So when you get like this, what do you do? Where do you turn when you have turned all around and around over and over again? The best place I have found to turn to, to go to, to realize hope, is the Word of God. The Psalmist shows us first hand what he did. Check out the passage below:
Psalm 77
1 I cried out to God for help;
I cried out to God to hear me.
2 When I was in distress, I sought the Lord;
at night I stretched out untiring hands
and my soul refused to be comforted.
3 I remembered you, O God, and I groaned;
I mused, and my spirit grew faint. Selah
4 You kept my eyes from closing;
I was too troubled to speak.
5 I thought about the former days,
the years of long ago;
6 I remembered my songs in the night.
My heart mused and my spirit inquired:
7 “Will the Lord reject forever?
Will he never show his favor again?
8 Has his unfailing love vanished forever?
Has his promise failed for all time?
9 Has God forgotten to be merciful?
Has he in anger withheld his compassion?” Selah
10 Then I thought, “To this I will appeal:
the years of the right hand of the Most High.”
11 I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
12 I will meditate on all your works
and consider all your mighty deeds.
13 Your ways, O God, are holy.
What god is so great as our God?
14 You are the God who performs miracles;
you display your power among the peoples.
15 With your mighty arm you redeemed your people,
the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. Selah
16 The waters saw you, O God,
the waters saw you and writhed;
the very depths were convulsed.
17 The clouds poured down water,
the skies resounded with thunder;
your arrows flashed back and forth.
18 Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind,
your lightning lit up the world;
the earth trembled and quaked.
19 Your path led through the sea,
your way through the mighty waters,
though your footprints were not seen.
20 You led your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Ps 77:1-20
Do you see the progression? Verses 1-9 are packed with distress and discouragement. Added together these two give a sucker punch that pretty much leaves us down and out. The Psalmist reminds us that it doesn't have to be a knock out punch! He shows us in verse 10, just in time...(isn't amazing that the count gets to 10 but the bell doesn't ring??) Then the decision is made. The decision to remember what God has already done. His faithfulness shines through and the memories of what He has done saves us from being down and out. It is as if God in all His glory knew just how much we could take, and allowed us to have hope restored just in the knick of time. So as we deal the distress and discouragement that this life brings, we can multiply their seemingly overbearing sum with a decision to simply remember what God has already done. As we decide to remember the accomplishments of the Almighty, we become delivered from the distress and discouragement. The Psalmist was able to remember the mighty works and deeds of God as He delivered the Israelites from Pharoah's hands. He didn't know what we know. Ever thought about that? The Psalmist was delivered by just remembering the deliverance of a nation from captivity. The Christian has been delivered from the death that comes from distress and discouragement because we have been made alive in Christ. We are reconciled, paid for, atoned, forgiven, free and delivered. We don't have to live with that anymore! The deliverance is ours for the taking. All we have to do is remember what He has already done! Just like the Psalmist, remembering reminds us simply that we have hope. What do you choose to remember?
