God's Eternal Word

 

A couple of different conversations have me thinking about grief this week. Certainly there are so many upsetting events in the world, we might all be grieving to some degree. But it’s the very specific and personal griefs that can be especially hard to deal with—even to talk about.

My slow journey through Psalms brought me to Psalm 119 this summer. As I reviewed my notes recently, I saw that I had starred related ideas in a couple of passages. In verses 17-24, the psalmist feels alienated and lonely. He feels he doesn’t belong and that others hold him in contempt. His antidote for this near-despair is to seek God’s favor and to find refuge in his word. His prayer in these verses is for the LORD to reveal the word to him so that he may find guidance and comfort.

The next section of Psalm 119, verses 25-32, continue the pattern. In verse 25, the speaker says his soul “cleaves to the dust.” He is in despair as we may all be from time to time. Sometimes we can’t help feeling sad or discouraged. But then his prayer to God is for the word to make a change in his life: “Revive me according to thy word.” God answers his request through the truth and beauty of scripture.

When the speaker’s “soul weeps because of grief,” he chooses to turn to God in prayer and to look to his word for strength. In verse 30, he says, “I have chosen the faithful way.” He has acted by placing God’s law before his eyes. Then in verse 31, instead of dust, he is cleaving to God’s word, his testimonies. He is then confident that God will “enlarge [his] heart”—give him capacity to withstand his circumstances and maybe even be better for his struggle.

 The human condition is universal across time and space. Everyone has times of despair and loneliness brought on by a variety of circumstances, but God’s truth is the universal cure for our ills. Of course, there are many factors that affect our feelings or attitudes, and I am not suggesting that merely reading a Bible verse will make everything better.  But there is no problem that cannot be eased to some degree by trusting God’s word. My goal—and, I hope, yours—is to take time each day to both read and meditate on scripture. We need to not just read a quick verse and a short commentary, although that might be a place to start. We need to sit with the truth and let it change us, memorize some passages that we can ponder in quiet moments.

Earlier this summer, Psalm 103 got me through some dental work without panicking, and there have been numerous nights I have drifted off to sleep with precious phrases on replay in my head. I don’t know what grief or pain is troubling you, but I pray you find comfort and rest in God’s eternal word.

 

--Sherry Poff