New Morning Mercies #200

God’s grace calls you to suffer and it calls you to wait, but it never calls you to stand in your own strength or to stand alone.

The Bible never denies reality. The Bible never plays it safe. The Bible never offers you a cosmetized view of the fallen world. The Bible never tricks you into thinking that things are better than they are. The Bible is straightforward and honest but not void of hope. While it is very candid about the hardships of life in this broken world, the Bible is also gloriously hopeful. The honesty does not crush the hope, but neither does the hope negate the honesty. Psalm 28 is a good example of the important harmony of these two themes:

To you, O Lord, I call;

my rock, be not deaf to me,

lest, if you be silent to me,

I become like those who go down to the pit.

Hear the voice of my pleas for mercy,

when I cry to you for help,

when I lift up my hands

toward your most holy sanctuary.

Do not drag me off with the wicked,

with the workers of evil,

who speak peace with their neighbors

while evil is in their hearts.

Give to them according to their work

and according to the evil of their deeds;

give to them according to the work of their hands;

render them their due reward.

Because they do not regard the works of the Lord

or the work of his hands,

he will tear them down and build them up no more.

Blessed be the Lord!

For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy.

The Lord is my strength and my shield;

in him my heart trusts, and I am helped;

my heart exults,

and with my song I give thanks to him.

The Lord is the strength of his people;

he is the saving refuge of his anointed.

Oh, save your people and bless your heritage!

Be their shepherd and carry them forever.”

This psalm of trouble ends up being a psalm of shining hope. That’s the story of the life of every believer, because you and I are never alone in our trouble. The “saving refuge” is always with us!

For further study and encouragement: Psalm 35