Psalm 77:2-3 "In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted. (3) I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah."
Recently, we saw that God hears and He answers our prayers. But may I say He
answers them in His time and in His way. I am writing this for my own benefit
as much as anyone else. Our hearts know the truth of verse 1. Let's review it
just now: "I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice;
and he gave ear unto me." God listens when we cry out to Him. There
can be no doubt about that, but there are times when we feel that either God
has not heard or He is not giving an answer. Sometimes our feelings cause
our spirits to be overwhelmed. Selah. Think about this.. our feelings, our
natural mind with which we must contend every day, our feelings cause our
spirits to be overwhelmed. This is when we find ourselves in that dark
valley, struggling to get through each day, or even each minute of each day.
Our feelings can cause great turmoil in our lives.
There are days when my feelings try to discourage me from looking at the verses
of the day. There are days when my feelings try to discourage me from writing
my thoughts. There are days when I think it is useless to spend this time each
morning. I don't write these things to try to get a response from anyone;
rather, I'm simply saying no one is exempt from the feelings that the Psalmist
expressed in these verses. We all have spent sleepless nights with
something on our minds for which we desperately needed help. No matter how much
we try, sleep escaped us. The more we try to push those things out of our
minds, the more awake we become. We pray about it. We cry out for help from the
Lord, but nothing seems to happen.
The chronological order that follows these initial worries and struggles in the
night brings us to a very dark place where we begin to question God's love for
us. The writer of the Psalm had such questions. "Will the Lord cast off
for ever? and will he be favourable no more? (8) Is his mercy clean
gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore? (9) Hath God forgotten
to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah."
(Psalm 77:7-9) Think about these questions that can easily slip into our
minds that cause our spirits to be overwhelmed. The Psalmist was asking
questions such as this: "Has God thrown me away? Is He never going
to have anything to do with me again? Did He forget His promises? Has He
forgotten grace? Is He mad at me?" Then the writer concludes with
that word we encounter quite often: "Selah" Think about these
questions and the absurdity of them.
So what is the answer? He gives it to us. "I will remember the works of
the LORD: surely I will remember thy wonders of old. (12) I will
meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings. (13) Thy
way, O God, is in the sanctuary: who is so great a God as our God?
(14) Thou art the God that doest wonders: thou hast declared
thy strength among the people. (15) Thou hast with thine arm
redeemed thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. Selah." (Psalm
77:11-15) Though the event had not taken place at that time, the Psalmist is
telling us there is one way to combat those absurd questions that come into our
minds when we are struggling. What is that way? What did Jesus say about
Himself? "I am the way, the truth, and the life." The way
to avoid those questions that overwhelm us is to be overwhelmed by the love of
God. They are overcome by looking back to the One Who hung on the cross on
Calvary's Hill. Turn your eyes away from the struggles to the One Who redeemed
you by His blood. Look to Jesus.