Monday, August 19, 2013

Contemporary Psalms



8-19-13

The LORD preserves the souls of His saints; He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.

Psalm 97:10

LORD, I see that Jesus, once He is lifted up, creates the need for Himself in a person to unclench the "fists" of the heart, to open those fists gently in order that He might place Bread and Water that revives and refreshes,  nourishes and sustains, even through trouble and terror, even in the most dire straits and the most inexplicable outcomes.

It is like Job, who suddenly found himself walking in utter adversity and darkness, feeling abandoned by God, mocked by men, taunted by men who broke up his path and promoted his calamity. Job poured out his soul because of his plight, because he'd been cast into the mire, where he felt he'd become like dust and ashes.

Oswald Chambers wrote, There is a time i  a spiritual life when God does not seem to be a friend." Days of affliction and tragedy are terrifying. As Job sad, "I cry out for help! My skin grows black and falls from me; my bones burn with fever."

It is so hard to watch someone else go through adversity, and it is hard to go through it myself. Except for one thing I know: Jesus, the Christ, who is alive and with me, even in the most hopeless circumstances. I know from past experience that joy comes in the mourning. It is almost always necessary for us to be broken of self-sufficiency, to see the "tower" brought to rubble, the fortress of the "walled city" brought low.

I pray these processes might be expedited by Your Sweet Spirit, oh God, that many will see their need for You and reach up, and wait and weep for Your aid and receive Your Tender Loving Care. Feed them like You fed Elijah by the river, sending ravens bearing Bread. Feed us by Your Word and Living Waters until we come to realize once again, that there are many lesser gods vying for our attention, but we must cling to You an, like Job, be real and faithful until we are delivered from it after all. In the meantime, we pray, we intercede, we lay our burdens down. Having left everything we have at Your Feet, oh LORD, we wait and watch, thankful that we can trust You, and so we do -- in Christ and by Your Holy Spirit, O God, we do.


This photograph is from a Facebook page called Life Is Better With God In It.

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