Clergy/Leaders’ Mail-list No. 1-126 Sunday 15 Jul 2001

Reading: PSALM 69 – THE LORD HEARS THE NEEDY

(From ‘Encounter with God’ Bible Reading Notes)

Are you struggling with a difficult situation? Like David, tell God exactly how you feel.

As you read through this psalm, make a mental note of the feelings David expresses. You could start with despair, fear, helplessness… and so on throughout the psalm. David is in a particularly difficult and painful situation, and the only way he knows how to cope with it is to pour out all his feelings to God. In his intense distress, he doesn’t pause to edit it, or to replace some of the strong words he uses – the words just tumble out.

We too can pour out our distress to God when we feel overwhelmed by circumstances and, like David, by the injustice of it all. Because of his loyalty to God David has been shamed and feels totally isolated from his family and friends; rejected by those closest to him. The sheer injustice of it is summed up in verse 9: he is in trouble because of his zeal for God.

David knows where to look for help, however, even if it seems very slow in coming, so he asks God to deliver him, to pull him up out of the pit. And he can give good reasons why God should respond to him – he knows it is not because of his importance or status, but because of the goodness of God’s love, and his great mercy (v 16). David knows that God is aware of his predicament, so he can now begin to relax in the certainty that God will act on his behalf. By the end of his prayer, although we do not know if David’s circumstances have changed, his perspective has been so thoroughly turned round that he can praise God and thank him.

If you identify with David’s struggles, do what he did. Pour out your heart to God, and your perspective may change too in quite unexpected ways.

– Rosemary Linton

Copyright Scripture Union, 2001

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