When I Cry Aloud

Our Trust and Our Hope

Psalms 27:1-3 ESV

“The Lord is my light and my salvation;

    whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life;

    of whom shall I be afraid?

“When evildoers assail me

    to eat up my flesh,

my adversaries and foes,

    it is they who stumble and fall.

“Though an army encamp against me,

    my heart shall not fear;

though war arise against me,

    yet I will be confident.”

If by faith in Jesus Christ we have died with Christ to sin, and by his grace and in his strength, we are walking according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh, then, according to Scripture, he is our light and our salvation. In him is our trust and our hope.

So, we never have reason to fear those who would come against us. We should never fear opposition or enemies who are out to take us down. It doesn’t mean they won’t harm us, for we will be persecuted, but that we don’t need to fear them, for our Lord is our salvation.

Our enemies will have to stand before God one day and he will judge them for what they did. We will all be judged by what we do, in fact. For, if we sow to please the flesh, from the flesh we will reap destruction. But if we sow to please the Spirit, from the Spirit we will reap eternal life.

[Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8]

Be Gracious to Me

Psalms 27:7-10 ESV

“Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud;

    be gracious to me and answer me!

You have said, ‘Seek my face.’

My heart says to you,

    ‘Your face, Lord, do I seek.’

    Hide not your face from me.

Turn not your servant away in anger,

    O you who have been my help.

Cast me not off; forsake me not,

    O God of my salvation!

For my father and my mother have forsaken me,

    but the Lord will take me in.”

When we have troubles, heartaches, and disappointments, and when the enemy is fiercely coming against us to try to take us out, we need to cry it all out to the Lord. We need to take our burdens to the Lord in prayer and lay them at his feet and seek his counsel and his comfort.

And we need to ask for his help. Sometimes, honestly, when I am going through a difficult time, all I can say is “Help!” For, there are times when the enemy is fiercely attacking and I am overwhelmed by it all, and my emotions are raw, and all I can do is just say, “Help!” 

And the Lord does come to the rescue. And he does comfort us with his love and mercy. And he lets us know that he will never leave us or forsake us, and that even though other humans have abandoned or rejected us, he has not. He is there for us. And he will give us his strength.

Teach Me Your Way

Psalms 27:11-12 ESV

“Teach me your way, O Lord,

    and lead me on a level path

    because of my enemies.

Give me not up to the will of my adversaries;

    for false witnesses have risen against me,

    and they breathe out violence.”

This is critical. We need to desire that the Lord teach us his way, and that he leads us on a level (straight, righteous, holy) path. And then we need to listen to him and follow (obey) what he shows us. For, if we don’t, we are not going to have victory over our enemies. We will fail. 

For, our obedience to our Lord is foundational to us having peace, instead of fear, and to us being able to conquer our foes, instead of giving in to them. And it is critical to us having such intimate fellowship as this with our Lord to where we can cry out to him, and to where we can sense his comfort.

He may not deliver us physically from our enemies, i.e., our circumstances may not change. They may even get worse. But if we are walking with him in obedience to his commands, he will give us all the strength and power we need to resist the devil and to not let the enemy defeat us.

Wait for the Lord

Psalms 27:13-14 ESV

“I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord

    in the land of the living!

Wait for the Lord;

    be strong, and let your heart take courage;

    wait for the Lord!”

We should not get impatient with the Lord if he doesn’t come to the rescue as soon as we think he ought, or if he does not rescue us in exactly the manner in which we thought he would. For his ways are above our ways, for he knows the end from the beginning. We don’t!

I listened to a secular song today (not the one below) in which the writer of the lyrics talked about how he thanked God for unanswered prayers, for just because God doesn’t answer, he said, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t care, because some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers.

It is better a lot of times that we don’t get what we think we need or when we think we need it. God’s timing is always perfect. So, we need to wait on the Lord to do what he plans to do, when he plans to do it, and we must be strong in the Lord, and let our hearts take courage, which comes from him.

*

This is a secular song, and this was written from the perspective of humans helping other humans, but the Lord has put this song in my mind to go along with this passage of Scripture, so although it is not an exact match, yet it says what the Lord is saying to us, and he does know how we feel:

Lean On Me

By Bill Withers

Sometimes in our lives

We all have pain

We all have sorrow

But if we are wise

We know that there's always tomorrow

Lean on me

When you're not strong

And I'll be your friend

I'll help you carry on...

If there is a load you have to bear

That you can't carry

I'm right up the road

I'll share your load

If you just call me

Call me