Dear Rose Park,
Our denomination publishes a small devotional entitled Words of Hope. I read a recent entry from Psalm 31. If you get a chance, I’d encourage you to pick up your bible sometime this week and read through Psalm 31; it speaks directly to our congregation, our community, and our country. The psalmist is writing from a dark place and I can only imagine the pain in their heart while they penned these words:
“For I am in distress; my eye wastes away from grief, my soul and body also. For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my misery, and my bones waste away. I am the scorn of all my adversaries, a horror to my neighbors, an object of dread to my acquaintances; those who see me in the street flee from me. I have passed out of mind like one who is dead; I have become like a broken vessel. For I hear the whispering of many – terror all around! – as they scheme together against me, as they plot to take my life.” (Ps. 31: 9-13).
These are powerful words: I am in distress…my life is spent with sorrow…my strength fails…I am like a broken vessel. I can only imagine what it must feel like to be in such a place and yet the author from Words of Hope calls us to try. He writes: “What does it mean for a free person to remember those in prison as though she or he were one of them?” And I would add, what does it mean for a healthy person to remember those in hospitals as though she or he were one of them? What does it mean for someone surrounded by family to remember those who are lonely as if he or she were one of them? On this Veterans Day, what does it mean for those who have freedom to remember those who fought for that freedom? Psalm 31 calls us to realize those predicaments by remembering our own pain, our own loneliness, our own sleepless nights, our own health concerns, and our own fear of losing our livelihood. But in the midst of this dark place, the Psalmist reminds us:
“But I trust in You, O Lord; I say, ‘You are my God.’ My times are in Your hand…Let your face shine upon Your servant; save me in Your steadfast love…O how abundant is Your goodness that You have laid up for those who fear You…Love the Lord, all you His saints…Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord. (Paraphrased from Psalm 31: 14-24).”
With these words, we can find comfort that our times are never stolen. Enemies may come after us, sicknesses may creep into our bodies, addictions may tempt us, relationships may hurt us, and a government may even befuddle us but our times, lives, families, and hopes are in the Lord’s hands. They have always been there and they will always remain there.
Grace & Peace,
Pastor Mark