he goes into the presence of the Lord, he does so with great fear. The fear he has for the Lord is reverential awe, knowing the fathomless measure of His power and might. Not just here, but in other psalms, we see the connection made between the fear of the Lord and the favor of the Lord.
“The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them. Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him.” Psalms 34:7, 9 NKJV
Just like a wonderful father, our Lord protects, keeps, and shows favor to those who walk in fear of Him. I doubt if those who have no fear of the Lord have ever really known Him.
For today let us know and understand what David knew:
The fear of the Lord and the favor of the Lord are inextricable. #100dayswithdavid
- araratchurch
- Mar 19, 2022
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 20, 2022
Day 5: The Lord is never deceived. He will bring justice.
“Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have relieved me in my distress; Have mercy on me, and hear my prayer. How long, O you sons of men, Will you turn my glory to shame? How long will you love worthlessness And seek falsehood? Selah But know that the Lord has set apart for Himself him who is godly; The Lord will hear when I call to Him. Be angry, and do not sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still. Selah”
Psalms 4:1-4 NKJV
I guess you could say that I was a dramatic child. I felt deeply and responded deeply. Often, I found that my reaction to abusive behavior was dismissed as being the result of being “overly sensitive.” In retrospect, as a very “mature” adult, I can truthfully say that whereas some things hit me harder than they would to most people, to a great extent, my reaction was just a raw emotional response to very hurtful and deceitful behavior. It is frustrating to feel “unheard.”
As an adult, what came to frustrate me the most in dealing with people, is when things I knew not to be true were purveyed, and because I am not a person who defends myself, I was often left wondering at people’s willful ignorance of deceit. Although, by the Grace of God I am no longer frustrated by deceit, I still wonder at people’s love of a lie.
Now please understand me, I know that there has always been deceit in the world; deceit is nothing new. But I am stymied by the blatant disregard for truth that can clearly be seen by anyone, even casually, seeking for it.
Long ago, while we were not looking, while we were not watching, while we were distracted, our educational system was taken over by people with an evil agenda. Sadly, their agenda was not to produce people well-prepared for a good career and to be highly functioning participants in our society. Rather, the goal seems to have been to indoctrinate toward a particular way of thinking, to a great extent, hostile to Christianity and true freedom. Additionally, a great portion of the media has become another branch of a political party with what you hear being little more than talking points straight from the horse’s mouth of their masters. Please know, I am not naïve, nor do I believe this dynamic is limited to a particular political party, and definitely not to one country. Our world system has moved toward operating in such deceit that many now no longer even know where to look for the truth. Through deceit, I have seen people’s characters impugned, lives shattered, and their rights totally disregarded, for the achievement of an evil end.
Those who seek after righteousness, trying—by the help of God to live justly—can become overwhelmed with deceit and wickedness being performed with seeming impunity.
In our selection from the Psalms today we see David dealing with the very topic of deceitfulness. He begins by approaching the Lord with recognition of all the times the Lord has come to his aid. He is confident that the Lord will help him even as he expresses his frustration with those who are lying against him with impunity. He wonders —as we often do—at those who willfully, not only embrace deceit, but seek after it and love it. But notice, he ends with self-reflection and basically a “note to self” to not meet the deceit with sinful behavior wrought out of anger.
Let me save you from entering into a fool’s errand. Trying to fight against deceit with counter accusations and anger will not work. It’s really too late for that. People have loved a lie so long that the devil has blinded them; and, their judgment is at the door. Allow me to encourage you to just continue to live and speak the truth. And, whether we are talking about what’s going on on the world stage or in your personal life, do as David did; take your frustration over deceitful behavior to the Lord. Allow your trust in the Lord’s judgement and justice to keep you from stumbling over deceit.
For today let us know and understand what David knew:
The Lord is never deceived. He will bring justice.