Thoughts for the Day

A Psalm of David

With my voice I cry to the Lord;
with my voice I make supplication to the Lord.
I pour out my complaint before him;
I tell my trouble before him.
When my spirit is faint,
you know my way.

In the path where I walk
they have hidden a trap for me.
Look on my right hand and see—
there is no one who takes notice of me;
no refuge remains to me;
no one cares for me.

I cry to you, O Lord;
I say, ‘You are my refuge,
my portion in the land of the living.’
Give heed to my cry,
for I am brought very low.

Save me from my persecutors,
for they are too strong for me.
Bring me out of prison,
so that I may give thanks to your name.
The righteous will surround me,
for you will deal bountifully with me.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

David is alone, probably in the cave of Adullam. King Saul seeks to kill him, but so far he has escaped. But wherever he goes traps are set for him, and nowhere is safe. Only God can save him, so he pours out his troubles to Him, begging Him to listen to him. Despite all his difficulties David has absolute confidence in God who is righteous.

Recently, I have been working on a redrafting of Bunyan's 'Pilgrim's Progress' based on a version produced for schools just after the 2nd World War. Although partially modernised it used words like "yonder" and "wicket gate", so I have brought it a little more up to date, particularly in the way it explains theology. Members of the church where I worship are to hold a reading of the play in November over two weekends, so I needed to produce a script suitable for them! As I worked on today's Thoughts I found myself comparing David and Christian (Bunyan's character) and I noticed something interesting.

Both the David and Christian constantly fall into trouble and are frequently overwhelmed by difficulties. If there is a hole to fall into they will fall into it! But David pours out his troubles to God and his prayers are answered; whereas Christian relies on the help of those he meets on his journey as he travels through the world.

And my conclusion? Pour out all your troubles whether they are big or small to God in prayer, and keep on doing it, but don't ignore or dismiss the help of those whom you meet in life, for they may surprise you.

Lord God,
when my troubles are many
and when I cannot find rest from them,
may I never forget to bring them to You,
confident that You will have a solution.
But let me not forget that others
may we willing to shoulder some of my burden
and show me the way to go.
Amen.