Psalm 94:1-23 Everyone during their lifetime experiences that sinking feeling. It may be fear that usually hits us with a racing heart and a sinking feeling in the pit of our stomachs. It may be discouragement. The saying goes that when the devil created the tool of discouragement, he then ceased from his works. We may have that sinking feeling when we are experiencing the loss of a loved one. When we receive the report we have been turned down for an interview, once again that sinking feeling overwhelms us. The psalmist David was quite familiar with the sinking feeling. Flight and fight were his constant companions during his lifetime. In this psalm he reveals how he was able to survive the sinking feeling. He writes, “Unless the Lord had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence. When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O Lord, held me up. In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul-.-.-.- They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood. But the Lord is my defence; and my God is the rock of my refuge” (vv. 17-19, 21-22, KJV).
David knew to whom he could turn when he had that sinking feeling. In an earlier devotion I shared about the vision a friend had about how the Lord walks with us through life. She said the Lord never turns His back on us. He is face to face with us always, and as we walk through life, He is walking only a few steps in front of us with His hands outstretched to catch us if we start to fall. As she shared this vision, I pictured a loving father teaching his year-old child how to walk. Lovingly he stretches his arms out toward the child, and he stoops to eye level with the child. Then he coaxes the child by saying, “Come on, you can do it. Daddy is here to catch you if you begin to fall.” Then slowly the father moves backward so the child will move forward to be near him.
When you have that sinking feeling, Jesus is face to face with you with His arms outstretched to catch you when you start to slip down. In Psalm 26:1 David prays, “Vindicate me, O Lord; for I have walked in my integrity. I have also trusted in the Lord; I shall not slip.”
In Psalm 37:31 David speaks of a righteous man: “The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.”
Today remember the Lord is your help, your defense, and in His mercy He will not let you sink.
READ: Judges 4:1-5:31; Luke 22:35-54; Psalm 94:1-23; Proverbs 14:3-4
