Psalm 88:1-3 (ESV)
O Lord, God of my salvation,
I cry out day and night before you.
2 Let my prayer come before you;
incline your ear to my cry!
3 For my soul is full of troubles,
and my life draws near to Sheol.
If my memory is correct, today marks 3 months since the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the US. I believe it was a gentleman who had been in China, maybe even Wuhan Province, and returned to the US. At that time, it was basically a Chinese problem. Since that time, we have found ourselves confined to our homes, wearing masks and gloves, our restaurants are now take-out only, our stores are limited to essential business only and our churches find their pews empty and (hopefully) their parking lots full. We have become an imprisoned (I use that term only to mean confined and for the purpose of contrast) people living in a free nation. We have become a nation of beautiful church buildings but we are now a church of street preachers and techno-evangelists. Everything has changed.
It is at this time that I would like to draw your attention to Psalm 88. Whatever the Psalmist may have been facing at that time, one thing is for certain, it was not what he had expected his life to be like at that time. In his time of uncertainty, even despair, he cried out to the Lord. I think today may be a great time for us to “cry out day and night” to the God of our salvation. I already know what you are thinking. You are thinking “I have been praying since the very beginning.” I can assure you, I know how you feel. In fact, you may be feeling like the psalmist when, in Psalm 22:2, he says, “O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.” Sometimes when we feel overwhelmed it becomes easy to believe that God is not listening. We pray and things keep getting worse, not better.
I remind you of the parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18. There, Jesus says “And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them?” Rest assured that God hears our cry and He will respond. His timing is perfect for His purposes. We must trust Him.
I would encourage you to read the post “Becoming Thankful” below for additional encouragement.
Ephesians 3:20-21
20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Take time to cry out to Lord, day and night. Set aside a time and designate it for prayer and let nothing interrupt or disrupt that time.
robbielgibson 