What is it?

Looking through my journals and email, I found out that I was wishing for a lot of good things to happen. I claimed to be “hoping,” but I did not/could not be confident the desired outcome would happen. That is not what hope is about. Hope is more than wishing. [Want to know more? Click here.]

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Psalm 21: Praising for Strength


Psalm 21:1in The Message says,
Your strength, God, is the king’s strength. Helped, he’s hollering Hosannas.”
King David recognized where his strength came from. It came from God. And as a result of receiving that strength from God, King David shouted praises to God. What amazes me are all the times King David was feeling alone and rejected by God and he still shouted out praises to God.
That’s kind of where I am these days. I’m feeling alone and rejected. Basically my depression has returned full force like it hasn’t been in over two years. I don’t feel like I have much strength, but what strength I do have comes from God. I don’t feel helped, but what would things be like if God wasn’t a part of the picture? Probably a lot worse. This still feels more like a time of struggle and fighting than a time for rejoicing.
However, like King David, I need to be giving praise to God even in the down times. So consider this my hollering of Hosannas. Consider this short note my shout out that God is great and worthy of praise. He is holy and powerful and I don’t want to imagine what my life would be like without God as a central part of it. I know that when I focus on God, things seem a little better.
I trust that there will be a time in the future when I feel like God’s strength is my strength, as King David did. I will again feel that I am helped and that will fuel my praises to God. But in the meantime, I praise God anyway. Even in the midst of my depression, God is at work, and He is always deserving of my praise and gratitude.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Praying for good well being and may you share in the riches of God's grace. I will have to read your book.

Anonymous said...

Well-put, Mary. Praising God when you feel like it, and especially when you don't. Good post!