Psalm 94:18-19 – When I thought, “My foot is slipping,”
your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.
When the cares of my heart are many,
your consolations cheer my soul.
I thought, “My foot is slipping”
Have you ever wondered how you ended up where you are? How could things have gotten this bad? Sinning can be a slippery slope. Sometimes one sin can lead to another which leads to another. That happens pretty regularly with lying. If you lie, you may find yourself lying over and over to cover your past lies. I’ve never been very good at lying for that very reason. It took too much work to cover each one up. I’d rather face the consequences of the first one then get tangled in the web of deceit. Our emotions can be a slippery slope too. We can start feeling bad, and then we start keeping track of all the bad that goes on in our lives. We like to compare the list with others so we can prove our day is going worse than theirs. But that slippery slope has another side. The side that goes away from sadness, away from sin. God is the way to get away from the slippery slope.
Your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up
When we start to slip, or even to lean over the edge, God is there with His steadfast love to help us stand strong with Him. He can help us turn back from our sin. He can help us to come out from under our dark cloud. He can heal us from our infirmities. He can comfort us.
When the cares of my heart are many
I have a tendency to feel overwhelmed, especially emotionally. I think too much and my internal dialogue can go crazy if I’m given time to think too much. I am sure I know what everyone else is thinking, how they feel about me, how every conversation will go and whether or not it will end up poorly or well. This can lead to a lot of anxiety. I can imagine all sorts of things. Given that, social situations can become scary. I’m the same way about finances and work. If I think of something in the middle of the night, there is almost no way for me to get back to sleep. Why? Because I’m über focused on myself and my problems.
Your consolations cheer my soul
Definition of CONSOLE: to alleviate the grief, sense of loss, or trouble of : comfort
Trusting in God. Believing in His consolations. These are the things I (we) need to focus on when things start getting out of control. God is bigger than our problems, and He can find amazingly creative ways for what we’re sure will happen to change. God wants to cheer our soul. He has given us promises to look forward to, and mercies we can remember. God has the power to change things, but too often we’re holding on so tight that we won’t hand it over to Him and truly trust that He’s got this. He’s got our problems in His hand and is going to help us through these tough situations. He’s going to comfort and console us. He’s going to help alleviate the grief, and heal our sense of loss. When we change our focus from how things are affecting us, and instead focus on God (getting into His word, spending time in worship etc), we are reminded of all the Lord has done for us and we can learn to turn all our cares over to Him so that we might enjoy a peace that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7). The promise of eternal life with God is something to cheer us and console us. God sacrificing His own Son so that we might live eternally, He loves us that much. That comforts me.
Do you need cheering up?
God is... 