"Better To Trust"
"I remembered God and was troubled" (Psalm 77:3).
Normally we encourage each other and ourselves to remember God in order to be comforted. However, thoughts of the Lord discomfited the Psalmist because he felt as if the Lord had turned away from Israel.
"Will the Lord cast off forever? And will He be favorable no more? Is His mercy clean gone for ever? Doth His promise fail forevermore? Hath God forgotten to be gracious? Hath He in anger shut up His tender mercies?" (Psalm 77:7-9).
David found thoughts of God troubling because he did not understand well enough the ways of his Lord. Even more, he was tempted to question God's heart. Trouble does this, or rather our spiritual enemies seek to use trouble to cast doubts in our mind regarding our Heavenly Father's faithfulness. His determinations and allowances of difficulty often transcend our ability to understand. "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord" (Isaiah 55:8). Try as we might, some challenges defy any comprehension regarding the specific and personal reasoning behind this sorrow, or that loss, or some pain that brings us to our knees.
Speaking of that - of being brought to our knees - the Psalmist fell thereupon and found his answer not in understanding, but in the remembrance of God's faithfulness.
"I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High. I will remember the works of the LORD: surely I will remember Thy wonders of old. I will meditate also of all Thy work, and talk of Thy doings" (Psalm 77:10-12).
It is good to understand the ways of God when we can. "With all thy getting, get understanding" (Proverbs 4:7). It is even better to trust the heart of God when we cannot understand. "Unto the upright there ariseth light in the darkness: He is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous" (Psalm 112:4). Glories of our Lord's heart shine forth in the night seasons that cannot be seen in the light of noonday. Temptations to discouragement during times of troubled perplexity thus offer opportunities for faith unavailable when our Father's ways seem understandable. As the old saying beautifully encourages, "When we cannot understand God's hand, let us trust His heart". We will find that Heart perfectly faithful even when the Hand challenges our ability to comprehend. The Psalmist realized such truth by remembering, mediating upon, and talking of those Divine workings and doings he could understand. Thereby the faithfulness of God arose as a light in the darkness, and as assurance in uncertainty. As it still does, for you and for me as we look for the rising Light in our own times of seeming darkness.
"Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for He is faithful that promised."
(Hebrews 10:23).
Weekly Memory Verse
"God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble."
(Psalm 46:1)
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