Encouragement - Pt. 5

 

Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies. Give me not up to the will of my adversaries; for false witnesses have risen against me, and they breathe out violence. I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord! (Psalm 27:11-14 ESV).

 

I know I often go to some of the pictures I have taken and collected of the Smoky Mountains. Today I have returned to a picture I found in a conservation article from The Nature Conservatory.  In it there was a plea for visitors to the park to be careful in bringing firewood from outside the park. It seems that various non-indigenous tree pests and/or diseases can be brought into the Smokies from this practice having devastating consequences. As I thought about that I was reminded how often we make “pleas” known to God in our prayers. That thought took me to Solomon, to whom God grants a single desire (cf. 1 Kings 3:5-6). In that moment, the young king asked for wisdom and God was so pleased with this request that he granted him riches as well.

 

If you could ask God for one thing, knowing that it would be granted, what would it be? Our imagination might run wild with the possibilities; from curing cancer to material prosperity. I suppose, given the events of this year, we might ask for a return to “normal.” But then, would we really have the courage to face the unknowns of tomorrow? I really don’t want to go back to “normal.” In fact, I’m not sure what normal should look like. I do know that facing a seemingly endless sequence of danger and difficulty is discouraging.

 

AS soon as I realized that, I remembered our reading today. It is a part of the larger context of one of the best psalms for encouragement in difficult times. It is a composite work by at least two authors brought together by an editor. Tradition attributes it to King David. Protestant Christians have traditionally thought of it as written early in David's life, during his flight from King Saul, with Spurgeon suggesting the incident with Doeg the Edomite specifically.

 

David ends the psalm with: I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord! (v. 14). And there it is! Returning to an unshakeable belief that I will one day see the wonder and goodness of God, I can be encouraged. This world is winding down. Soon, Jesus will come again and set all things right!