December 19 – Rejoicing in God because he sees and knows
In you, O LORD, do I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame;
in your righteousness deliver me!
Incline your ear to me;
rescue me speedily!
Be a rock of refuge for me,
a strong fortress to save me!
For you are my rock and my fortress;
and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me;
you take me out of the net they have hidden for me,
for you are my refuge.
Into your hand I commit my spirit;
you have redeemed me, O LORD, faithful God.
I hate those who pay regard to worthless idols,
but I trust in the LORD.
I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love,
because you have seen my affliction;
you have known the distress of my soul,
and you have not delivered me into the hand of the enemy;
you have set my feet in a broad place.
Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am in distress;
my eye is wasted from grief;
my soul and my body also.
For my life is spent with sorrow,
and my years with sighing;
my strength fails because of my iniquity,
and my bones waste away. –Psalm 31.1-10
As we approach our second Christmas without Ilona, I find more and more the fleeting nature of the joys this world has to offer. There is joy in this world, don’t get me wrong. After all, God created this world and everything in it and even called it very good. The joy of this creation is a reflection of the joy we can find in God, but it is not a reflection as in a mirror. More like a reflection that is in a foggy window or a rippling pond. You can see that something is being reflected, but you can’t quite make it out. Or maybe better out, it is like a light being reflected on a piece of glass. The glass has no light of its own but only shines when the light source is on it.
I was looking at the moon this evening and remembering this truth. Without the sun, the beauty and glory of the moon would not exist. At least we would not experience it.
The glories and joys of this world are empty if they are not reflections of the truer glory, the source of glory. We actually rob things of this world of their intended majesty when we try to enjoy them disconnected from their Source.
And what happens when those lesser joys are extinguished? A child must wait to get over a cold just so that he can have brain surgery. New parents cannot take their newborn home after forty hours of labor, because his gall bladder is not functioning the way doctors had hoped. A first Christmas without a husband of over fifty years. What should have been a first Christmas with a young wife is now the second Christmas without her.
Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am in distress;
my eye is wasted from grief;
my soul and my body also.
For my life is spent with sorrow,
and my years with sighing;
my strength fails because of my iniquity,
and my bones waste away.
Where does a person find joy when this is his lot?
I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love,
because you have seen my affliction;
you have known the distress of my soul.
I can rejoice because God sees me. God knows me. God loves me.
To be loved and not seen is shallow and meaningless.
To be seen and not loved is every person’s greatest fear.
God sees. God knows. God loves.
Amazing that the answer comes early in the psalm. The struggle continues throughout. To be reminded of the true light does not mean you must deny your fears or doubts or struggles.
God sees. God knows. God loves.
Left Unsaid... for better or worse 