Day 6: Be strong and take heart
But I trust in You, Lord; I say, “You are my God.” My times are in Your hands (Psalm 31:14-15).
Praise be to You, our Father in heaven, You have shown us the wonders of Your love (Psalm 31: 21). How great is Your goodness that you have stored up for those who fear You, that You have given to those who trust You. You do this for all to see (Psalm 31:19 - NCV).
We know who You are, Lord, we know what You can do. But often, like David, when we are in a city under siege, in our alarm we say, "I am cut off from Your sight!" (Psalm 31:21-22). Yet in Your patience and lovingkindness You "credit" our faith even when it is tiny—even when in our desperate teetering we cry out, from our hearts, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24 - NKJV).
We cling to the promise of the Lord Jesus Christ: “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:20). And somehow, O Father, You interpose Your might, Your mercy, You love, and Your grace between our speck of faith and our Everest, and You show us that Nothing is too difficult for You (Jeremiah 32:17 - NASB).
So, Father, even in what we think are the direst of circumstances, remind us that You have not given us into the hands of the enemy (Psalm 31:8). Remind us that You have delivered us form darkness, defeat, death and destruction.
Remind us that You hear our cry for mercy when we call to You for help. That You hide us in the shelter of Your presence. That You keep us safe in Your dwelling. That You preserve us, protect us, deliver us (Psalm 31:5, 20, 22-23).
Take us to the place of total submission where we can pray the words the Holy Spirit gave to the psalmist: Into Your hands I commit my spirit (Psalm 31:5). The Lord Jesus Himself breathed that very prayer at His last when He sacrificed His life for a lost world (Luke 23:46). And He entrusted Himself to His just and loving Father (1 Peter 2:23).
Help us to so entrust ourselves to You. You see our affliction, and know the anguish of our souls (Psalm 31:7). Give us the same assurance as the psalmist, as the Lord Jesus, My times are in Your hands (Psalm 31:15). May we never try to take them into our own.
Keep us from rash decisions, from desperate action. Help us to love the Lord, to be faithful, to be true to You, to be strong and take heart, and to hope in the Lord (Psalm31:23-24).
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