Psalms 31-35
FIVE SIMPLE PLEASURES:
Bacon sandwiches- Mother’s Day cards and wishes
- A delicious roast beef dinner cooked by my longsuffering vegetarian husband
- My son coming out to the Quayside with me because it was Mother’s Day
- A lovely, lovely run with friends
PSALM 31:BAD TIMES
Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am in distress;
my eyes grow weak with sorrow,
my soul and body with grief. v9
Because sometimes life is really, really hard. We don’t know what to do with our pain and anxiety. How to voice it. How to express it. Others don’t know what to say and avoid talking to us. We’re isolated and desperate. And yet we can find a hope in God. We can place our trust in God.
PSALM 32: DEALING WITH SIN
You are my hiding place;
you will protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance. v7
Let’s face it. We all have stuff to sort out with God. Stuff to confess. Stuff to put right. And then He will set us free from what is holding us back. He will ‘deliver us from evil’.
PSALM 33: GOD CANNOT BE SHAKEN
Let all the earth fear the Lord;
let all the people of the world revere him.
For he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm. v8-9
Let’s sing and shout about it! God created the whole world. We can trust Him for everything.
PSALM 34: JUST TRY IT!
Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. v8
How will you know if you don’t try? Get to know God. Learn to trust Him. Change your perspective. It will take time, but how else will you see what God can do in your life?
PSALM 35: HOW LONG WILL THIS GO ON FOR?
My tongue will proclaim your righteousness,
your praises all day long. v28
Whatever life looks like, God is righteous. God is to be praised. But it’s only in reading these Psalms day after day that I’m getting a sense of ‘How long will this go on for?’. David is suffering. He has plenty of enemies. He is scared for his life. He will not stop proclaiming God’s righteousness, but knows that when God delivers him, his enemies will be silenced – he just can’t understand what God is waiting for!
