The Lord Hears Us

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Scripture: Psalm 34:17-19 (ESV)

When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears

and delivers them out of all their troubles.

18     The Lord is near to the brokenhearted

and saves the crushed in spirit.

19     Many are the afflictions of the righteous,

but the Lord delivers him out of them all.

 

Devotion:

                The psalmist affirms that God listens to his people. We all want to believe this, but what we see often contradicts these words. So, what is the psalmist saying here? Yet this is in God’s word and is trustworthy. We, as Christians, are called to believe these words. We must listen closely to what is being said here.

            God is not saying Christians will have no troubles or their problems will be comparatively minor. Walking with Christ is a journey that causes pain, heartbreak, and soul-crushing situations. How is a Christian to meet these struggles? We must cry out to God for help in our distress and worry. God promises that He will hear our cries and deliver us from our distress in His own time and His way. We can take comfort in knowing that God hears our cries of distress and promises to be near us when we are hurting.             

            God is no stranger to our pain and suffering. Jesus came and died on the cross. He knows physical and psychic pain firsthand. Jesus is not unable to sympathize with our struggles. He was betrayed by a close associate, beaten, mocked, and humiliated. Jesus suffered these indignities because of our sins. Jesus did not sin, yet he was punished as a sinner—the just suffering for the unjust. God was seemingly far away from Jesus on the cross. But the resurrection signified that God never truly abandoned Jesus.  How can we understand what happened at the cross? It is a mystery at the heart of the trinity. Three persons in one Godhead support one another in ways we can never fully know.

            One thing is clear from this passage: God will never abandon His son in light of Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection/glorification. As adoptive children of God, we can be assured of the same love and care Jesus received, including a resurrected body at the end of time. The current times we live in cause us to doubt God’s plan. During seasons of doubt, we need to be refreshed by the words of this psalm. If we put our trust in God’s word, we can survive any disaster that comes our way. We will have trials; however, these trials strengthen our faith. Let us pray that our faith will be strong even in times of significant doubt.

Prayer:

            Lord, we find it hard to trust in the good promises of your scripture. Lord, help us look beyond the pain and heartache of our present circumstances. Renew us by the power of your love as we find it in the pages of scripture. Please help us minister to one another in times of deep need. May we never hesitate to come near to you in prayer. Lord, may we trust your promise in today’s reading that you will deliver us out of all our trials. Amen.

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