Psalm 77
This is Asaph's Psalm. He wrote some powerful psalms. They come from the bottom of his heart. When we pray do we really mean what we pray? Do we put our heart into our prayers?
'My voice rises to God. I will cry aloud. And He will hear me.' How intense can you be? He is crying out from his heart. He wants God to hear him. He says, God will hear me. When you put your heart into your prayers, you get the assurance that God has heard you.
What was his trouble? This is anguish at night. He 'stretched out his hand without weariness'. How soon we give up! We can't pray for long.
His soul refuses to be comforted. This is really anguish. He is praying earnestly, crying out to God, yet there is no comfort. He is touching the point of despair. Where is God's grace and mercy? Where is His loving-kindness and compassion? Is it to going to be only wrath and darkness?
Then he remembers God. He remembers, remembers. Do you remember the past? The great Red Sea experience in your life. Not just coming out of Egypt, but passing through the Red Sea. This is the experience of every true child of God. We have to pass through the Red Sea. That promise, the great promise of Exodus 14.13,14, has to be tested and proved in our lives. Not just once, but twice...and again and again, till we know that God is true, that God is faithful. And though we pass through the waters, He will be with us.
How was I saved? Was it by mere mental acceptance? No, it was the truth that went into my heart. I was saved by the sheer grace and mercy of God. And I experienced the power of His deliverance, even as the enemy pursued me as I left his kingdom. Our faith is a battle. The Christian life is a battle. There is spiritual reality and spiritual forces are working behind this life of circumstances. But, praise God, He fights our battles and we only have to hold our peace.
Eventhough God's ways are unsearchable - His footsteps are not known - we know that He cares for us, even as a shepherd cares for his sheep, even as He led us out of Egypt and through the Red Sea and through the Wilderness into the Promised Land.
'My voice rises to God. I will cry aloud. And He will hear me.' How intense can you be? He is crying out from his heart. He wants God to hear him. He says, God will hear me. When you put your heart into your prayers, you get the assurance that God has heard you.
What was his trouble? This is anguish at night. He 'stretched out his hand without weariness'. How soon we give up! We can't pray for long.
His soul refuses to be comforted. This is really anguish. He is praying earnestly, crying out to God, yet there is no comfort. He is touching the point of despair. Where is God's grace and mercy? Where is His loving-kindness and compassion? Is it to going to be only wrath and darkness?
Then he remembers God. He remembers, remembers. Do you remember the past? The great Red Sea experience in your life. Not just coming out of Egypt, but passing through the Red Sea. This is the experience of every true child of God. We have to pass through the Red Sea. That promise, the great promise of Exodus 14.13,14, has to be tested and proved in our lives. Not just once, but twice...and again and again, till we know that God is true, that God is faithful. And though we pass through the waters, He will be with us.
How was I saved? Was it by mere mental acceptance? No, it was the truth that went into my heart. I was saved by the sheer grace and mercy of God. And I experienced the power of His deliverance, even as the enemy pursued me as I left his kingdom. Our faith is a battle. The Christian life is a battle. There is spiritual reality and spiritual forces are working behind this life of circumstances. But, praise God, He fights our battles and we only have to hold our peace.
Eventhough God's ways are unsearchable - His footsteps are not known - we know that He cares for us, even as a shepherd cares for his sheep, even as He led us out of Egypt and through the Red Sea and through the Wilderness into the Promised Land.
posted by prolix at 11:40 PM
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