When my mother moved to town, one of the first things she wanted was a city map. “I want to know where all the bad things are happening when I watch TV or read the paper,” she said. Those few words expressed poignantly how most of us feel about the stability of our environment, the security of our government, the solvency of our assets, and the safety of those we love.
When you feel paralyzed by fear or alone in your desolation, open your Bible to Psalms. It’s the 16th book in the Old Testament. This is a hymnbook of Hebrew poetry where mankind talks to God and God answers. It is as powerful and beautiful today as it was in ancient times.
In Psalm 77 the writer is in such distress he can neither eat nor sleep. In Psalm 42 his soul is dying of thirst from lack of Godly fellowship. All he can do is cry. In 43 he’s so oppressed by his enemies that his bones “suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, ‘Where is your God?’”
It isn’t uncommon to wonder if God’s unfailing love has vanished forever, or if he’s forgotten to be merciful or if, in his anger, he’s withholding his compassion (77:8, 9), and in this earthly body our souls will sometimes be downcast. At times like these, we can do what the psalmist did:
“Then I thought, ‘To this I will appeal: The years of the right hand of the Most High. I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds’” (77:10); and, “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise [Hebrew todah – thanks] him, my Savior and my God.” (42:5, 11 & 43:5).
When we feel helpless and afraid, and when we are bursting with joy and thanksgiving, a string around our finger – figuratively or literally – will remind us where our Hope lies.
God, you are my joy and my delight, and with the music of my heart I praise you, through Christ, amen.
Sandra Milholland
Abilene, Texas
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