Grief can be a lonely place, and those who care for persons who are grieving often find themselves at a loss. A BeADisciple course I facilitate, Helping Others Grow Through Their Grieving, has been of great help to many who minister to the grieving and/or their friends and family, guiding them to grow during this difficult time.
David was human. He was not perfect, just like I am not perfect. David dealt with many of the struggles I deal with – sin, forgiveness, shame, enemies, rebellion, great iniquity, fear, loneliness, affliction, anger, a troubled heart, and distress. It can be a mean, cold world sometimes. Friends and family can let us down. The weight of our sin can be overwhelming. Our hearts can be broken into a thousand pieces.
Oh, how the angels must have rejoiced when the “one who has clean hands and a pure heart” ascended the mountain and stood in the holy presence of God! The earth and everything in it belong to him. The world and all who live in it belong to him. He was there at creation to found it on the seas and establish it on the waters. He reigns over it now in glory.
I was a young girl, home on summer break from school and bored, when my mother challenged me to memorize Psalm 23. I have it memorized in the King James Version, and I can still say it just that way. It is beautiful and poetic and rolls off the tongue. It is a psalm that many people the world over turn to for comfort and peace.
There is much scholarly debate over what Jesus meant by shouting from the cross “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” Did Jesus feel like God had turned away from him? Does this show Jesus’ connection to our humanity and the human feeling we all experience at times of wondering if God is as distant as we sometimes feel? Did God actually turn His face away from Jesus because He could not bear to see Jesus’ suffering? Did Jesus’ distance from God in this moment give him understanding of what it is like to be me?
King David, also psalmist for Psalm 21, is a beloved king of Israel. Psalm 21 reads like it is written from David’s perspective, as it truly is. David rejoices in the strength of the Lord and in his battle victories. David is great blessed. David wears the crown. David is exalted to splendor and majesty. David trusts in the Lord. But, partway through the Psalm, we develop the sense that David isn’t really talking about himself here. David is also talking about the One that is to come, the One that Israel waits for, the Messiah.
For children of Abraham, I am not sure we speak enough words of God’s blessing over one another. A positive word spoken into someone’s life can be powerful and effective. However, a blessing in the name of God has the power to remind us at that very moment in whom we follow and trust.
Last week, we shared a post introducing our new Advent course, Taste & See, and have encouraged you to go deeper this Advent by immersing yourself in the biblical narrative in a first-hand way. If you missed that post, go back and read it here. Then try out your imaginative skills with the meditation below.…
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