"Then I thought..."

I was reading Psalm 77 in my quiet time this morning. I have read this Psalm more times in my life than I can remember, but I never noticed this until this morning. Or if I have noticed it before, I've forgotten it. (that seems to happen at an alarming rate) 

The writer is Asaph and he is going through a difficult time in his life. It goes without saying that everyone has gone through a difficult time so we can totally empathize with what he is saying. In verses 1-9 he is crying out to God and feeling as if his prayers are bouncing off the ceiling. He even goes so far as to say, "will the Lord reject me forever?" That's a pretty harsh accusation, but if we are honest, I'm sure we have all said something similar to God in our lives. I know I have. 

Here is vv. 1-9:

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 I would not be comforted.

3 I remembered you, God, and I groaned;

I meditated, and my spirit grew faint.

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 meditated and my spirit asked:

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?”

 The turning point in this passage is v. 10: 

10 Then I thought, “To this I will appeal:

the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand.

11 I will remember the deeds of the Lord;

yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.

12 I will consider all your works

and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”

13 Your ways, God, are holy.

What god is as 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.

16 The waters saw you, God,

the waters saw you and writhed;

the very depths were convulsed.

17 The clouds poured down water,

the heavens 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.

How often do we stop at v. 9? How often are we so caught up in our current situation and feeling as if God isn't doing anything that we never go to that next step and say, "ya know what? I remember all those things God has done in the past. I remember how He has taken care of me and I have full confidence He will do it again." How often do we "meditate on His works and consider all His mighty deeds?" I hate admitting that far too often I have gotten so stuck in my current situation that I have failed to look back and remember His faithfulness and the supernatural way He has worked things out for my good. 

For the past couple of years the verse that I keep going back to is Psalm 13:5-6: "But I will trust in your unfailing love, my heart rejoices in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, for he has been good to me."

I pray that will continue to be what I keep going back to... That I keep  persevering until verse 10 ("Then I thought...") and not get stuck in my sorrow and hardship. 

Beauty in the Broken

We went to the beach today with some of our dearest friends. It was an absolutely perfect day. Rhonda and I were sitting and chatting while the kids played in the water, in the sand and of course looking for sea shells. Ansley came running up to me with 3 shells in her hand. She was so excited and so proud of her find.

Then I looked at them.

All 3 of them were broken. And if I'm honest, just plain ugly.

I gave her a fake, "oh aren't they nice!!" and threw them into my bag. I was totally unimpressed.

As the day went on however, I began to think of those 3 broken shells more and more.

We are those shells. I am those shells.

Thankfully, we don't have a Father who fakes excitement with us when we bring ourselves to Him. We have a Father who is genuinely overjoyed when we bring our broken lives to His throne of grace. Our Father cleans us up, shines us up until we sparkle so that the whole world will see Him in us.

The enemy on the other hand, doesn't want us to think that. He wants to remind us how broken we are. He wants us to dwell on the fact that some lots of the things in our past are just plain ugly. He tries to tell us that our Father could never be proud to call us His own.

I know how often I have listened to the Enemy instead of my Father. It can be a daily (sometimes hourly) struggle. But I must remember that if my Father knows how many hairs are on my head, if He knows how many grains of sand there are in the world, then surely he cares about a broken shell.

And how much more does He care about me.


I think I may clean these up and shine them until they sparkle so that I will have a daily reminder.

How deep the Father's love for us,

How vast beyond all measure

That He should give His only Son

To make a wretch His treasure