As we are under stay-at-home orders and will not be able to gather together physically for Easter, I was intrigued by the statement in Psalm 42, verse 4: “for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday.” Oh that day will come again, and hopefully soon! We may have a delayed Easter gathering but thankfully Jesus did not delay and the tomb is empty still! Every day for the believer is a celebration of His overcoming resurrection power!
This is the first of the “Suffering of the godly” Psalms. There are thirty of these and it is where we contemplate and try to reconcile the fact that we are God’s children and yet we oftentimes face more trouble than our unsaved counterparts. I will write another post concerning the current pestilence that we are facing, but let it suffice to say that I believe we are clearly seeing the hand of God being stretched forth to deal with a wicked, selfish, murderous people. You cannot say that you are concerned about protecting the vulnerable when you allow three thousand babies to be murdered - every day! If the Bible is true and history is any indicator, innocent blood spilled to the earth must be paid for.
I Peter 4:7 says “for the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God”. In other words, I believe God allows His people to be touched as well (and sometimes solely) so that we begin to turn back towards Him. We may then be in a position to truly help the lost find their way to the Lord. The believer in Jesus is not exempt from suffering and it comes in all shapes and sizes and affects us in a multitude of ways. What do we do when we are faced with trouble and it begins to settle in deep like it did for the Psalmist -
“my tears have been my meat day and night.”,
they say “where is thy God?”,
“why art thou cast down, O my soul?”,
“O my God, my soul is cast down within me.”,
“all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.”,
“why art thou cast down, o my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me?”,
“why hast thou forgotten me?”,
“ why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”,
“why hast thou cast me off?”
These are clearly not the musings of a man who is in the midst of perfect peace and tranquility! In times like these, when we are faced with questions that have perplexed the most godly of men and will continue to leave us dumbfounded until our Lord makes all things new, we must follow the steps of faith until the light once again begins to fill the recesses of our inner man - we must hope in God. (v.5,11;43:5) Do you thirst for God as the hart pants for water? (v.1) Do you desire His presence?(v.2) Do you praise Him for He is your salvation? (v.5,11;43:5) Do you pray unto Him and remember that He commands his love toward you in the daytime and sings to you in the night? (v.8) Is He your rock? (v.9) Do you trust Him to judge you rightly and plead your cause and deliver you from deceitful and unjust men? (43:1) Do you look for His light to be sent out to guide you into the truth and lead you into His holy hill and His tabernacles? (v.3) Do you sing His praises and come before Him with exceeding joy - Is He your God? (v.4) We must hope in God and even when we cannot see the end, we must trust that He is commanding His love towards us and working all things together for good according to the purpose of His will to those who love Him. Hope thou in God!