I prayed last night that God would tell me which verse to use, and I found it this morning while I was reading my Bible. Considering the depression I've gone through lately, I found this poignant and reverent.
Psalm 6
O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger
or discipline me in your wrath
Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am faint;
O Lord, heal me, for my bones are in agony.
My soul is in anguish.
How long, O Lord, how long?
Turn, O Lord, and deliver me;
save me because of your unfailing love.
No one remembers you when he is dead.
Who praises you from the grave?
I am worn out from groaning;
all night long I flood my bed with weeping
and drench my couch with tears.
My eyes grow weak with sorrow;
they fail because of all my foes.
Away from me, all you who do evil,
for the Lord has heard my weeping.
The Lord has heard my cry for mercy;
the Lord accepts my prayer.
All my enemies will be ashamed and dismayed;
they will turn back in sudden disgrace.
Ok, that is the entire 6th psalm. I don't think I'll normally do an entire psalm, but it's not very long.
Recently, I was pretty sad. To this day, not even sure why. My soul was definitely in anguish, that is for sure. The part about flooding my bed with weeping and drenching the couch with tears struck a chord. Has anyone else around here been so sad that they did this? Also, the part about agony in the bones. I've posted here about the pain I've had in my left hip, plus I also sprained my ankle right before Christmas. Believe me when I understand joint and bone pain. I may have read this when I was a teenager and blown right past it, but as an old lady of 33 (ha!) it means a lot more now.
But! Despite the pain, despite the tears, we have HOPE! My enemies (not necessarily people, but my own depression and pain were my enemies at least for me) will flee. Not just creep away quietly, but they see God and they run like the dickens. When God is on my side, evil does not stand a chance. He is merciful and good.
What or who are your enemies today? Is it a person, or is it an idea? Is it a situation in your life? What does this verse say about conquering your enemies? It is certainly not to rely on your strength, but to rest in God. I don't know about you, but I could use the rest. I'll put my feet up and let my Heavenly Father take care of that garbage for me. Thanks, Dad!
2 comments:
***Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am faint;
O Lord, heal me, for my bones are in agony.
My soul is in anguish.
How long, O Lord, how long?
Turn, O Lord, and deliver me;
save me because of your unfailing love***
This part, especially the "How long" and "my bones are in agony".
I've been dealing with fibromyalgia for years. And I am just done. And I've felt like this a lot lately.
I do have HOPE that the Lord will sustain me and carry me through and perhaps even heal me.
Thanks for sharing this Psalm,
Sarah.
I'll be praying that you're healed too, Kelly.
I smile when I type your name. My sister's name is Kelly. :)
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