The W.O.R.D.

“My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest. In you our ancestors put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by everyone, despised by the people.” Psalm 22:2, 4, 6

Have you ever felt like David here? Like the whole world was against you and you kept asking God to help you like he’s helped everyone else, but your not worthy. Well I’ve got great news! You don’t have to ever feel that way again and I’m going to tell you why. But first I have to be transparent in my view of these type of scriptures.

For a long time I wondered why God put these terrible accusations about himself in the bible. Why would he include these lies about himself, like it was acceptable? I thought this way, because the God I grew up knowing and know to this day is a faithful God. One who will never leave us nor forsake us(Deut. 31:6,Heb.13:5). One who hears the prayers of the righteous and answers them (Prov. 15:29, Psalm 34:17, John 9:31). One who protects, defends, and provides for his children. On top of that, these accusations were coming from someone that God called the apple of his eye(Psalm 17:8)! So none of the things David was saying were really indicative of the God he or I serve, so why did it get published? I wondered this but never truly sought resolve, I even avoided reading passages like this because I didn’t want to read about someone not appreciating the all loving God I knew.

Years went by until I finally gave God my everything and began pursuing him in a way I never had before. In that pursuit, diving into his Word was primary and I wanted to know it all! I wanted understanding of everything pertaining to life and godliness and that is understanding all of him. I knew that all scripture is God-breathed (2 Tim. 3:16), so when I came across these passages, I knew they were there for a reason. I wanted to understand so I asked for understanding, just as Paul prayed over the church at Ephesus (Eph.1:9). God answered my prayer. The understanding came by the inward witness, just a knowing, not some vision or audible voice. My understanding of this is that God loves us and wanted us to see that even a man he called the apple of his eye struggled. Things are going to feel hopeless at times, but as long as you keep your gaze on God, you know there is hope. David is an example to us, that if we’ve tried to accuse God, he’s not going to blame us or shun us, he’s going to pick us up and love us.Let’s compare David’s struggle to his victory. The passage at the beginning displays a time of struggle, but look at Psalm 9:1-2 “I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and rejoice in you;I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High.” In this he is thankful. There it is. Thankfulness is how you never have to feel like David did. He was thankful because he knew the source of his victory is God. If you know anything about David, you know he wasn’t perfect by any means. He was guilty of murder and adultery just to name a couple. But the reason he was the apple of God’s eye is that he was always willing to give thanks where thanks was due. Another psalmist wrote “Know that the Lord is God…Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise.” (Psalm 100:3,4)

How often have you asked or wished to know the will of God? “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1Thess. 5:18

God likes to keep things simple, so when things get complicated, it’s not because of him. Complicated is a good indicator that it’s time to start being more thankful. Then that thankfulness will become a part of who you are, and the circumstances will fade into the background.

This post was inspired from a time of worship. Playing the keys and singing to my precious father, he released me to continue with my daily tasks but not before saying “thank you, come again.” That showed me that God is always seeking more of us, that he is grateful for every encounter we have with him. He also showed me that I may not be grateful enough for those precious times. God is always seeking us, so let us always seek him in return.