“Will the Lord reject forever? Will he never show his favor again? Has his unfailing love vanished forever? Has his promise failed for all time? Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has he in anger withheld his compassion?” Selah. (Ps 77:7-9).
What a song of despair! The first 9 verses of Psalms 77 are full of woe: “At night I stretched out untiring hands and my soul refused to be comforted.” (vs. 1) “I mused, and my spirit grew faint.” (vs. 3) “I was too troubled to speak.” (vs. 4), etc. Oh yes! It speaks of things that people can relate too! Completely! And if the Psalmist had ended his song here, we might be tempted to continue on down the path of woe, only this time substituting our own tales of misery in the place of the Psalmist’s.
But he doesn’t stop here. He goes on for 11 more verses, and in these 11 verses, he points us to the solution to despair: “Then I thought, ‘To this I will appeal: the years of the right hand of the Most High.’ I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds.” (Ps. 77:10-12) The solution? To meditate on what God has done in the past! To attribute past victories to God and to remember past miracles!
In the worst of times, when everything seems to lead to complete and total despair, direct your thoughts to God and the works of His hands! This will point your mind away from the enemy (who likes nothing better than for us to travel the path of woe!), and to God! It will help us to forget, for the moment, our own problems, and remember the Problem-Solver. It will help us to remember that NOTHING is too big for God to handle, in His time!
Lord, when the world seems to be caving in, guide our minds to remember the deeds of the LORD; to remember Your miracles of long ago; to meditate on all Your works and consider all Your mighty deeds!
In His love,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, Moderator, The Nugget, Scriptural Nuggets ( www.scripturalnuggets.org ), Answers2Prayer Ministries, www.Answers2Prayer.org