His Right Hand Held Me.

Have you ever felt like the promises of God are for everyone but you?

I was reading in the Psalm this morning and came across  Psalm 77, that stilled my hand from turning the page.
It was as if David had transcribed the very thoughts and struggles I had in my own mind after my Alan went to Heaven. This isn’t the first time I have struggled with believing God’s promises for me, but I must say it was probably the time that the “battle to believe” that He had good plans for me, was the fiercest!

David says it this way, “ My voice rises to God, and I will cry aloud;
My voice rises to God, and He will hear me.
In the day of my trouble, I sought the Lord;
In the night my hand and was stretched out without weariness;
My soul refused to be comforted.

When I remember God , then I am disturbed;
When I sigh, then my spirit grows faint.
You have held my eyelids open;
I am so troubled I cannot speak.
I have considered the days of old,
The years of long ago.
I will remember my song in the night;
I will meditate with my heart,
And my spirit ponders:

Will the Lord reject forever?
And will He never be favorable again?
Has his lovingkindness ceased forever?
Has His promise come to an end forever?
Has God forgotten to be gracious?
Or has He in anger withdrawn His compassion?
Then I said,” It is grief.”
That the right hand of the Most High has changed.

I shall remember the deeds of the Lord:
Surely I will remember Your wonders of old.
I will meditate on all Your works
And muse on Your deeds.
Your way O God is Holy!

What comfort it brought my heart that David, a man after God’s own heart, would himself question whether God’s promises were for him. He asked all the things! Are you rejecting me? Will I never see your favor again? Has your love come to an end? Are your promises of good plans for me gone? Have you forgotten me? Are you angry with me?
Then, it is like a light shines in the darkness and he realizes , that is grief talking. Grief comes in many forms and from many experiences. You don’t need to have lost a loved one to experience grief. We grieve and  experience loss in many ways. Perhaps you have experienced great disappointment at something you thought the Lord would do on your behalf. Maybe you are praying for something that is good and in line with God’s will and it hasn’t happened yet. Does your life look different than you planned for it to?
David shows us what to do. He speaks truth to himself. He says, “ That is grief talking, telling me that the right hand of God has changed. I will remember your deeds, your wonders of old.I will meditate on your works!” Ann Voscamp says , “ It is in remembering, that we are re-membered. We are put back together!”
I believe that is why God tells us to “Guard our heart for it is the wellspring of life.” Prov. 4:23
Life will disappoint us, as wonderful as it can be. Grief will come in some form, at some time. The enemy will try to tell us that God has turned his back on us, that we have been forgotten. He will try to tell us God’s promises are for everyone but us. How will we respond? Will we agree with him or will we speak truth to our hearts? Will we go to the Word and re-member ourselves by remembering who He is? Will we remind our hearts of His wonderful works and that He is the same God, yesterday, today and forever? We get to choose life or death. We can to choose to be put back together by God’s truth or allow our faith to be dismantled by the enemy. Let’s choose life beloved! Let’s choose to be re-membered by remembering!
“Surely, I will remember the deeds of the Lord;
Surely, I will remember Your wonders of old.
I will meditate on all Your works.
And muse on Your deeds.
Your way O God is Holy!”