Psalms 22:24 – For He has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one; He has not hidden His face from him but has listened to his cry for help. When all around us despise us in our deepest gloom, there is a God who sympathizes with us. He will not ignore the pain and agonies of His beloved children. When we look at His face with deep anguish for help, He will not reject us nor will He turn His face away from us. He will never shut His ears to the sound of our cries. Even before we cry, He knows all about the depth and breadth of our agonies with its intensity and also knows how much we can take. He will not allow us to pass through any thing for which He doesn’t give us His grace to endure it. When David cried in despair, the Lord was with him and brought him out victoriously. When all the satanic forces were against Job, the Lord was with him and strengthened him to go through it all and finally gave him back several fold his original resources. There were times when Jacob was in deep despair and total disillusionment. But the Lord was with him and gave him spiritual and emotional victory. The Lord healed his broken heart several times and led him to a level at which he was enabled to bless Pharaoh who was the richest king of that time. In the midst of deep afflictions, the Lord was with Joseph and lifted him up from the forgotten dungeon. He never let the circumstances defeat Daniel or his brothers in Babylon. He heard the cries of the children of Israel and brought them back to their home land. He strengthened them to rebuild the Temple and its walls even while the captivity continued. Yes, our God lives and He understands us in all our circumstances and leads us in unprecedented manner in the wake of any hopeless situation we might go through.
Dear friend, are you today looking at the Lord in your moments of despair? Perhaps you might be waiting for long for help to come from Him. But as surely as He lives, the Lord will lift you up from your times of desperation of afflictions. We are instructed to follow the example of David today to keep looking at the face of the Lord from where our release will come. He will never turn His face away from us because He is our compassionate Father. His eyes and ears are always open to our cries and needs. He sees us in our difficult situations. We are sent out as roses and lilies among the thorns. He knows that we are like lambs among the wolves that are waiting to tear us apart. But we can be courageous because our Lord has sent us out to such situations, knowing fully well that these enemies of circumstances and situations will try to destroy us. But our greatest comfort today is that the Lord is with us and He will never despise our petitions and prayers. He will keep us as the apple of His eyes and as little chicks under the wings of the mother. We are given the privilege to dwell under the shadow of the Almighty and are covered by His feathers. He holds us with His mighty hands and gives us the comfort of fearlessness in His presence. So there is no need for us to fret or wallow over our situations. Our Lord is above our circumstances and He is the Lord of all our situations. No force around us has the permission to destroy us. Let us today enjoy the nearness and protection of the Lord and live with the comfort and confidence that our Lord will never turn His face away from us and His eyes and ears are always open to our cries. His answers to our cries are flowing towards us to lift us up from our difficult situations.
Psalms 102:17 – (The Lord) will respond to the prayer of the destitute; He will not despise their plea. Thought for TodayEven through the thickest and darkest clouds, the face of the Lord will glow in the eyes of His children who look unto Him.
