Thought of the Day !!

O LORD, the God who saves me,

     day and night I cry out before you.

May my prayer come before you;

     turn your ear to my cry.

                Psalm 88:1-2 (NIV)

Have you been there with the Psalmist before where you cry out to God day and night?  Are you possibly there now?

In this world there will be suffering.  In the introduction to this Psalm it is credited to Heman the Ezrahite.  A further reading led me learn that this man may have had leprosy.  If so, then he is calling out to God in a despair that many today know.  You see, the lepers were friendless people who lived in the margins and were avoided by everyone.  There are many who live in those same places today.  There are also many who may not physically live where they are shunned by people and avoided as if they had leprosy, but who feel that way on the inside.  If you are one of those, who through depression feel like no one cares, then remember that this Psalm begins by addressing the God who saves. 

Maybe you are not truly in a deep depression today.  Still, there could be troubles weighing you down.  The scriptures teach us to bring our burdens to Jesus.  And try as you may to be faithful to doing this, each time you bring them to Him in prayer, you seem carry them back with you as you leave His altar.  For you too, I say to remember that this Psalm begins by addressing the God who saves.

Maybe you've gone through the valley of the shadow of death, meaning hardships you wouldn't want to wish on anyone else.  You've been there, done that, and even got the t-shirt to prove it.  You've been hurt by someone.  You've been run through the ringer at work or the doctor's office or in your family setting.  And you are now bitter and see it as almost impossible to forgive.  Let me remind you that this Psalm begins by addressing the God who saves. 

If we continue reading Psalm 88, we get a picture of a man with a bleak existence.  He may have leprosy.  He writes things like, "Is your love declared to the grave", asking if God's love could reach even him.  He speaks of darkness being his closest friend.  This is a man who is truly down.  Yet he begins this Psalm with the words, "O LORD, the God who saves me."

God can save you from whatever it is that is getting you down.  He really does care.  He sent His Son to this place to go through what we go through, even to the point of death.  He hears when we call out His name, even if we don't realize it at the time.  So keep calling out in times of distress, anguish, and even joy.  He is the one who saves.

In the love of Christ,
greg