“From bad to worse”

By Rev. Michael Stonhouse

Meditation – Friday, December 15, 2023

Psalm 31 (Forward, p. 47) CEV p. 572

David’s problems certainly ‘know’ how to pile up. They range from rejection and insults to vicious gossip, and from malicious plots and schemes to traps and actual efforts to hunt him down. And, on top of all this, he is also suffering from health problems.

In all this, however, David does not despair or lose hope. He remembers God’s promises to him and how God has intervened and helped him in times past. And so, he comes to God once again in a prayer for help and protection, trusting that God will once again come to his rescue. He trusts that God does indeed love him and is there for him. And so it can be for each of us: no matter what we experience or endure or go through, God is not absent. God loves us and cares for us. And so, let us, like David, go to Him in prayer, in faith and in trust of His loving kindness. Amen.

Forward notes: “Be my strong rock, a castle to keep me safe, for you are my crag and my stronghold; for the sake of your Name, lead me and guide me” (verse 3).

“I have learned that God is my crag and my stronghold by trying to beat against a rock when I was too tired to climb up it. On a damp, cloudy summer afternoon, I had covered several miles and had more to go. My companions trudged ahead. Breathing angrily into the granite face as I considered its height, I wanted to cry.

“In such moments, I find that nothing I say or cry out will change an immovable thing. Where I walk and explore, rocks define the land. They sit like sentries on either side of the trails. They emerge like teeth out of hillsides. Enormous ledges covered by just a foot or two of topsoil rise to the sky, and I walk on top of them. A rock will not budge. It’s that way with God. God is love. God is permanent. I can pound my fists against the ways God works in my life. Or I can accept them.”

Moving Forward: Pray Psalm 31 each day of this week.”