May 29, 2008
How to cry out to God
Scripture: 2 Samuel 14-15, Psalm 119:153-160, 1 Thessalonians 1-2
Observation:
Psalm 119:145-152
145 With my whole heart I cry; answer me, O Lord!
I will keep your statutes.
146 I call to you; save me,
that I may observe your testimonies.
147 I rise before dawn and cry for help;
I hope in your words.
148 My eyes are awake before the watches of the night,
that I may meditate on your promise.
149 Hear my voice according to your steadfast love;
O Lord, according to your justice give me life.
150 They draw near who persecute me with evil purpose;
they are far from your law.
151 But you are near, O Lord,
and all your commandments are true.
152 Long have I known from your testimonies
that you have founded them forever.
This is from yesterday’s reading. What resonates with me about this Psalm is that the Psalmist is making known his desperation. He is pleading for; crying out to the Lord. We’ve all been there. Time and time again when we’ve realized that the only thing that could save us is God himself and we are desperate for a touch from him. The difference is, most of us cry out on our own behalf and keep crying. The Psalmist knows the Lord and knows his promises. He rises before dawn to cry out for help and he hopes in the words of the Lord. He stays up all night to meditate on the promises of God. He trusts in him for salvation. And he wants to be rescued that he might again be an instrument of the Lord’s glory, that he would keep his statutes and tell of his love. Many of the scenerios that I need rescuing from are ones that I’ve brought upon myself through sin. I first approach God through a lens of selfishness that he rescue me for my own comfort and peace, or for my own faith. In contrast, the psalmist is not lacking in faith. He realizes that it begins and ends with God, and he’s not living caught up in his own small story. I can learn from the psalmists example of drawing near to God in faith, trusting in his promises and seeking him wholeheartedly and unselfishly in the midst of trials.
