Tears and Fears and Precious Promises 

Last night, once again, God used his Word to comfort my troubled soul. These past few weeks have been very difficult. Due to our government’s latest round of rules and mandates, we have struggled with decisions that need to be made, finding fear begin to rise up in us.

As I sat at the piano, attempting to worship God through song in our time of singing at our weekly prayer meeting, the trials I was facing began to overwhelm me. I played most of the hymns with my eyes closed, as the tears welled up and threatened to spill over. Some of my favourite songs were being sung, but the burden was so heavy that I couldn’t sing. I could only read the words, and mouth them in my head, not having the strength to sing them aloud.

As I sat down and opened my bible to hear the Word from the Lord, my Bible fell open and I looked down at a bookmark I had made quite a while ago for my ladies Bible study group. It was an acronym for the word CALM.

C- Consider the bigger picture

         A- Acknowledge God is in control

L-  Look for the lesson

M-  Make it a point to praise

I knew God was trying to remind me of his goodness, and his love. So, I turned to the Psalms, which I am apt to do when my heart is overwhelmed. And Psalm 34 called to me. I began to read the words as the tears that had been welling up began to overflow, and spill down my cheeks.

I made a hasty exit and spent the next half an hour, sitting on the gutter next to the car, reading the Psalm over and over, crying and praying all the while.

There is so much comfort in Psalm 34. The reason I started this blog was to encourage women in their walk with the Lord through sharing what God shows me through his Word and teaches me as I struggle, like we all do, to navigate through life and make wise choices, facing the same battles that Christian mothers, wives, daughters, grandmothers all face. This Psalm was such a blessing to me and a comfort to my troubled soul, that I want to share with you just a few encouraging words I found in the treasure chest that is God’s Word.

As you read through the Psalm with me, take note of all the promises you find. (Please don’t skip over it. Reading the Word of God is so important)

Psalm 34:1-22

1 I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.

2 My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.

3 O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.

4 I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

5 They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.

6 This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.

7 The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.

8 O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

9 O fear the LORD, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him. 10 The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the LORD shall not want any good thing.

11 Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

12 What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good?

13 Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.

14 Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.

15 The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.

16 The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.

17 The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.

18 The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.

20 He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.

21 Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate.

22 The LORD redeemeth the soul of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate.

The very first verse of the Psalm begins with a reminder to praise God. At all times. Well, that was a hard one as I sat in despair. God’s praise should continually be in my mouth. That means always. Even when I don’t feel like it. Even when life is difficult. We ought to be praising God for his goodness to us daily, regularly, at all times.

As I read down to verse 4, I found the comfort I needed. I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and he delivered me. He heard and delivered me from my fears. And not just some, the verse says ALL! What a blessing it is that the Lord not only hears our prayers, but he delivers us from our fears.

Look down to verse 6. Once again, after crying out to the Lord, we are saved from our troubles. Heard and saved. The poor man, the needy, the afflicted, the weak. Saved from his troubles.

I love verse 7. It says that the angel of the Lord encamps around us. Literally, he pitches a tent. An encircling protective presence around us so that we will be delivered. He makes camp. And he keeps his strong arm about us, watching over us, protecting us.

In verse 8 we are encouraged to taste and see that the Lord is good. And we are told that we will be blessed when we trust in Him. God doesn’t want us to merely take his word for it, he wants us to experience personally, through our trials, the goodness of God. We are to taste and see for ourselves how good and how satisfying God is. When we trust in him, we will be blessed.

In verses 9 and 10, we are told that if we seek the Lord and fear the Lord, we won’t want any good thing. We won’t lack what we need. It’s interesting that it says we won’t lack any ‘good thing’. Often what we perceive as good is not what God sees as good. He has good things in store for us and that is what he gives, not what we deem best.

Let’s skip down to verse 15. This is a very well-known verse. It gives us a picture of God always watching and hearing. His eyes and his ears are open. God hears and sees the tears you cry. As I sat there, crying out to God, he saw the tears that rolled down my cheeks. He heard my voice and listened to my prayer. And once again, in verse 17, he heard and delivered. And that little word ALL is there again. Not just some, but all!

Verse 18 reminds us that God saves the broken hearted, the crushed in spirit. He is near to them. He draws near, even when we have no strength to draw near to him, he comes to us. He comes to us in our brokenness, and he saves us and delivers us from our afflictions (verse 19).

And lastly, in verse 22, he redeems us and he rescues us.

As I sat on the gutter, feeling lonely and abandoned, God used this Psalm to touch my heart. As I read over and over the precious promises, I was encouraged and reminded of God’s goodness to me. I realised, that although God may choose to let me go through this trial, and not pluck me out of it, he would walk beside me the whole way.

It’s often been said that although we don’t choose what trials we go through, we do choose how we go through them. It’s up to us to decide how we will respond when life gets hard, and trials abound. Will we trust God although we can’t see the way ahead, or will we fret and worry and fear?

Often, when we are going through a difficult time, we retreat, we isolate, we wallow in our misery without reaching out. But God wants us to encourage each other and seek help from our family and friends. (Another time I’ll write some thoughts on the importance of a support system and Godly friends).

Sitting there, reading over the Psalm, verse 3 began to leap off the page and one word in particular kept drawing my attention.

Psalm 34:3 O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.

Do you see what it is? Together! Yes, I felt like God was telling me, almost audibly it seemed, to go back inside and seek fellowship. Together. Exalt his name together. Magnify the Lord together!

And so, with my prayers heard, my tears dried up, my soul comforted, I went back inside and found a dear and precious saint, a woman of God, to pray with. I shared with her my burdens, and I also shared examples of God’s goodness from that very week. And you know what? God encouraged my heart once again. We shared God’s blessings and praised him together.

Matthew 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

God was there in the midst. As we prayed together, my soul was comforted, and my heart was encouraged.

What a blessing the word of God is to the weary soul. I know that this particular trial is not over and although we are not ‘delivered’ as such from it, I know that we can face it without fear and with power and strength given by God. His promises hold true, and we can trust him.

Run to him when you’re overwhelmed. He is your rock. He is sure. He is stedfast. Unmoving. A shelter and a refuge.

Psalm 61:1-4

1 Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer.

2 From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

 3 For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.

 4 I will abide in thy tabernacle for ever: I will trust in the covert of thy wings. Selah.