A Pit of Despair

A Series from the Psalms
God is my… Help
 (Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Psalm 40

[God is many things to many people. In this series, we will be looking at various Psalms that completes the statement “God is my…” Maybe ultimately this answers the question that we all ask at some point in our life, “Who is God to me?”.]

 

David began Psalm 40 by writing about his life in the pit.

 

² He lifted me out of the pit of despair,
    out of the mud and the mire.
He set my feet on solid ground
    and steadied me as I walked along.
³ He has given me a new song to sing,
    a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see what he has done and be amazed.
    They will put their trust in the Lord. NLT

 

Life can be like a pit of despair, slogging through the mud and the mire. In fact, there have been many times in my life when I felt that way. Thankfully, the Lord has brought people into my life who have helped me through those times.

 

In high school, because I was so shy around girls, my best friend taught me how to slow dance. 

My brother helped me get through a very difficult time during my junior year of college.

 When my wife and I bought our first home, my Dad loaned us the down payment. 

Whenever I lost a baseball in the field behind our house, my Mom would find it.

Friends at our church in Michigan supported us when we had our stillborn. 

Friends at our church in Ohio helped us following my wife’s stroke & my foot surgery, which were a week apart.

 

There are three verses in this psalm that remind me the Lord is my help.

 

¹ I waited patiently for the Lord to help me,
    and he turned to me and heard my cry.         NLT

 

¹¹ Do not withhold your mercy from me, Lord;
    may your love and faithfulness always protect me. NIV

 

¹⁷ But as for me, I am poor and needy;
    may the Lord think of me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
    you are my God, do not delay.              NIV

 

Waiting is very difficult to do, especially when you need help now. During those times, it is critical to remember that the Lord is faithful and always loves you. It’s also helpful to remind yourself of those times when God has helped you in the past. 

 

Life can be a pit, but God is our help and our deliverer.

 

Copyright 2022 Joseph B Williams

 

 

 

Eeyore or Tigger?

Numbers 14:1-9

Who’s your favorite: Eeyore or Tigger?

 

Have you ever noticed that there are two kinds of people in the world? One sees everything as half empty and the other as half full. In Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore is a half empty kind of guy: “It’s not much of a tail but I’m sort of attached to it”. While Tigger is always bouncing around: “Hoo-hoo-hoo-hoo! I almost bounced clear outta the book!”

 

In today’s passage the Israelites are half empty as they respond in despair to the report concerning the Promised Land: “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword?” Sort of sounds like Eeyore doesn’t it?

 

While Joshua and Caleb are half full kind of guys: “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the Lord is pleased with us, He will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us.”  Do you feel like bouncing with Tigger?

 

How did the other ten spies explore the same land as Joshua and Caleb but came to the totally opposite conclusion? The answer is in the last statement in today’s passage. “The Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them”.

 

There are many examples in the Bible of people who believed and trusted that God would be with them in difficult, if not impossible situations. Moses ran away from Egypt and Gideon was hiding in a winepress when God promised each of them, “I will be with you”. The same promise is true for you and me.

 

Eeyore and Tigger are make believe characters from a fictional children’s book, but they have human traits. Traits that can be seen in people throughout the Bible. Traits that we can see in ourselves.

 

Are you more like Eeyore or Tigger? Or a better question to ask is this; do you see God at work in your life or do you only see the obstacles? Like the Israelites, do you ask God why, or like Joshua and Caleb do you ask God why not?