Scripture
I have been sick and close to death since my youth.
~Psalm 88:15, NLT
Quote
Sin has released a deadly, pervasive and destructive force into the world that infects and affects every human being and sin is accompanied by suffering and sorrow.
~John MacArthur
My Psalm for yesterday was the “Sad Psalm” {Psalm 88}. It was written by one of the descendants of Korah, a levitical praise and worship leader. We do not know his name or have any detail info on him but judging by the content of the Psalm, he had been sickly all his life. He felt God forsaken. He was battling loneliness and rejection. He expresses great sorrow and he is struggling with the fear of death and the uncertainty of the grave. When I read the Psalm, my mind went in two directions.
First of all, Jesus experienced all these same things either in Gethsemane or on the cross. Jesus was isolated and left alone at the very time when He needed friends most. He faced the horrors of torture, humiliation and death. Jesus suffered such agony that death became His friend. Jesus prayed in the garden and on the cross but His prayers were not answered. On the cross, He felt totally abandoned or God-forsaken. The cross was far from being a pleasant experience. It was a living hell and I for one am glad that it is history. So this Psalm reminded me that Jesus was a man of sorrows, acquainted with our grief.
My second thought was for those who have been afflicted for life; those who have never know the joy of a healthy body. Some of these precious souls have never walked; they have spent their life in a wheel chair or a sick bed. Just between us, I must admit that I am blessed and I am thankful but I cannot boast of my good fortune for fear of hurting those who are far less fortunate. Should I complain about a headache when some have never walked? I think you know the answer.
When June and I were in seminary, we attended the Wednesday night chapel service on the seminary campus. We use to joke about the Library being full on Wednesday night with preachers studying. You would be shocked at how few preachers attended the mid-week service. A part of the mid-week service was a prayer and praise time and this one guy was like a jack in the box. Every week he popped up and shared a glorious report about how God was blessing him. If he got money in the mail, we were sure to hear about on Wednesday night. There was one huge problem with his sharing; there were other preachers in the audience who were getting no help, no money in the mail. This created questions in their minds: why was he getting all this help while they were getting none? Was God favoring him? Did God really call the rest of us and if so, why weren’t we getting the help and encouragement he was getting? That is when I learned there is a very thin line between praise and boasting. Genuine praise edifies but boasting can be hurtful to others. That same thin line exist between sharing and gossip. We need to cultivate grateful humility. There may be times when we need to be thankful but keep our mouth shut.
It was raining pretty hard when I came to the office but has let up now. Our yard needs to be trimmed but I have been putting it off because I don’t like to weed eat. Today I have a great excuse. If I were to weed eat today, it would have to be from a boat. Have a good day and thanks for reading the blog.