You see, David did have a very large heart need. But he also knew that there was a very large heart around him that was immediately ready to meet that need. He knew what he needed was the LORD’s mercy. And it was by the LORD’s mercy that he would find deliverance from his trial. Here are his words again “because thy mercy is good, deliver thou me.”
Now, on the other hand, how many times have you refused the throne of grace when you needed it most? Here’s a word from Proverbs. Proverbs 24:10 “If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.”
You see, fainting isn’t the answer when storms come to your home and heart. Fainting means you have no recourse; you don’t know what to do. But you do. And from Ecclesiastes, we read this. Ecclesiastes 7:14 “In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.”
Can you see what life is really all about? Solomon is reminding us that when things are going well, which they sometimes do; it’s good to be joyful. But when things are not going well, when life becomes a huge burden to carry, when the uphill battle doesn’t appear to have an end, take time to consider that it is God Who sets both of these things into our lives and that nothing is certain in this life and you can’t forecast tomorrow will bring. The wisest and best way to live is to trust God when it rains and the crops are flourishing and it’s wisest and best to trust Him when it doesn’t rain and the crops are languishing.
The great Bible teacher Alfred Barnes said this about Ecclesiastes 7:14. “Good and prosperous days are in God's design special times of comfort and rejoicing: the days of affliction and trouble, are in God's design the proper seasons of recollection and serious consider-ation. The Providence of God hath so contrived it, that our good and evil days should be intermingled each with the other. This mixture of good and evil days is by the Divine Providence so proportioned, that it sufficiently justifies the dealings of God toward the sons of men, and obviates all their discontent and complaints against Him.” [Barnes Notes on the Bible; found on www.bible.cc].
The point is this. No one on planet earth is exempt from the storms of life. We are all on an equal footing when it comes to the uphill battles. So, folks, don’t despair when you are in trouble. See both the blessings and the challenges as coming from the LORD’s hand into yours. And please keep this in mind. You will get past this.
First, turn to the LORD for help.
Second, admit you hurt. David says, again in Psalm 109. (22) “For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me. (23) I am gone like the shadow when it declineth: I am tossed up and down as the locust. (24) My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh faileth of fatness.”
A shadow is what David compares his day to. Shadows can be interesting and fun. But David’s comparison is to a shadow when it declines, when it grows long like it does at the end of the day. You see, when you compare your life or your day to a shadow, you are declaring that, just like when the day is at its end, you too are at the complete end of your power. And he thinks he has very little to hope in. Go on to page five
Now, on the other hand, how many times have you refused the throne of grace when you needed it most? Here’s a word from Proverbs. Proverbs 24:10 “If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.”
You see, fainting isn’t the answer when storms come to your home and heart. Fainting means you have no recourse; you don’t know what to do. But you do. And from Ecclesiastes, we read this. Ecclesiastes 7:14 “In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.”
Can you see what life is really all about? Solomon is reminding us that when things are going well, which they sometimes do; it’s good to be joyful. But when things are not going well, when life becomes a huge burden to carry, when the uphill battle doesn’t appear to have an end, take time to consider that it is God Who sets both of these things into our lives and that nothing is certain in this life and you can’t forecast tomorrow will bring. The wisest and best way to live is to trust God when it rains and the crops are flourishing and it’s wisest and best to trust Him when it doesn’t rain and the crops are languishing.
The great Bible teacher Alfred Barnes said this about Ecclesiastes 7:14. “Good and prosperous days are in God's design special times of comfort and rejoicing: the days of affliction and trouble, are in God's design the proper seasons of recollection and serious consider-ation. The Providence of God hath so contrived it, that our good and evil days should be intermingled each with the other. This mixture of good and evil days is by the Divine Providence so proportioned, that it sufficiently justifies the dealings of God toward the sons of men, and obviates all their discontent and complaints against Him.” [Barnes Notes on the Bible; found on www.bible.cc].
The point is this. No one on planet earth is exempt from the storms of life. We are all on an equal footing when it comes to the uphill battles. So, folks, don’t despair when you are in trouble. See both the blessings and the challenges as coming from the LORD’s hand into yours. And please keep this in mind. You will get past this.
First, turn to the LORD for help.
Second, admit you hurt. David says, again in Psalm 109. (22) “For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me. (23) I am gone like the shadow when it declineth: I am tossed up and down as the locust. (24) My knees are weak through fasting; and my flesh faileth of fatness.”
A shadow is what David compares his day to. Shadows can be interesting and fun. But David’s comparison is to a shadow when it declines, when it grows long like it does at the end of the day. You see, when you compare your life or your day to a shadow, you are declaring that, just like when the day is at its end, you too are at the complete end of your power. And he thinks he has very little to hope in. Go on to page five