Today’s rather short post begins with a Psalm of King David:
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want;
2Â Â Â Â Â he makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters;
3Â Â Â Â Â he restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
    for his nameâs sake.
4Â Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
    I fear no evil;
for thou art with me;
    thy rod and thy staff,
    they comfort me.
5Â Thou preparest a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies;
thou anointest my head with oil,
    my cup overflows.
6Â Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
    all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
    for ever.
(Psalm 23:1-6)
I sometimes wonder during which part of his life David wrote this Psalm. Before he was king? After? Was it a single event? Or perhaps a composite of different times, with different writings, that were all put together later (presumably by his son Solomon).
However it was written, it is a powerful message of hope and trust in the Lord despite the most dire of circumstances. When I find myself giving in to despair, it remains for me one of the most effective means of reassurance. Sadly, I need that reassurance more often than I would like. My life is far from a disaster, but there are certainly burdens and trials I would rather not have to endure. I have asked God for help in this, but I suspect my answer is that same as that given to Paul:
7Â And to keep me from being too elated by the abundance of revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. 8Â Three times I besought the Lord about this, that it should leave me; 9Â but he said to me, âMy grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.â I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10Â For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
(2 Corinthians 12:7-10)
As difficult as it may be to carry on, it is comforting still to know that God’s Grace is sufficient to overcome my own weakness. Even when I think I can’t, I know that He can. It is a difficult thing, to explain how this affects me. On the one hand I am saddened, as I realize that things may not get better for me (at least as I see it). But on the other, I know that it will all turn out well in the end. Perhaps it is not something that can really be explained, but only experienced. Time will tell, I suppose.