Psalm 77.19-20
19 Your way was through the sea,
your path through the great waters;
yet your footprints were unseen.
20 You led your people like a flock
by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
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There are some sufferings, however, that are life-changing; they can be so painful and shocking, and something I could never imagine recovering from. They threaten to take my hope away; I can become numb, like a zombie, lethargic and unresponsive to even the most basic tasks in life. This is the dark reality of life in a broken world. Tragedy overwhelms us.
It sometimes seems completely impossible to take my next step when I am in a place of numbness, yet God does not leave me alone in that place. Rather, He is with me, even when I don’t see Him or sense Him. Psalm 77 reveals the sullen and despondent heart of Asaph. He can’t sleep, he can’t rest his soul, and he can’t see what the Lord is doing, but Asaph’s prayer of honest desperation ends with words of comfort for me: “Your way was through the sea, Your path through the great waters; yet Your footprints were unseen.”
Some things
we never get over.
Rather, God gets us
through them.
-Zack Eswine
I should not expect that I will “get over” many of the great pains in my life. I wasn’t made to “move on” from losses. Yet I also know that God will help me “through the sea,” and will do so even in the dark nights of the soul when I don’t hear or see Him at work. In my deepest places of grief, He is at work in 10,000 ways at any given moment. In my weakest moments, God is bottling my endless tears (Psalm 56.8).
Sometimes we don’t
need a sermon,
but we need a hug.
We need to know
that Jesus cares.
-Mwindula Mbewe
Comfort amidst grief is elusive. Asaph wasn’t immediately relieved of his troubles, but he found something better than relief: he found God at work in his heart. I want that very thing, knowing that no hardships are wasted and that Christ cares deeply for me in my pains. When He is the treasure I seek, I find His love and comfort “through the sea.”
Prayer is about
seeking God Himself.
He is the good we seek,
not His answer.
-Kyle Strobel
Read Again Out Loud and Make it into a Prayer:
Psalm 77.19-20
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O God
Dustin Kensrue
Personalize and Read or Pray Aloud:
In the valley, oh God You’re near
In the quiet, oh God You’re near
In the shadow, oh God You’re near
At my breaking, oh God You’re near…
You’re near
O God! You’ll never leave my side
Your love will stand firm through all my life
In my searching, oh God You’re near
In my wandering, oh God You’re near
When I feel alone, oh God You’re near
At my lowest, oh God You’re near…
You’re near
Height nor depth nor anything else,
can pull us apart
We are joined as one by Your blood
Hope will rise as we become more
than conquerors
Through the One who loved the world
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Pray Aloud:
Go Thou before me every step of the way
Watch from behind me that I may not stray
Lord up above, watch down all of my life long
Thou my Foundation, in Thou I stand strong
-I Arise Today, by Jobey McGinty
Set to the tune of Be Thou My Vision (Slane)
Father, help ________ to keep
in step with Your Spirit today.
Help ______ to follow You
and lift up Your Name,
that ______ might carry
Your aroma through the day.
Give _______ daily bread,
so that Your promises would keep ________ heart,
which is prone to wander,
anchored closely to You.
Lead ________ away from temptation,
but instead be brought back
to Your truth and presence.
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