My blog posting has been extremely patchy lately. Major house renovations and dividing my time between houses during a lockdown and also working has been a massive use of my available time. Normally, I announce the blog will be pausing, but I never intended to pause it. Yes, God has given me time to ponder this subject. And He has given me time to complete what I need to do. And I have visited Joy and all the stresses of a house renovation during a time of a pandemic. It has been a time of much learning and much spiritual growth. I still have so many questions that need answers, but I know the time for those will come later.
The blog I have written below is a wonderful blog to return to regular posts with. It speaks to me of faith and how that fits into this current situation. I wonder how many people struggling in these times feel that God has forsaken them? For those whose businesses have failed without customers. For those who have lost their job. For those who have been sick, or who have lost a much loved person. For those who fear catching the virus. For all those people and more, this has been a really hard time.
This blog is about trusting God. About feeling Joy, even when things are not that joyous. About turning your eyes on Jesus. May this reminder of God’s love be a blessing to you.
Psalm 71
This is a beautiful psalm of praise to God. It is a psalm of such wonderful faith. The psalmist writes of how God has been with him since he was born and he has relied on Him from birth. The thought of a baby with the knowledge of God if amazing. But I wonder if that is what all babies experience, the faith that there is someone there who cares for them, who loves them. We do not remember what we were aware of at birth so we may well have a knowledge of God that we later either grow or forget.
The thought of the baby trusting God is wonderful, but it is not the part of the psalm that really struck me today. What stood out for me was verses 9 to 13 which speak of the psalmist’s enemies claiming the bad things that happened to him were because God had forsaken him. This is a theme that is repeated throughout the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, when the prophets and leaders would cry out to God to save them so that His name would be glorified when His enemies saw how He had saved Israel.
In this world, there are those who will look for signs that our faith is a waste of time. There are those who do not want to accept God. Who want to see His followers fail, or be seen to be abandoned by God, so that they have an excuse not to believe in God.
In this case the psalmist, when going through bad times, saw God’s enemies delighting to see that God had forsaken him. Who can trust a God who forsakes us? Maybe he has been forsaken because he wasn’t good enough for God? Who can trust a God who is impossible to please?
But our psalmist stays firm and trusting in his faith in God. He can praise God with musical instruments, with singing, and with words. And he can experience Joy in praising and trusting God.