Deep Darkness

You ever go through periods of darkness?  In those times have you ever read Scripture that mirrors your heart?  This morning the mirror was in Psalm 142:3 – 3, 7 and Psalm 143:4.  Specifically:

• In the way where I walk they have hidden a trap for me… Psalm 142:3c
• …There is no one who regards me; there is no escape for me; no one cares for my soul… Psalm 142:4b
• Therefore my spirit is overwhelmed within me; my heart is appalled within me… Psalm 143:4

Happy thoughts.

We tend to represent the Christian life as a continual happy party.  That has not been my experience.  Nor was it the experience of those of whom we read in the Biblical record.  Spend some time in Hebrews 11:32 – 38.  Life sometimes is overwhelming and it takes more than a “life is good” t-shirt to fix it.

So what do we do?  One of the things I love about the Psalms is that they are real.  They express the real struggles of real people who are really pursuing hard after God.  If we look, they lead us in dealing with similar circumstances.  Psalm 142:7a seems to do just that:

Bring my soul out of prison, so that I may give thanks to Thy name.

This acknowledges my helplessness, and complete dependence on God.  Not only to be thankful to Him, but also to pull me from the dark times of my life to a place where I am able to acknowledge that dependence.  That is a fairly clear demonstration of mercy and grace don’t you think?