Calling with Confidence
Wake up, O Lord! Why do you sleep? Get up! Do not reject us forever. Why do you look the other way? Why do you ignore our suffering and oppression? . . . Rise up! Come and help us! Save us because of your unfailing love. Psalm 44:23-24, 26
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The writer of today’s psalm mourns a massive military defeat and calls on God not to reject his people forever. Without God’s help in battle, his people are plundered, and their enemies taunt them. So they cry to God to rouse himself and act on their behalf as a God of saving, delivering love. Just as the psalmist experienced, when we live day after day under difficult circumstances without a word from the Lord, it can cause deep frustration, worry, and fear. We, too, may begin to question whether God is paying attention to our lives at all: “Why do you sleep? Why do you look the other way? Why do you ignore our suffering and oppression?”
Even when God seems silent, we need never fear if the Lord is in the boat with us through the storm. Uncomfortable circumstances may continue, but God will prove himself our sure refuge because he has promised he will never forsake us. His name Emmanuel means “God with us.” Because of this truth we can continue to call on the Lord with confidence that he will hear and respond because of his unfailing love.
Prayers:
LORD, thank you for your promised presence with me today. Although my circumstances may seem overwhelming, I call to you with confidence because you are all powerful and you love me. Come and help me! Save me because of your unfailing love and help me experience you as my sure refuge. I wait expectantly to see you move in a mighty way in my life today.
Quotes:
If the vessel of our soul is still tossed with winds and storms, let us awake the Lord, who reposes in it, and he will quickly calm the sea.
Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection (1605–1691)
The One Year Bible Readings for today are: Leviticus 24:1–25:46; Mark 10:13-31; Psalm 44:9-26 and Proverbs 10:20-21.
