Bible Reading: Psalm 94:1 –23
“Unless the Lord had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence” – Psalm 94:17(KJV)
Sometimes I find myself reflecting on my life and especially on those situations in which, if God had not been on my side, I would most certainly have perished. A particular incident that stands out, happened close to five years ago. It was on the eve of Christmas. My immediate younger brother and I had gone out (I think it was for shopping but I’m not sure now). On our way back we had to take a bus. Just some minutes after the bus took off, I had something akin to a premonition. I had the thought that I am about losing my brother to death. I entertained the thought for a while and I was only recovering from it when the bus we were on lost control! We went hysterical. Most of us screamed, some shouted ‘blood of Jesus’. I was nervously still and anxiously calm. The bus stumbled. But God saved us.
The Psalmist too in this particular Psalm reflects on how God delivered him from the wicked activities of evil men and women. They had been cruel to him. They appeared successful. For a season they were triumphant (vs. 3). Their apparent success made them think very highly of themselves (vs. 4). They did not revere God and they had very low regard for the most high. Their activities against the Psalmist made him depressed. But then he remembered to call on his God… ‘When I said, my foot is slipping, Your mercy and loving-kindness, O LORD held me up. In the multitude of my [anxious] thoughts within me, Your comforts cheer and delight my soul’ – vs. 18-19 (Amplified). Were it not for the mercies of God, the life of the Psalmist would have been snuffed out!
Do you feel like the situation around your life at the moment is almost engulfing you? The Psalmist would have been able to relate! But as the Lord was faithful to him when he cried out, He would also come to our rescue when we cry out. But maybe God has already provided you with deliverance; do we remember to attribute praise to him as the Psalmist here does? May the Lord grant us grace to continually call upon his name during our distress and also to recollect his faithfulness after He has delivered us.
Prayer: Father, may the troubles of life never overwhelm me in Jesus name.
Rev. Julius Oluwole