Does God Ever Forget About Us?
Psalm 77
For the
director of music. For Jeduthun. Of Asaph. A psalm.
1 I cried out to God for help;
I cried out to God to hear me.
2 When I was in distress, I sought the Lord;
at night I stretched out untiring hands,
and I would not be comforted.
I cried out to God to hear me.
2 When I was in distress, I sought the Lord;
at night I stretched out untiring hands,
and I would not be comforted.
3 I remembered you, God, and I groaned;
I meditated, and my spirit grew faint.
4 You kept my eyes from closing;
I was too troubled to speak.
5 I thought about the former days,
the years of long ago;
6 I remembered my songs in the night.
My heart meditated and my spirit asked:
I meditated, and my spirit grew faint.
4 You kept my eyes from closing;
I was too troubled to speak.
5 I thought about the former days,
the years of long ago;
6 I remembered my songs in the night.
My heart meditated and my spirit asked:
7 “Will the Lord reject forever?
Will he never show his favor again?
8 Has his unfailing love vanished forever?
Has his promise failed for all time?
9 Has God forgotten to be merciful?
Has he in anger withheld his compassion?”
Will he never show his favor again?
8 Has his unfailing love vanished forever?
Has his promise failed for all time?
9 Has God forgotten to be merciful?
Has he in anger withheld his compassion?”
10 Then I thought, “To this I will appeal:
the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand.
11 I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
12 I will consider all your works
and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”
the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand.
11 I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
12 I will consider all your works
and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”
One of the
things I love about the psalms is how real they are. The psalmists often speak out of a deep
anguish in their hearts, usually resulting from feeling that in some way God
has left them. In this case, the
psalmist was wearied from crying out to God, and this lasted well into the
night without any reprieve. Usually when
we cry out to God, at the very least we feel His peace and His presence, even
though our circumstances may not change.
But in this case the psalmist was left asking questions like:
Has God rejected him forever? Has He run out of mercy? Will He show favor again? Is this a result of His anger?
The psalmist
is stuck in a place we might call, “the dark
night of the soul”. He knows God to
be faithful, yet He is not experiencing any relief from his sense of
abandonment. Worst of all, he wonders if
he has been cut off from God’s unfailing love and mercy. Then, the psalmist shifts to recalling God’s
acts of deliverance in the past. He
remembers the great miracle of God parting the Red Sea to deliver his ancestors
from the Egyptians.
As New
Testament Christians, we may have circumstances or things that happen to us
that may prompt similar doubts and questions.
When things happen that we didn’t ask for, or things that don’t happen
when we ask for them, we wonder if we have lost favor with God. As believers in Jesus, we look back to the
saving act of Jesus going to the cross for us.
When we wonder if God is with us, we remember Jesus’ suffering and dying
on the cross as God’s proof of His unconditional love for us.
Importantly, in the Words of Institution
during Holy Communion we say, “Jesus took
the bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to the disciples saying, take and
eat this is my body broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In Holy Communion, we remember what God has
done for us, and experience His real presence in our hearts and lives.
While there may be times we cry out to God, we
can know God will never leave us or forsake.
He has given us the Holy Spirit as a sign of His presence and a deposit
guaranteeing our future inheritance.
Comments
Post a Comment