Psalm 10: 1, 17-18 (NLT)
1: O Lord, why do you stand so far away?
Why do you hide when I am in trouble?
17-18: Lord, you know the hopes of the helpless.
Surely you will hear their cries and comfort them.
You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed,
so mere people can no longer terrify them.
This sounds very familiar when compared to my last post, but there's a
HUGE, really big difference. Did you catch it? My last post began with
absolute, complete praise to the Lord. Now, however, David is crying out
to God.
David is human. One thing I love about the Psalms is
his total honesty. When his heart is full of praise, it shows in his
writing. When he has questions, doubts, anger, hurt, etc, he lets is all
out. He hides nothing from the Lord. And why should he? Why should we?
God knows our hearts. He knows.
And He doesn't condemn us, just like He doesn't condemn David here.
Whatever is happening in David's life at this point, he feels like God
isn't there for him. Like God is far away. Like the Lord is hiding from
him. David feels like he's in a divine game of hide and seek and he's on
the losing end.
And we all, being the humans that we are, have
all felt that way before. Maybe you're feeling that way right now. You
feel like God hasn't forgotten all about you. You may be a sparrow but
His Eye is definitely not on YOU!
Oh, I've been there. I remember
the hymns and songs that carry me through. In all honesty, when I feel
far from God, I sing the songs of my faith and they speak to my soul and
soothe me. I feel God through music even when that's the only way I
feel His Presence.
God hasn't forgotten you in those dark
places. He cannot "forget" us. That's not His nature. We will never
understand His ways and thoughts...not on this side anyway. He makes
that clear in His Word. But we're not called to understand them. We're
called to trust them.
When you feel forgotten, remember God's at
work even when you don't see it. He hasn't forgotten you or thrown you
away. No! He is working His mysterious ways in your life and is actually
holding you in the palm of His hand and under His Eagle's Wing. That's
the HOPE and that's the promise.
Read the entire Psalm. David
lists all that's bothering him at this time and when he gets to the
end...well...he's relying on God to know the hopes of the helpless and
to hear their cries and comfort them. David comes back to God.
Hear David's heart, hear his hope...even
when life feels hopeless and you feel helpless. Rely on God to carry
you through it all. Have HOPE!
Be blessed with an attitude of
hope. And share it with others. So many are feeling hopeless right now.
Maybe you aren't, but you've probably been there, and if you've never,
ever felt hopeless...well...hold on...you just might feel that way one
day and you'll understand. Even people with great faith, like me, can
feel hopeless and helpless from time to time.
Hope. Live it. Share it. Amen and Amen!
No matter what we face in life, we have to have hope...hope in God and hope of God, hope that it will get better, hope that there's a new and better day awaiting us, hope for a cure or better treatment options, hope that the tide will turn, and when this life ends we have the hope of Heaven. There's always hope. Have or develop an Attitude of Hope!
Start of This New Blog: What It's All About
This the start of a new blog for me. I wrote a blog: Attitude of Gratitude, and I've written a few other blogs. This one actually started on Facebook yesterday (Aug. 10, 2017) and after posting it, I got to thinking that not all my family and friends are on FB! So, I'm going to use both platforms, blogging and FB. My first post will be what I wrote on FB yesterday...copy/pasted. Since these particular posts are dated, you'll see yesterday's date on this first post. I'll be writing today's post in a little while. That's why there will be two posts today. I will try to write a post each day. The first post will explain why I'm writing a new blog. Now...
Piggy
backing on yesterday's post about an "attitude of hope," starting
today, I'm going to write about just that: Attitude of Hope. I'm going
to try to do this daily.
The Psalms helped me so much when I began my melajourney, so I'll begin with verses that draw on hope. I use the New Living Translation (NLT). Feel free to go to biblegateway.com and use your translation of choice and language. These posts will be dedicated to the loving memory of melahomey Jason Farley, the son of my friend Brenda Farley.
Attitude of Hope, Aug. 10, 2017
Psalm 9: 1-2, 18
1. I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart;
I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done.
2. I will be filled with joy because of you.
I will sing praises to your name, O Most High.
18. But the needy will not be ignored forever;
the hopes of the poor will not always be crushed.
Notice how King David begins this Psalm. He's not using the word "hope" yet, but "hope" overflows in the praise and the "joy" in this psalm is palpable. Praise, tell, filled, sing. David will praise the Lord...no matter what is going on in his life and kingdom. He's going to TELL about these things, too, and they are marvelous. He's not going to keep these things quiet...he's going to let other people know how he sees God working...he's going to give HOPE (though that's not spoken...it is obvious though). He'll be joyful. He doesn't say he'll be "happy" about everything, he says he'll be filled with JOY because of God. And he's going to sing about it! David gets loud and vocal! His hope and joy and praise...his gratitude...overflows and spills out to all around him and resonates through time and blessed us today!
Read the whole Psalm. David is very aware of how the world events swirl around him. He's KING! He's involved! He knows the evils, trials, issues, enemies that face his people. He sees the poor and needy. He's got a lot to deal with and David does his best to lead.
And as he leads, he gives hope. He, like all of us, lives in a fallen, imperfect world. He can't do everything that needs doing...but he CAN hold out hope to the people he leads. Taken in context, David is speaking to the financially poor. Those living a subsistence existence.
But there are other kinds of "need" We all stand in need of something. And one thing we all stand in need of is "hope."
David has witnessed, time and time again, that God has risen up and the hopes of the poor were NOT crushed, and he knows that the hopes they feel are being crushed NOW will, one day, be hopes fulfilled. Maybe not today and maybe not tomorrow...but the day is coming that. So, for now, we sing and pray with David in Psalm 9: 19-20
19. Arise, O Lord!
Do not let mere mortals defy you!
Judge the nations!
20. Make them tremble in fear, O Lord.
Let the nations know they are merely human.
I reside in Cancerworld; MelaLand to be exact. I have witnessed hopes fulfilled and I know there are hopes that will be fulfilled in the future. Cancers WILL be a thing of the past. One day. Not today. That is the hope. And we work towards and pray for that day. Cancer isn't our only enemy...remember, all enemies aren't people. Our enemies come at us in a variety of ways.
Maintain an attitude of hope. Live an attitude of hope. And as you do, be filled with hope and rock your world! HOPE changes things! Blessings. Amen and Amen.
The Psalms helped me so much when I began my melajourney, so I'll begin with verses that draw on hope. I use the New Living Translation (NLT). Feel free to go to biblegateway.com and use your translation of choice and language. These posts will be dedicated to the loving memory of melahomey Jason Farley, the son of my friend Brenda Farley.
Attitude of Hope, Aug. 10, 2017
Psalm 9: 1-2, 18
1. I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart;
I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done.
2. I will be filled with joy because of you.
I will sing praises to your name, O Most High.
18. But the needy will not be ignored forever;
the hopes of the poor will not always be crushed.
Notice how King David begins this Psalm. He's not using the word "hope" yet, but "hope" overflows in the praise and the "joy" in this psalm is palpable. Praise, tell, filled, sing. David will praise the Lord...no matter what is going on in his life and kingdom. He's going to TELL about these things, too, and they are marvelous. He's not going to keep these things quiet...he's going to let other people know how he sees God working...he's going to give HOPE (though that's not spoken...it is obvious though). He'll be joyful. He doesn't say he'll be "happy" about everything, he says he'll be filled with JOY because of God. And he's going to sing about it! David gets loud and vocal! His hope and joy and praise...his gratitude...overflows and spills out to all around him and resonates through time and blessed us today!
Read the whole Psalm. David is very aware of how the world events swirl around him. He's KING! He's involved! He knows the evils, trials, issues, enemies that face his people. He sees the poor and needy. He's got a lot to deal with and David does his best to lead.
And as he leads, he gives hope. He, like all of us, lives in a fallen, imperfect world. He can't do everything that needs doing...but he CAN hold out hope to the people he leads. Taken in context, David is speaking to the financially poor. Those living a subsistence existence.
But there are other kinds of "need" We all stand in need of something. And one thing we all stand in need of is "hope."
David has witnessed, time and time again, that God has risen up and the hopes of the poor were NOT crushed, and he knows that the hopes they feel are being crushed NOW will, one day, be hopes fulfilled. Maybe not today and maybe not tomorrow...but the day is coming that. So, for now, we sing and pray with David in Psalm 9: 19-20
19. Arise, O Lord!
Do not let mere mortals defy you!
Judge the nations!
20. Make them tremble in fear, O Lord.
Let the nations know they are merely human.
I reside in Cancerworld; MelaLand to be exact. I have witnessed hopes fulfilled and I know there are hopes that will be fulfilled in the future. Cancers WILL be a thing of the past. One day. Not today. That is the hope. And we work towards and pray for that day. Cancer isn't our only enemy...remember, all enemies aren't people. Our enemies come at us in a variety of ways.
Maintain an attitude of hope. Live an attitude of hope. And as you do, be filled with hope and rock your world! HOPE changes things! Blessings. Amen and Amen.
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