The Verse of the Day

-August 23, 2020-

Good morning happy Lord’s Day,

-The Lord Holds Us Up And Comforts Us-

“If I say, ‘My foot slips,’ Your mercy, O Lord, will hold me up. In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul.”

(Psalm 94:18-19).

Psalm 94 is one of the psalms with unknown authorship. It is a beautiful and encouraging psalm. The title of the psalm is: “God the Refuge of the Righteous.” Today’s verse is such a blessing to our hearts. We have a times when we feel as if we are slipping and may fall. Some particular circumstance comes into our lives that is both unexpected and we are unprepared for.

It is at these times that the Lord holds us up and keeps us from falling. Here in California we are not only experiencing the Coronavirus and the physical, mental, and emotional fallout of that and also the problems with loss of jobs and the economy; but now we have experienced so many wildfires caused by lightning strikes. Many have lost their homes and all their possessions. Some have died. Smoke fills the air all through our region and state. Our air is now the dirtiest in the world and is very unhealthy to breathe, especially for those with breathing problems.

Besides all this, we experience personal trials that are very difficult and challenging. Who do we turn to? What do we do? In times like these we need the Lord and must turn to Him for His help and comfort. Many of us can say with the psalmist, “If I say, ‘My foot slips,’ Your mercy, O Lord, will hold me up.” We do not face the troubles of life alone, we have the Lord with us. Only the Lord can hold us up and keep us going.

David wrote in Psalm 38:15-16, “For in You, O Lord, I hope; You will hear, O Lord my God. For I said, ‘Hear me, lest they rejoice over me, lest, when my foot slips, they exalt themselves against me.” David experienced many trials but the Lord always helped him and supported him.

It is indeed wonderful that the writer said, “In the multitude of my anxieties within me, Your comforts delight my soul.” Priests in the Catholic Church have books that have standard prayers for various occasions. God is not like this. He is so very personal with us and He has compassion for us and comforts us. He alone can delight our souls in the midst of the hardest times.

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” Only God can comfort us. He feels our pain, our sorrow, and our loss. What afflicts is afflicts Him.

May the Lord hold us up in and carry through what we are dealing with today. We may slip but He holds us up; we may fall but He lifts us up. Proverbs 24:16 says, “For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity.”

Have a blessed day in the comfort and consolation of the Lord. Stay safe and healthy.

Dean