OUR HOPE AND HELP, ALL DAY, EVERY DAY

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

I call with all my heart; answer me, Lord, and I will obey Your decrees.

I call out to You; save me and I will keep Your statutes.

I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in Your word.

My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on Your promises.

Psalm 119:145-148

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

It’s amazing how just a few verses can inspire us incredibly, especially when it comes to our daily dealings in life. Consider four verses from the 119th Psalm:

I call with all my heart; answer me, Lord, and I will obey Your decrees.

I call out to You; save me and I will keep Your statutes.

I rise before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in Your word.

My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on Your promises.

As I read through this, I love how the psalmist gives us a snapshot into how he trusted the Lord to anchor his life each day, through good times and bad. In his testimony, he reveals the following things to us about his faith, things we can use in our own lives:

1. He saw the Lord as his hope.

I cry for help; I have put my hope in Your word.

Where would we be without the Lord?

We would be without hope for one thing. I can’t imagine ever being in that place again but I do remember a period when I was living apart from the Lord and after going through a really terrible life experience, I was in a state where I was overcome by depression and despair. Everything was dark in my life and I wondered whether or not it was still worth it.

Thank goodness the Lord came to my rescue. He answered my cry for help and brought me light and love through the power of His holy word and Holy Spirit. Because of that, I am able to share this devotion with you today.

2. He knew he could call on Him.

I call with all my heart; answer me, Lord.

The psalmist understood that the God he worshipped and served was omnipresent, with him wherever he was. This meant that the Lord was at hand wherever the psalmist was, always available to answer him when he called. Thus, the psalmist called on Him with his whole heart, knowing that God was wholly with him, no matter what and no matter what time of day it was. He didn’t just communicate with the Lord when it was convenient. No, he would rise before dawn to cry out to Him and his eyes would stay open through the watches of the night, all so he could commune with the only One who could help him through whatever life situation he was going through.

3. He valued God’s word and promises.

I will obey Your decrees. I will keep Your statutes. I have put my hope in Your word. That I may meditate on Your promises. 

The psalmist found guidance, strength, optimism, and confident expectation through God’s decrees, statutes and promises as found in His word. He sought direction, pledged obedience to that direction, and meditated on the promises that buoyed him up in hope, the promises that are present for us today.

4. He knew his salvation was rooted in Him.

I call out to You; save me.

As we read through the psalms, we know that his life was not one free of peril. Over and over again, we read about him coming against opposition that derided, persecuted, attacked, and even sought to kill. Through it all, we see over and over again where the psalmist maintained his self-assurance that God was with him and would save him from harm.

Today, we would be well suited to follow the lead of the psalmist who seemed to have it figured out. We should cling to our hope we have in the Lord, trusting that the promises revealed in His word are all truth, believing that He has a perfect plan that will be seen through to fruition in His perfect time not ours. We should trust Him, sustain faith in Him, and patiently wait for Him to act in whatever our circumstances. And while we wait, we should always call on Him and communicate our praises and our needs as we meditate on His word and the many blessings He has bestowed upon us through our lives.

Let us ever remember that through our belief and trust in Jesus Christ, we have gained our salvation, our triumph over death at life’s end is assured. Thus, we are victorious people who should be basking in the glow of hope, no matter what life brings our way.

Friends, our God, the same God of the psalmist, is available to us, all day, every day. This is good news for us because the One who can do all things is ever and always with us. We need to remember that no one can do for us what God can do.

The problem is that we are less than patient. We have difficulty waiting on the Lord and we too often see our faith wane. Our world is one predicated on instant gratification, a realm that God doesn’t always operate in. And in our need for help, we too often lack the desire to persevere while God works things out for us according to His flawless plan, a plan much different from ours or what the world says it should be. It’s different because it is always perfect as He is perfect, something neither we nor the world will ever be.

In the end translation, we all need help and hope all day, every day, and God is ever ready to provide it to us.

Thanks be to Him for that.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.

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