Key Text: Psalm 74:12-17
But God is my King from long ago;
He brings salvation on the earth.
It was you who split open the sea by your power;
You broke the heads of the monster in the waters.
It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan
and gave it as food to the creatures of the desert.
It was you who opened up springs and streams;
You dried up the ever-flowing rivers.
The day is yours, and yours also the night;
you established the sun and moon.
It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth;
you made both summer and winter.
It’s a Psalm that begins on a sad, mournful note:
O God, why have you rejected us forever?
Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture?
Sometimes we can’t help but feel that way.
Maybe we have
- Suffered a terrible loss
- Wandered away from God and can’t seem to find our way back
- Disappointed someone we love
- Been disappointed by someone we love
- Become confused about our faith
- Received some terrible news that just doesn’t make sense
- Or a thousand other things that can burden us beyond words
Life, at times, is terribly hard.
And yet, the Psalmist who cried out “O God, why have you rejected us forever?” also wrote these words a few moments later:
But God is my King from long ago;
he brings salvation on the earth.
Somehow, the Psalmist’s faith survives – and goes on.
There are times when day seems like night. But when we can remember in faith that the day and the night belong to God – there is hope.
Life may not always seem to make sense.
That does not change the rock solid fact, however, that God will one day make it all perfectly clear.
O Lord…
The day is yours, and yours also the night;
you established the sun and moon.
It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth;
you made both summer and winter.
Help me to trust in that, always.
AMEN.
IGW3 - In God's Word, In God's Will, In God's Work 