Faithful and Sure
by Cathy Campbell
These last few years I spent time dealing with where I was in my grief after the loss of my husband and grandchild to cancer. I have spent time lamenting in prayer and in the Word. God kept pointing out to me over and over again one of my favorite verses.
My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast! I will sing and make melody! Psalm 57:7 (ESV)
It doesn’t feel like a very Christian thing to say, but I would guess each of us can admit that in our dark times we have moments, even while we’re clinging to His promises in the Word, that we feel a bit suspicious of God.
Many of us are standing in our churches on Sunday morning with our hands raised high as we proclaim our God is a “good, good Father,” but then we find ourselves lying in our beds on Sunday night with tear-stained pillows facing a reality that doesn’t feel very good at all. Especially when our circumstances don’t seem to line up with His promises. And it’s difficult not to doubt the light of His truth when everything around us looks dark.
Which brings me to Psalm 57 – written by David in the midst of a season where his circumstances and God’s promises appear to be in complete and total opposition. Saul “rewards” David for his service and obedience with persecution and death threats. David is left to run for his life and then hide out in a cave. I wouldn’t judge David for one second if he had cried out to God in total frustration saying, “I don’t understand any of this!”
But the words he wrote in Psalm 57 are neither exclusively a Psalm of Lament nor a Psalm of Thanksgiving. David doesn’t deny the darkness of his situation. But he also refuses to allow his soul to get stuck in a place of despair. Instead, David chooses to declare praises about the true nature and character of God. He reminds his soul of who God is – a God who fulfills His purposes, a God who saves, a God known for His faithfulness and steadfast love.
Even though David’s soul is “bowed down” by his circumstances, he allows what he knows to be true about God to steady him – as do I in my grief.
I love knowing the story behind this Psalm. In a cave that surely felt like a death sentence to all he hoped and dreamed, David lifted his eyes to God. And when his eyes were lifted, his heart was able to be shifted out of darkness. Will we see our dark times as a birth of something new or the death of what we thought should be?
Let’s choose to believe there is purpose in every season even the ones that don’t seem to make any sense.
My encouragement to you:
Our God is able, and he will deliver…
But even if he does not…
Hidden in those two phrases is my secret for making peace with the prayers that are answered and those which are not. My God is able, He can make a way where there is no way, and He has done so more times than you and I know.
But even if He does not, He is still worthy of our worship. “I trust Him.” Why?
Because I need Him! He is my rock, my joy, my comfort. I’ll keep praying bold and daring prayers. I do so knowing He’s already given me what I need most: Himself!
When we understand that we are made on purpose and with a purpose, it changes the way we live. Each of us is intentionally and uniquely handmade by a holy God who has a plan for us. Trust Him to be as He always has been: faithful and sure.
