Psalm 94:19

Psalm 94:19

Anxiety v consolation

Have you had those periods I your life? Some of us are more susceptible than others. I went through a period of great anxiety when I was 30 years old. It started with intense tiredness after a period of over-working with no proper breaks or relaxation time. I know now, of course, that I broke God’s Commandments by not having a Sabbath! The physical breakdown turned into a mental breakdown and then the anxieties kicked in, many were completely irrational, but at the time they felt very real. The anxieties took a long time to retreat, I did not know how to fight them and so they hung around for a number of years. Thankfully, the Lord was with me at that time and gradually led me through the darkness until one day, I knew I was free. His freedom is permanent unless we have learned nothing from such experiences. And one of the great benefits is that you have to confront your emotions, both good and negative. The unlocking of those feelings allows us to grieve and to know sorrow but also to be elated. Today the consolation of the Lord brings tears of joy not of fear or sadness. Anxieties may pile up and try to knock us off course, but the joy of the Lord and the reassurance of His presence carries us through.

Our psalm writer had numerous reasons to be woeful and depressed, some of his feelings have been recorded in earlier verses, especially those caused by the oppression of his enemies. But he knew that God was with him, he knew that he was not alone, he knew that his prayers had been heard and thus he could respond with joy no matter how troubling the circumstances. Hallelujah! 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Psalm 4:1 Smear campaigns

Psalm 4:1    Smear campaigns   The background to this Psalm is so familiar; David is being slandered and maligned by his detractors.  It seems that some calamity has befallen the nation and the king is getting the blame! Lies are being told, a smear campaign has begun, and the reputation of the Sovereign is under threat.  As usual, if something goes wrong, culpability is laid at the feet of the one in charge.  David, quite rightly, turns to the Lord his God and prays for relief and for mercy. The Satan is a master of such campaigns and his emissaries gleefully turn on Christians in leadership positions although the whispering campaign can affect all of us. The whispering starts in our own heads, but it can also come from the lips of our detractors. It goes something like this: - You’re the reason it went wrong You messed up again You should have seen it coming Surely you know better You are not worthy You don’t know what you’re doing Someone else ought to be in c
Read more

Psalm 74:16

Psalm 74:16 God established the sun and the moon “ In  the beginning   God created   the heavens   and the earth.   2  Now the earth was formless   and empty,   darkness was over the surface of the deep,   and the Spirit of God   was hovering over the waters. 3  And God said,   “Let there be light,” and there was light.   4  God saw that the light was good,   and he separated the light from the darkness.   5  God called   the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.”   And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.” These, so familiar, words from Genesis 1 remind us of who is in charge! There would be no light without God. There would be no day or night without God. There would be no earth without God. And there would have been no living things unless God had created order out of chaos. The sun, moon and stars would not be fixed in their orbits without God and you and I would not exist unless He ordered our conception. It is because we see God as glorious, righteous
Read more
Psalm4:8        I will lie down and sleep                Th ere are times, in the life of all believers, when we no longer have control of situations. We can do nothing more. We have given our all, we have tried every possible solution and now it is out of our hands. As someone has wisely said, “It is time to let go and let God.” If we truly trust Him, if our faith will allow us, we can turn our backs on our enemies. We can block our ears to the threats. We can ignore the lies and the deceit and say,  “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone Lord, make me dwell in safety.” I should imagine that the devil, having sent a hurricane our way is not amused, when we settle in our beds in the midst of it all and drift off into a peaceful sleep! But that is our right and privilege once we let the Lord God Almighty take control. These spiritual attacks are like whirlwinds, they blow with terrifying intensity and threaten to turn us upside down; the disciples witnessed one of thes
Read more