Psalm 38:21-22

Psalm 38:21-22

Broken but not forsaken

Perhaps there is only one cry left when everything has gone wrong. We have followed the spiralling descent into despair that this Psalm describes and there appears to be no solution. David is battered and bruised in body, mind and soul and for most people this is the point of “no return.” They have no answers, the best medical and psychiatric advisers shake their heads. The familiar bastions of support have withdrawn and there is no one to help. The enemy is gathering at the door and maybe it is time to just give up, to roll over and say goodbye to this life and hope for something better in the next. I’m sure there are many who have done that but David is not one of them! He has one last resort, one final cry bursts from his lips, “Lord, do not forsake me; do not be far from me, my God. Come quickly to help me, my Lord and Saviour.”

When all else fails the unbeliever must throw in the towel and stare eternity in the face with a deep sense of hopelessness. No so, you and I. There is a last resort for the human soul and that plaintive cry from the lips of David will be heard and answered. Even in our darkest moments, when all else and everyone else fails us, our Lord is with us. Only Jesus knew what it meant to be abandoned completely for He must be forsaken, even by God. But you and I can always look ahead with hope. There comes a point when we stop struggling and fighting and instead of resignation to fate, we hand it all over to the Lord. That is the profound and ultimate promise of this Psalm. Hallelujah!


As I write this, and maybe as you read it, it is Good Friday 2021. A good Friday to stop and think about our Lord's sufferings but also to remember that He will never leave or forsake us. Even in the darkest of times, He will be there!

"Thank You Lord. Whatever the future hold, you will be there and I need not fear."

 

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