When I was a high school senior, I audited an upper-level English literature course at a local college. The professor assigned two novels, both written in 18th-century English and extremely hard for this 18-year-old to decipher. Luckily, the professor explained each reading at length. Though much of that course has disappeared from my memory, I’ll never forget a quote from George Eliot’s Middlemarch. For some reason, it implanted itself in my mind, and I doubt it will ever leave.
“If we had a keen vision and feeling of all ordinary human life, it would be like hearing the grass grow and the squirrel’s heartbeat, and we should die of that roar which lies on the other side of silence.”
What I take from that quote is this: If we could hear “all ordinary human life,” it would be deafening. Can you imagine hearing everything? From the simple growth of the grass all around us to the cries of children in the night from hunger, to the millions upon millions of groans that go up to the Lord each moment? I cannot fathom the sound.
That’s why, when it comes to Psalm 6, I know I’m on holy ground.
I don’t know for certain what left David so shaken that he wore himself out with groaning—although there are plenty of scenarios to choose from in 1 and 2 Samuel: His best friend’s father was trying to kill him. He had to hide away in enemy territory for decades. The only men who went with him were desperate, indebted criminals (1Samuel 22:2). In many ways, he was alone in the world.
I don’t know exactly why David wrote this psalm, and I don’t know how you’ll relate to it either. Perhaps the imagery of crying nightly against your pillow is no imagery at all. Perhaps that’s your reality. Marriages falter under the weight of years of sorrow. Children defy our expectations and hopes. Relationships plunder our hearts, leaving us to clean up the wreckage. Even the best, most hopeful times of our lives leave us wondering what lurks around the next corner.
If your eyes are open and your heart is beating, you know that life is full of perpetual aches. As George Eliot said, if we could hear it all, “we should die of that roar.” But here is the beautiful thing about our God: He hears every prayer. He catches our tears in His bottle (Psalm 56:8). And though we are unable to bear the weight of that much sorrow, He can. And He has (Isaiah 53:3–4).
After reading the seven preceding verses about grief, I love the final three in this psalm and how the idea of hope emerges from them. I can imagine David writing them, taking a deep, post-cry breath—you know the kind. Maybe it’s still shaky. But it fills your lungs with oxygen and enables you to sit up straight and wipe the tears from your eyes. David rises to face his fears, not because his circumstances have changed, but because he is confident that the Lord has heard his weeping and accepts his prayer (Psalm 6:9).
Whatever tears you shed today, rest in confidence that the Lord hears you clearly. He knows you, accepts you in Christ, wants to commune with you, and longs to be gracious to you, even in the darkest hours (Isaiah 30:18).
This couldn’t have come at a better time. Someone from my past sent me a hurtful text targeting some painful memories I carry. Could you cover me in prayer?
“Even the best, most hopeful times of our lives leave us wondering what lurks around the next corner.” This sentence in the devotion reminded me of Jennie Allen’s book “Get Out of Your Head” which has a chapter on cynicism. Before reading it, I wouldn’t have thought of myself as cynical. But there was a period of time when I went through a number of difficult circumstances and found myself identifying with this description: “Either we’re afraid of something that might not even occur, or we project something that has occurred onto all the days that are to come. We buy into the lie that it’s too risky to be vulnerable or hope for good things.” Now when I notice myself getting into those thought patterns I ask God to forgive me for believing the lie. I do not know what is going to happen – including all the bad things that could happen. I have no evidence that those fears will come true. What I do know and what I do have evidence for based on my experiences is that whatever happens, God is there for me. He will never be taken by surprise by anything that happens to me. He will get me through whatever I face, and he will work it all together for my good in ways that I could not anticipate because I am not God and I don’t know the things he knows.
I love that the Lord is with us wherever we are. He sees us and will give us exactly what we need. I am a mom to two young girls, and have felt myself languishing lately. Feeling a lack of motivation due sleep deprivation. It’s hard to be passionate about anything. But the Lord is still with me, and I feel him giving me his strength to be the best mom I can.
I haven’t read the study yet. Can I ask for prayer? I’ve never had a toothache before, but woke up in the night in pain. Of course we leave on a trip tomorrow. I have a call into an endodontist, but it’s getting late. Praying I get through the week without a big issue. I’d like to deal with it here because I like the doctor a lot. Thank you
♥️
CEE GEE Thank you for thinking of me in my quest for a better lifestyle. I didn’t make the progress I had hoped to. But God has laid it on my heart and I know if I continue to listen to him, I’ll get past the obstacles and eat and exercise in a way to honor my Lord.
I am praying for all the requests from everyone. I am so blessed to be a part of this community.
@Rebecca as a 76-year-old follower of Jesus, I have been where you are many times. God always tested us with our finances and we were blessed with six wonderful children to take care of. In the early years of my marriage I had trouble trusting God for those finances. I can attest that he has always provided everything we need and often more than that. One of the other lessons I have learned is not to second-guess our decisions, especially when we have prayed for wisdom and making them. He promises if we ask to give us wisdom liberally without reproach. But just because things happen a little differently then when we made the original decision doesn’t mean that we were unwise or out of the will of God. He often gives us what we ask for, but his intentions toward us for our good often don’t turn out the way we anticipated. He will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory.
Praise the Lord & Amen ♥️