CONTACT US

Despair No More
by A.J. Wilson

“In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord; My hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing; My soul refused to be comforted. I remembered God, and was troubled; I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak. I have considered the days of old, The years of ancient times. I call to remembrance my song in the night; I meditate within my heart, And my spirit makes diligent search. Will the Lord cast off forever? And will He be favorable no more?” Psalms 77:2-7

As you read Psalms 77, have you been there?  Maybe you are there right now?  We can come to despair so easily these days.  As we said a couple weeks ago, Satan has become very adept at pulling our strings of worry and fear.  Left unchecked, seeds of worry will sprout into trees of despair.  Despair is so damaging; fear says “I am concerned/afraid,” where despair says, “There is no hope.”  God always provides hope, through our faith.  Let’s look at the Psalmist’s thoughts.

Psalms 77 sounds as though it could have been written by Job in the mist of his trials and afflictions.  As the Psalmist said in verse 3, sometimes we “remember God” but when nothing changes, we get “troubled”.  When God doesn’t act as a vending machine, giving us what we want, we give up and lose faith.  As easy as this predicament is to relate to, I hope we can all get to the solution he has in the second part of the Psalm.  Job 19 is a pretty good parallel passage, starting out in despair, and ending with a praise of God beginning in verse 25. 

Despair puts us in a hole and doesn’t allow us to see any help, until we look up and see God.  As I have heard before, “Instead of telling God how big our problems are, tell your problems how big your God is!”  This is what the Psalmist does from verse 10 onward.  He remembers the works of God and the blessings he has done both in his own life and in times past.  It seems to be easier for us to see how “big” God is looking back, how he overcame obstacles in our past.  Many of those obstacles seemed insurmountable at the time, but God pulled us through.  So our secret should be to strive to look at God instead of our problems.  This is mighty hard at times, so it is also advisable to find a trusted friend who you can share with, and they can help you look to God also.

Dear Lord, because you overcame this world, you promised that we would also.  Please help us store your scriptures and testimonies in our minds that they can be reminders of your greatness, and be a beacon of hope amidst our despairs.  In your precious name, Amen.

©Copyright 2008 Rowletts Baptist Church.  All rights reserved.
Hosted and Designed by S & M Computer Services