The last few times, we have been thinking about the perilous times we are living in, and the panic that some people are experiencing, and even those who have God’s hope within are feeling the strain of these days of restrictions, rules and mandates. Recently, I’ve been reading the book of Psalms, and what a lot of comfort there is in these! Even if they start off on a doleful note, they nearly all end up looking to God above and taking comfort from Him! Truly, there is no other way to receive comfort of a lasting sort apart from what He can give us! Let’s look at Psalm 116 and see what we can get from it….
I love the Lord for He has heard, My supplications, every word, Because He hears when I call, He brings me up from depths of gall. Even when we feel down in the dumps, God will hear our every cry to Him….there is another little ditty I sometimes remind myself of… “Whenever I am in a fix, I’ll think of Philippians four and six!” . This says, “Don’t worry about ANYTHING, Instead pray about EVERYTHING! And DON’T forget to give God thanks for the answer!”
We may be sad and full of woe, He’ll free me from my every foe! He is the Gracious One above, He is the God of righteous love. We don’t just have the foes of things we can see…there are other foes that attack us. Worries about our family, ill health that might be lurking and making us feel down, or even broken relationships. But as we take all these to the Lord in prayer, we can feel our spirits lift, and know that He has all our worries in His hands. But we have to remember to leave our worries behind, and that’s not easy, I know. But it’s no use taking them to the Lord in prayer and then picking them up again and taking them away with you!!!
Return unto your rest my soul, He delivers and makes us whole, From death and tears, and feet that fall, He will deliver from them all.
These few lines remind us that He is the Great Deliverer….we just have to hang onto this in faith. The Bible says that if we don’t have faith, we can’t receive anything from Him (Hebrews 11:6) It also says that those who seek WILL find (Matthew 7:7-8)
What can I to the Lord now give, For the fact I move and live? I’ll take salvation that’s His gift, Pay my vows, my voice I’ll lift! This verse shows us that we have to have a thankful heart….this is what God is looking for from us. We all feel disappointed if we give a gift to someone, and they just take it with no thanks given, and no appreciation for it. How many of God’s gifts we take for granted…we never think to say thankyou for our homes, for the other blessings we have, for the good health that we enjoy, and for the friendships and family that we have. These are all gifts from God….too often all we do is complain and grumble if things don’t work out as we would like! Most of all, He is offering us salvation from our sins and shortcomings….have we even bothered to take this, let alone give thanks for it??
Precious in the sight of God, Are those who in His ways have trod. These last lines of this psalm remind us how God views His people as being precious. Not only in our lives as we look to Him, but also when it comes to leaving this earth for ever. He says in verse 15 of this psalm…. “Precious in the sight of the Lord, is the death of His saints!” This is because He will have them with Him forever….there will be no more parting from Him, and we will see Him face to face….what a glorious prospect His people have! No wonder the Psalmist could end this Psalm by saying, “Praise the Lord!!”