Five Words

Posted on by korgrocker

“I thank God that I speak in tongues more than any of you. But in a church meeting I would rather speak five understandable words to help others than ten thousand words in an unknown language. Dear brothers and sisters, don’t be childish in your understanding of these things. Be innocent as babies when it comes to evil, but be mature in understanding matters of this kind.”
1 Corinthians 14:18-20 NLT

Paul was apparently a great tongue speaker, but the Corinthians would have known that because he started the church there and pastored them for the first few months. Paul started in the synagogue, found much opposition, and so ended up meeting in a place right next door. But the people in the church had become believers in Jesus, responding to a message which had been the central thrust of Paul’s evangelism. They found that when they believed the Gospel message and were baptised for the forgiveness of their sins, they received the gift of the Holy Spirit in a way that astounded them with its power and its impact on their lives. Apart from when he used the other gifts, Paul was a great tongue-speaker, and that fact wasn’t lost on the Corinthian believers. 

But Paul had to address the overabundant use of the gift of tongues, and he laid out the necessary balance in a church meeting. Great to use the gift of tongues for their personal devotions, he said, but not in a church meeting, please! Instead, he encouraged them to seek God for five helpful words to build up the church. 

Fast forward to today and our church meetings. Whatever and wherever they are, there is always an opportunity to help other believers. Sadly, when we encounter another person, a negative situation often develops. There was a lady I used to know who got to church, which was a miracle in itself, because when she arrived, she unburdened herself of all her family problems. Negative after negative came up in conversation, but in return, a message in tongues would have been no help to her at all. Instead, she needed some words of encouragement to lift her and give her hope again. Sometimes five words would have been sufficient. 

“[God] will never leave you nor forsake you”

As we pilgrims go out and about, there are plenty of opportunities to bring five words of encouragement. It will probably be appropriate to say a few more words than five, but sometimes all another person needs to hear is that God loves them and cares for them. We need to have a word of Scripture ready and waiting. Something like 1 Peter 5:7, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you”. Or how about Philippians 4:6-7, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus”? Or there is Deuteronomy 31:6, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you”. As we read our Bibles every day, we must squirrel away useful and encouraging verses for future use so that when we meet people, we have a few words to edify them. We live in a sad and bad world, but we have a Heavenly Father who loves us, and He hates to see His children struggling unnecessarily with worldly burdens. 

Dear Heavenly Father. We love You and praise You today. We are so grateful for all You have done for us, for the times when You have lifted us up out of the miry clay and put a song in our hearts. Please help us to be Your mouthpiece to bring encouragement to the discouraged in our churches and neighbourhoods. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Pleasing God

Posted on by korgrocker

“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”
Psalm 19:14 NLT

David ends his Psalm with a lovely prayer that, although few in words, contains essential advice for any pilgrim on the road to Glory. David once again acknowledges and affirms that God is his Rock and Redeemer, after a journey through initial thoughts about God and His creation, His commandments that “make wise the simple”, and dealing with sin. And here he is winding things up with a prayer that must have warmed God’s heart. And there is also a prophetic indication that the coming Messiah will be the Redeemer. But it’s a prayer that, if we apply it to our lives, makes us feel a bit uncomfortable. Do what we speak and think really please God? All the time?

There is a connection between what we think and the words that come from our mouths, as Jesus pointed out to the Pharisees in Matthew 12:34, “You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say”. The Pharisees were a good example of the human tendency to rationalise behaviour to a place where what is thought feels right, and then a Scripture or two is found to back it up, with consequent actions following. Jesus saw right through them, and their house of cards came tumbling down when God’s spotlight showed them up for what they really were. Later in the same passage, Jesus warned the Pharisees about the words they spoke – Matthew 12:36-37, “And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you”. So before we feel a bit smug because we aren’t Pharisees, can we really claim that we have never spoken an “idle word” or had thoughts that were wrong?

Yesterday we considered the words of James, “And among all the parts of the body, the tongue is a flame of fire. It is a whole world of wickedness, corrupting your entire body. It can set your whole life on fire, for it is set on fire by hell itself. …  And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right!” (James 3:6, 10). But what we say starts with a thought in our minds. That would be bad enough but to then verbalise that thought can cause untold damage to others. The advice in Proverbs 21:23 is blunt and to the point, “Watch your tongue and keep your mouth shut, and you will stay out of trouble“.

The secret to wholesome speech starts with getting our thinking aligned to God’s thoughts and ways. David wrote about the “meditation of [his] heart” and that is the centre of the problem. What do we meditate on? A blunt question but the answer is one that could make us feel quite uncomfortable. The purification of our thoughts is something we will never really achieve in this life, no matter how hard we try. But we can get better and better in thinking God’s thoughts and getting His perspective on what we think about, as the Holy Spirit guides us into all truth. So do we pick up a media report and meditate on that, or do we pick up the Bible instead? The world events that can cause us so much distress become less troublesome when viewed through the lens of Scripture. We behave in response to what we meditate on. We pilgrims must look beyond our circumstances to the Kingdom yet to come, and in the meantime we pray that God will help us clean up our thoughts and speech. A final word from Paul. “Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them” (Ephesians 4:29). Before we say anything we must stop and think. 

Dear Father God. You know our predisposition to say what we shouldn’t. Please help us to follow Paul’s advice and analyse what we say before we say it, to ensure that it is only a blessing to others. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

A Timely Reminder?

Posted on by korgrocker

“Therefore, I will always remind you about these things—even though you already know them and are standing firm in the truth you have been taught. And it is only right that I should keep on reminding you as long as I live.”
2 Peter 1:12-13 NLT

We all need Peters in our lives. Faithful men and women who are diligent in reminding us about the wonderful truths and promises in the Bible, and how we must be equally as diligent in applying them to our lives. But do we know a “Peter” who has a spiritual input into our lives? Are we listening when a fellow believer provides some encouragement? Or have we cut ourselves off from contact with other Christians, adopting an “I’ll do it my way” attitude? Peter said to his readers that they, of course, know the truths he is reminding them about, and that, although they probably don’t need any reminders, he is doing so anyway.

We pilgrim believers in our journey through life are constantly dealing with conflicts between two kingdoms. The Kingdom of God, and the kingdom of the world. God has provided all the resources we need in these situations, but sometimes we get a bit wobbly in our faith. The enemy will seek out our weak spots and try and capitalise on them to destroy our faith. The Holy Spirit will guide us to the right truths and promises of course, but we have to go and look for them, examining the Scriptures if we are not sure about something. And sometimes the Holy Spirit will use a “Peter” to help us, particularly if we have gone a bit spiritually deaf.

At the present time, with war in Eastern Europe and, as I write, the conflict in Palestine, we can lose sight of the fact that God is in control of His creation, His world. To think that human beings can destroy something that He created is arrogance in the extreme. In our community Bible Study yesterday we read Psalm 2, and came across verses 4-6, “But the one who rules in heaven laughs. The Lord scoffs at them. Then in anger he rebukes them, terrifying them with his fierce fury. For the Lord declares, “I have placed my chosen king on the throne in Jerusalem, on my holy mountain.”” This is the reality – God will rebuke the nations who fight against Him, and He will one day in the future instal Jesus in His rightful place as ruler of the world. 

We pilgrims must always be open to the “Peters” who cross our paths. Our loving Heavenly Father is very faithful and He will often lead us to green pastures where we can find the spiritual nourishment we need. A word from a brother or sister at just the right time will often help us when we need help, but we must keep our spiritual ears open. One practical help is the use of a notebook. When we hear a sermon, write down what we are hearing and go over it afterwards. If the preacher quoted Scriptures, check them out. and the truths and promises we find may be just what God wants us to hear. And we must pray for discernment, to filter out the noise that so easily can divert us from the course. If we find a “Peter”, we may want to journey with him for a bit. But in it all, God loves and cares for us, just as He did for the people who read Peter’s message all those years ago.

Father God. Thank You for the faithful men and women who so often provide a word of encouragement when we need it. We pray today for them, and ask for Your blessings to be with them. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Silas

Posted on by korgrocker

“I have written and sent this short letter to you with the help of Silas, whom I commend to you as a faithful brother. My purpose in writing is to encourage you and assure you that what you are experiencing is truly part of God’s grace for you. Stand firm in this grace. Your sister church here in Babylon sends you greetings, and so does my son Mark. Greet each other with a kiss of love. Peace be with all of you who are in Christ.”
1 Peter 5:12-14 NLT

As he was signing off his letter, Peter mentioned the help he had received from a man called Silas. We find the first mention of Silas in Acts 15:22, “Then the apostles and elders together with the whole church in Jerusalem chose delegates, and they sent them to Antioch of Syria with Paul and Barnabas to report on this decision. The men chosen were two of the church leaders—Judas (also called Barsabbas) and Silas”. So we know he was one of the first church leaders and respected enough to be entrusted with an important role in the establishment of the Christian church in Antioch. We also know that Silas accompanied Paul on his second missionary journey, and he was the Silas who was severely beaten with Paul in Philippi and ended up in the Philippian jail. We can read this story in Acts 16. Silas had a reputation of being faithful and another short verse gives us some more insight into this man. “Then Judas and Silas, both being prophets, spoke at length to the believers, encouraging and strengthening their faith“ (Acts 15:32). So as well as being a faithful encourager, Silas was also a prophet.

There was no postal service in those days, so Peter sent the letter to the five churches in the care of Silas, who he commended as a “faithful brother”. After this, Silas disappeared from historical accounts, but we do know that through his faithfulness, he would have made a difference in the lives of those early Christians, encouraging and supporting them.

Are there any men like Silas today? I have been fortunate enough to have known several. Men of God, who have faithfully followed Jesus, and who have helped me at times in my pilgrimage through life. I can remember the man who carefully and diligently started me off on my journey with a Bible and some Bible Notes. Another man from Florida, who had moved to Scotland as a missionary, at just the right time, showed me the way through some spiritual minefields. And there were others. Faithful men doing God’s work.

We pilgrims also have an obligation to help our fellow brothers and sisters. Silas was motivated by love for other believers, doing what Jesus asks all His disciples to do. We read what Jesus said in John 13:34-35, “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples”. Loving our brothers and sisters in God involves the same demonstration of love that Jesus exampled to His disciples. No conditions. Faithfully. Never giving up. Such loving qualities are the mark of Christians everywhere. Sometimes we pilgrims look at the scale of the potential task of encouraging everyone, and are in danger of being overwhelmed. But God is the Master strategist, and knows we are not required to change the world. There might just be one brother or sister to whom we have supplied the right words at an opportune time, and that is all God has asked us to do. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians with this message, “So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing” (1 Thessalonians 5:11). We can all be a “Silas” to those around us.

Dear Father God. You, the great Encourager, want us to encourage others too. Please give us the right words at the right time. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Hope and Encouragement

Posted on by korgrocker

“For even Christ didn’t live to please himself. As the Scriptures say, “The insults of those who insult you, O God, have fallen on me.” Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.
Romans 15:3-4 NLT

How do we wake up in the morning? Depressed because there is another day, with all its hassles, that we have to face into? Or raring to go, full of energy and vigour, more than willing to take on anything the day ahead can throw at us? Too many of us will probably fall into the first category, dragging ourselves out of bed in obedience to the alarm clock or a strident voice echoing up the stairs. A parent once told me of an infallible way they used to get their reluctant teenagers out of bed in the morning. It was a variation of the cold wet flannel. Instead they used to threaten a teaspoon of cold water poured into whichever ear was uppermost. Just a threat was sufficient, they said.

What do we do when we get up in the morning? Is it a mad dash to get to the office on time, or a more leisurely start? Do we start the day on our smartphones, reviewing the emails and messages that came in overnight? Then do we check our bank accounts and scan the news headlines? All tasks soon followed by feelings of regret that we even bothered because the bank account suffered from overnight transactions and the news was all bad. All worthy things to do in themselves, but would we have been better off reading the Good News, and lifting up our spirits into Heavenly places? I know we can’t live in denial, but perhaps God’s Word will give us the perspective we need to see the world through God’s eyes.

So, one thing we definitely need most mornings is a dose of hope and encouragement. Paul wrote in Romans 15:4 that this can be found in Scripture. And so it can. A good start would be to turn to Jeremiah 29:11. A well worn verse we know, but full of encouragement. “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” Imagine it. God has plans for us. Good plans. And in them we have a “future and a hope“. And then we have Isaiah 41:9b-10, “ … For I have chosen you and will not throw you away. Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand“. God said that we are His chosen ones, and as we look to Him, with our hands palms up to receive, He will provide the strength we will need for the day ahead. His “right hand” is a picture of that strength, and it is “victorious” as well, implying that He has defeated all the foes who have come against Him.

There may be times when we have gone to bed, discouraged and oppressed after a bad day. Well, read Lamentations 3:22-24, “The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him“”! 

Why do we wonder that we are depressed as the sun emerges in the dawn? When the morning breaks upon our consciousnesses? Paul wrote that we should be patiently waiting “for God’s promises to be fulfilled” and we can only do that as we take the trouble to find our what the promises are. When we neglect our spiritual well-being, the day, more often than not, becomes overcast with difficulties. A few minutes in God’s presence is worth far more than an extra hour or two spent in bed. In John 7:37b-38, Jesus said, “ … Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart‘”. A prayer I regularly pray in the mornings is this, “Jesus has been glorified and he is waiting for people to say, “I’m thirsty, Lord, desperately thirsty, and I’m going to go on coming to you until you give me something to drink deeply. I want living water inside. I am thirsty, and I want to be baptised inside, and I want within me a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”” Praying the promises of God is a powerful way to start the day, filling it with hope and encouragement through the power of the Holy Spirit. And you never know – those around us will probably be impacted as well.

Father God, thank You for all the gracious and loving words of encouragement contained within Your Word. Amen.

Helping Others

Posted on by korgrocker

“We should help others do what is right and build them up in the Lord.”
Romans 15:2 NLT

To put this verse in context, Paul is provide some instructions for how Christians should behave, particularly in relation to each other. It must be fairly obvious that helping “others do what is right” may not be the easiest of tasks. If one of our friends is doing something illegal we can, of course, try and warn them. Or if a random stranger is behaving badly, we can attempt to intervene. But in both cases we might find that our interferences and good intentions are rejected, with varying degrees of push back. 

Back to our verse context. Paul here is referring to fellow believers, and we have a relational bridge with them because of our common belief in Jesus. He is the One who has united us and who leads and guides us. So if we see a fellow believer in some sort of difficulty, we can offer to help. It may be through some practical assistance, such as doing a bit of shopping or giving someone a lift. But it may also be something spiritual, offering comfort or direction in times of stress. Paul wrote in Galatians 6:1-2, “Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ”. If we have a good relationship with one of our brothers and sisters, and we see them doing something that is unwise or even bordering on sin, we may have the opportunity to help them to deal with the issue. Or the other person might be struggling with, what is for them, an impossible situation. So we help them with this – we might just have the key that unlocks the burden they are carrying.

An important part in our lives of being a Christian is helping one another. We will all need help at one time or another. Natural or spiritual, it is all the same in God’s eyes. And in the process of helping others, Paul wrote that we should “build them up in the Lord”. There is nothing more encouraging than a kind word, or a loving touch, in building someone up. The thought they might have that they are just rubbish evaporates in the light of a comment that tells them the opposite. A person never singing because they think they are out of tune is transformed by someone telling them what a lovely voice they have. A mother struggling with a difficult child is encouraged by someone telling them that they are doing a good job. The list of opportunities to encourage one another is endless – we just need to discern the other person’s needs and pop in the right words. In Proverbs 25:11, we read, “Like apples of gold in settings of silver is a word spoken at the right time”. 1 Thessalonians 5:11, “Therefore encourage and comfort one another and build up one another, just as you are doing”. 

It’s an important part of the Christian life, to build up others in the faith. And by so doing, as Paul said to the Galatians, we “obey the law of Christ”. What could be better than that?

Father God, You taught us about the “one another’s” in our lives. Please help us to find opportunities to help our fellow brothers and sisters. Day by day. Amen.

Priorities

Posted on by korgrocker

“Don’t tear apart the work of God over what you eat. Remember, all foods are acceptable, but it is wrong to eat something if it makes another person stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else if it might cause another believer to stumble.”
Romans 14:20-21 NLT

Paul is still writing about acceptable foods but he widens the context. His priority for believers is for them to behave in such a way that they don’t “cause another believer to stumble”. He used the word “stumble” three times in this chapter, and it relates well to the idea of a believer walking through life, living out his or her faith, often in difficult circumstances, and then finding an obstacle in their path that causes them to “stumble”.

In modern times, what causes us pilgrims to “stumble”? To come across something that makes us feel a bit unsteady or wobbly. There is much that challenges us in the secular societies and cultures in which so many of us live. It is often difficult to hold fast to our faiths when even the denominations to which we belong to adopt policies that perhaps we feel are a bit suspect, or that don’t sit easily with us, appearing to be the thin end of a wedge of compromise. Sometimes it is far from easy being a Christian.

Much strength is found in the Christian life by being with fellow believers walking the same path. Taking the same journey. I often wonder how Christians I have met, and still know, persist in saying that they don’t have to go to church to be a Christian. They maintain that they can hold fast to their faith on their own, thank you very much! The writer of the Hebrews epistle recorded the following, “Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near” (Hebrews 10:24-25). Throughout the New Testament there are references to the “one another’s”. It was never intended that Christians should journey alone.

But as we all journey together, it is important that we help each other, encouraging those who are weaker in the faith as we go along. They will be finding the journey hard enough. They will have been through times when they think that it would be easier to give up. And the last thing they will need is to see a brother or sister doing something that they think is wrong. Paul widened the scope away from food that might have been offered to idols, first to wine, and then he included “anything else”. It’s a responsibility on us pilgrims that our conduct is beyond reproach. We must not engage in behaviour that will upset fellow Christians. Paul graphically uses the phrase, “don’t tear apart the work of God”. Our behaviour is that important. And so we pray constantly, both for ourselves and for our fellow believers. We can’t journey through life without God being there with us.

Dear God. Thank You for Your presence with us as we walk through the highways and byways of life on Planet Earth. We can’t do it without You! Amen.

Encouraging Others

Posted on by korgrocker

“In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly.”
Romans 12:6-8 NLT

The next item on Paul’s list of God’s motivational gifts is encouragement. I think we can all agree, in these dark days of high energy and food costs, with inflationary pressures consuming our resources, with our health service under unprecedented strain, with wars and dire warnings about the effects of climate change, that we need encouragement. And lots of it. One thing is for sure – we will get very little in the way of encouragement from the media outlets. Or our politicians. Or the society around us. It seems that discouragement is the dominant force, sapping our motivation, and spawning the feeling, “what’s the point”. In my rambles in the community, I meet some very discouraged people. People who respond to “It’s a nice morning today”, with “Aye, but it will probably rain later”. People who always view a glass of water as being half empty. People who seem to thrive on having a good moan.

We pilgrims are of a different spirit, however. We are infused with the joy of the Lord. That doesn’t mean we go through life with a silly grin on our faces regardless of the circumstances. It means that, as citizens of the Kingdom of God, we have a different perspective, resourced with the riches of Heaven. Within us is an inner strength, fuelled by the certainty that one day we will be in an environment where the worldly negatives and discouragements will no longer be found. 

In Nehemiah 8 we read about the time when the people of Israel asked Ezra the Scribe to read to them from the Book of the Law. The leaders explained what it all meant and we read in Nehemiah 8:9-10, “Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were interpreting for the people said to them, “Don’t mourn or weep on such a day as this! For today is a sacred day before the Lord your God.” For the people had all been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law. And Nehemiah continued, “Go and celebrate with a feast of rich foods and sweet drinks, and share gifts of food with people who have nothing prepared. This is a sacred day before our Lord. Don’t be dejected and sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength””. At a time of national challenge, as a remnant of the Jews who had returned after being exiled, they suddenly found that, although their circumstances didn’t change, their perspective did because of the “joy of the Lord”. They found great encouragement through the Word of God and their leaders who explained what it all meant.

In our fellowships, our communities, our families, and even in our workplaces or schools, there may be no-one available to share a kind word, or some encouragement, to counter the debilitating effects of rampant discouragements, except us. And God has provided just what we need. A Gift of Encouragement. Let’s use it wisely and effectively, as our lights shine like beacons in this lost world. If we pilgrims can’t display “the joy of the Lord” and encourage those around us, who will?

Dear God. You have put within us a deep-seated and immovable joy. Thank You! Amen.

Depression

Posted on by korgrocker

“Lord, You are the God who saves me; 
   day and night I cry out to You.
May my prayer come before You; 
     turn Your ear to my cry. 
I am overwhelmed with troubles 
     and my life draws near to death.”
‭Psalms‬ ‭88:1-3‬ ‭NIVUK‬‬

Oh dear! This is not a cheery Psalm. This is not the sort of psalm that would be chosen for reading on a dark, cold and wet morning in Scotland, as today. The heading in the NIV version attributes it to the Sons of Korah, and in particular to Heman, the Ezrahite. There’s quite a bit known in the Bible about this man and his family, and he had a reputation for being a Godly and wise songwriter in the time of the kings David and Solomon. But he was human like everyone else and was suffering. From what, we don’t get much of a clue from his writings, but suffering he was. The heading to this Psalm says it is for the “Director of Music”, with a tune, “The Suffering of Affliction”. Why would anyone want to sing this Psalm? But sing it they did, and here it is located in the Book of Psalms, a collection of 150 individual writings, forming the prayer and songbook of the Jews. But enough waffling! What relevance has this Psalm in our pilgrimage through life?

The first thing that strikes me is that Heman isn’t afraid of laying out before God his predicament and feelings. No suppressing of emotions here. We so often feel guilty if we spend time thinking about negatives. And it is true that by doing so we can enter a downward spiral, increasing our depression. Laying out our negative emotions and feelings before God, however, is different. It brings a sense of relief because in faith we know that God can change things. God will encourage us, put His loving arms around us, ending up carrying our load for us.

The second thing is that the issues Heman seemed to be facing into are no different to what we experience today. Those people who maintain that the Bible is a historical book with no relevance to today are mistaken. In his Psalm, Heman talks about his friends and neighbours, his lifetime of troubles, of his fears about death – all issues that are familiar to us.

Thirdly, Heman knows that God is there for him. Three times in the Psalm he calls and cries out to God, touching base with His loving Heavenly Father, in the midst of his distress.

We don’t know the outcome was after his emotional and desperate cries, but I have the feeling that, having laid out all his problems, Heman found the relief he needed. A difficult Psalm to read, but one in which it is comforting to know that others struggle with life’s issues just as we all do. And we all have a remedy in the presence of our loving Creator God.