Tag Archives: trust in God

Light in a Dark Place

12 Monday Jun 2017

Posted by in Psalm 13, Psalms

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Reading:                                           Psalm 13

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
How long must I wrestle with my thoughts
and day after day have sorrow in my heart?
How long will my enemy triumph over me?
Look on me and answer, LORD my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.
But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing the LORD’s praise,
for he has been good to me (NIV).

Reflection
Have you hit a low point in your life? Are you facing a personal downturn when nothing seems to go right? Problems may arise whether it’s in your career, your finances, your family, or your relations with others. Often difficulty in one area leads to difficulty in other aspects of life. It may seem that circumstances are conspiring to bring you down. Are you caught in a downward spiral?

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Seeing our way through, Ottawa River marsh, Orleans, ON — photo by David Kitz

David begins this psalm in such a state. His life and career appear to be in a death spiral. He pleads with God, “Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death, and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes will rejoice when I fall.”

We can learn a lot from David’s response to hard times. First he brought his problems before God. He poured out his frustration, and in desperation he called out to the LORD for help. He didn’t pretend everything was fine, when clearly they were not. Call out to God in times of trouble.

Secondly, David asked for the light of God to shine into his situation. “Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death…” When we are going through a dark time often we can’t see our way out. Many times the solution is right in front of our eyes, but we can’t see it. We need God to illumine our path. There is a way forward. We need Him to show us. Open your eyes to God’s solution.

Finally, David trusted in the unfailing love of God. He rejoiced in God’s salvation. God is in the rescue business. The solution had yet to arrive, but in advance David sang his praise to God. David reflected on the goodness of God. The LORD had been good and faithful in the past. David knew that God would show him His goodness once again. Trust and praise God in advance.

Response: LORD God, thank you that I can call out to you in times of trouble. Show me the way forward. Open my eyes to the help you are providing. I trust and thank and praise you in advance. Amen.

Your Turn: Has God rescued you in difficult times in the past? Trust Him to do the same now and in the future.

David the Warrior King

02 Friday Jun 2017

Posted by in Psalm 9, Psalms

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Reading:                                           Psalm 9

For the director of music. To the tune of “The Death of the Son.” A psalm of David.

Verses 1-10
I will give thanks to you, LORD, with all my heart;
I will tell of all your wonderful deeds.
I will be glad and rejoice in you;
I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High.
My enemies turn back; they stumble and perish before you.
For you have upheld my right and my cause,
sitting enthroned as the righteous judge.
You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;
you have blotted out their name forever and ever.
Endless ruin has overtaken my enemies, you have uprooted their cities;
even the memory of them has perished.
The LORD reigns forever; he has established his throne for judgment.
He rules the world in righteousness and judges the peoples with equity.
The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.
Those who know your name trust in you,
for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you (NIV).

Reflection

Without question David was a man of war. After all, this was the man who as a strapping young teenager slew Goliath, the gigantic champion of the Philistines. Later he led King Saul’s army as they went out to do battle with the enemies of Israel. Eventually when David became King, he secured Israel’s borders and greatly expanded its territory through conquest. David knew a few things about bloodshed and war, and he had more than a few enemies.

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Wisteria, Victoria, BC — photo by David Kitz

It should not surprise us then that the language of warfare and talk of enemies and destruction should appear in the psalms that he wrote. David wrote, sang and spoke of the things he knew and experienced. He was personally involved in life and death struggles. Consequently, he was a man of violence, who lived and survived through violent times.

But he loved God. Sometimes it’s hard to reconcile the slay-my-enemies David with the LORD-is-my-shepherd David. It’s as though two contradictory Davids are living in one body. But then I look at myself—deep within myself. Am I any different? There are more than a few contradictory elements at work within me. The real warfare is within the human spirit. Will I yield to the Spirit of God, or to the foul spirit of this world, or my own selfish pride?

Like David I simply need God. I need to praise and exalt Him over all else. When I do that I gain perspective—the right perspective. With David I can say, “Those who know your name trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.”

Response: I praise you, LORD and I seek you. Along with David I can say you have upheld me in difficult times. Be the master within me. I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High. Amen.

Your Turn: Have you yielded to the LORD? Is He winning the warfare within?

Confidence in Times of Adversity

24 Wednesday May 2017

Posted by in Psalms

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Reading:                                           Psalm 3

A psalm of David. When he fled from his son Absalom.

LORD, how many are my foes!
How many rise up against me!
Many are saying of me,
“God will not deliver him.”

But you, LORD, are a shield around me,
my glory, the One who lifts my head high.
I call out to the LORD,
and he answers me from his holy mountain.

I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, because the LORD sustains me.
I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side.

Arise, LORD! Deliver me, my God!
Strike all my enemies on the jaw;
break the teeth of the wicked.

From the LORD comes deliverance.
May your blessing be on your people (NIV).

Reflection

When do you most need God?

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An Abandoned Prairie Home— photo courtesy of Donald Adam

The answer to that question is easy—when I’m in deep trouble. It’s natural to call out to God when I’m in some great or urgent need. A returning veteran from the First World War said it best, “There are no atheists in the trenches. When the artillery shells start exploding to the right and left even unbelievers discover how to pray.”

The context of Psalm 3 is of great significance. David finds himself in the midst of a life threatening tragedy. He is fleeing from his palace in the nation’s capital, because his son is conspiring to murder him and seize the kingdom from his hands. Here is the great delta—the extreme low point in David’s life.

How does David respond? With utter confidence in God! Yes, he calls out to the LORD for deliverance, but he does so with complete assurance that God will answer. There isn’t the slightest hint of doubtful desperation in his voice. Having prayed to the LORD, he boasts in his ability to sleep, because he knows God will answer.

How could David be so confident—so self-assured? Actually, David’s assurance rested entirely on the LORD, not on himself. David had a wealth of experience with God. In his mind, the LORD was tried, tested, and true through the ups and downs of life.

He knew something we need to know. God will come through. He will bring salvation and deliverance!

Response: LORD God, save me from all my troubles. I put my confidence in you. You reach down to me at the low points in my life. You have never abandoned me. Amen.

Your Turn: Take a moment to reflect on the goodness of the LORD. Has He saved you from deep trouble in the past?

The Light of Life

21 Tuesday Mar 2017

Posted by in Psalms, Tuesday's Truth

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I will praise Him!

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Apple blossoms — photo courtesy of Karen Kitz

In God, whose word I praise,
    in the Lord, whose word I praise—
in God I trust and am not afraid.
    What can man do to me?

I am under vows to you, my God;
    I will present my thank offerings to you.
For you have delivered me from death
    and my feet from stumbling,
that I may walk before God
    in the light of life.

  (Psalm 56:10-13, NIV)

 

Trust Brings Permanence

06 Monday Feb 2017

Posted by in Psalm 125, Psalms

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Reading:                                       Psalm 125

A song of ascents.

Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be shaken but endures forever.
As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
so the LORD surrounds his people
both now and forevermore.

The scepter of the wicked will not remain
over the land allotted to the righteous,
for then the righteous might use
their hands to do evil.

LORD, do good to those who are good,
to those who are upright in heart.
But those who turn to crooked ways
the LORD will banish with the evildoers.

Peace be on Israel (NIV).

Reflection

If someone compared you to a mountain, would you take it as a compliment, or would you be offended? Your answer to that question may depend on your gender. I suspect very few women would like being compared to a mountain. Though I am a male, becoming a mountain of a man has never been one of my ambitions. Nevertheless, Psalm 125 begins by comparing those who trust in the LORD to Mount Zion. Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever.

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Hopewell Rocks, New Brunswick — photo by David Kitz

This is the sixth psalm in the Songs of Ascent series, and clearly the psalmist is inspired by his surroundings. He beholds the beauty of Jerusalem, its citadels and the mountains around it. There is something reassuring about a mountain. Mountains have stood the test of time. They have endured when human endeavors have come and gone. In a world of transition, the mountains remain; they stand firm.

Are you like a mountain—solid and immovable? You ask—how can I be? Without the LORD, this is truly impossible. But the psalmist provides us with this assurance: As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds his people both now and forevermore.

We only have permanence because of the LORD. He has you surrounded. Are you going through hell and high water? He has you surrounded. Are you facing opposition? He has you surrounded. Is there trouble on every side? He has you surrounded. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds his people both now and forevermore.

Again this psalm reassures us that the LORD is on our side. He is working on our behalf. The scepter of the wicked will not remain over the land allotted to the righteous, for then the righteous might use their hands to do evil.

Response: Father God, I trust in you. I trust that you are working on my behalf. Help me to become steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord (1 Corinthians 15:58, NKJV). Amen.

Your Turn: Are you becoming steadfast? Do you have enduring faith?

I Trust in Your Word

05 Thursday Jan 2017

Posted by in Psalm 119, Psalms

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Reading:                                        Psalm 119

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 (Verses 41-48)

May your unfailing love come to me, LORD,
your salvation, according to your promise;
 then I can answer anyone who taunts me,
for I trust in your word.
 Never take your word of truth from my mouth,
for I have put my hope in your laws.
I will always obey your law,
for ever and ever.
I will walk about in freedom,
for I have sought out your precepts.
I will speak of your statutes before kings
and will not be put to shame,
for I delight in your commands
because I love them.
I reach out for your commands, which I love,
that I may meditate on your decrees (NIV).

Reflection

We live in uncertain times. I am sure people have been saying words to that effect for generations, but it’s true. Developments in technology have been driving change at an ever increasing tempo. With major political and economic changes on the horizon, there seems to be more uncertainty than ever. The only thing that seems certain is that change will certainly happen.

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Show me your paths — photo by David Kitz

In times like this, we need certainty. This world can’t offer us certainty, but God’s word can. Isaiah reminds us of the permanence of God’s word. “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever” (Isaiah 40:8).

Jesus offers us the same assurance.  “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:17-19).

Jesus fully endorsed a reverence for God’s holy word. This is the reverence that we see expressed here in Psalm 119. We can place our trust in God’s word because it’s not changing with the times. It stands eternal. In uncertain times, we need God’s word in our minds and on our lips more than ever. May this be our prayer:  Never take your word of truth from my mouth, for I have put my hope in your laws. 

Response: Father God, help me grow in my love for your word. Help me to read, meditate and apply it to my daily life. I reach out for your commands, which I love, that I may meditate on your decrees. Amen.

Your Turn: Are you spending time in daily in God’s word?