I'm going to ask for some honesty here.
And I'm going to be honest myself, too.
As believers, yes, even believing Christians, we can struggle with spiritual "tiredness." I totally think that David was spiritually struggling here:
Haven't we all struggled spiritually at some point? Has there been a time that we simply had a hard time hanging on to our faith? If someone had asked us right then, would we have been able to "defend" our faith or explain our beliefs? Our worldview?
During this time, if our believing friends came to us and counseled us, did we almost resent the things they said?
It's happened to me. It's happened to those whom I love.
And it's difficult to handle. But God can restore us.
Let's think about it . . . .
If I'm totally honest with y'all, I have had times that I struggled spiritually. These were usually times that I'd allowed sin or unbelief to gain a stronghold in my soul. I was having a hard time praying. I spent very little time reading my Bible. Things were getting pretty bad; I was irritable with the people I loved, and always mad at myself. I felt distant from God. And I blamed Him for my problems. (I know, right? Are you shaking your head in disbelief that I could be so silly as to blame Him, or are you nodding because you've been there?)
It was a huge struggle. But it wasn't because I was fighting to stay close to the Lord. I was miserable.
I recall one time that the turning point was watching our little daughter reading God's Word and loving it. He nudged me about her child-like faith and how He had blessed me in the past. I finally realized that I'd brought this on myself. The spiritual struggle was of my own making.
God had not forsaken me.
In the words of the popular saying, it was not Him Who moved.
And in spite of my distancing myself from Him, He was with me the entire time! It was a wonderful day because I got on my knees and asked Him to forgive me - He filled me up with His love!
In these verses, we see David crying out to God because his soul is troubled. The physical struggle was beating him up and fatiguing him, and so a spiritual struggle began. David is looking up to God, but his sin and his flesh is making him imagine that God is angry with him and ready to smoosh him.
As you can imagine, or perhaps remember a time in your own life, his heart was not at peace.
In fact, David feels lost.
David is a prime example for us, and a reminder that if we have sin in our lives, it won't matter if we are at church "every time the doors are open." It won't work to ignore the sin and try to pray. It won't help to push down the thoughts of the sin and try to read the Word.
If that sin has a foothold in our lives, the devil is going to have a field day with us! It can become so overwhelming that we will think God won't listen even if we try calling out to Him. Hear the desperation in David's voice? "Have mercy, Lord!"
He continues by saying that his soul is troubled; he asks the Lord "how long?" He's fighting that spiritual tiredness as he prays.
We've talked before about how Satan will fill our thoughts with everything that he can, to keep us from Christ. "God doesn't want to hear from you, you vile sinner!" he will say. Or, "Why do you think God will forgive you? How many times have you done this same sin?"
In verse four, David reveals that he understands -- he can't win this spiritual battle by himself. "Return, Oh Lord, deliver me!" You can hear the urgency and the desire there. He has recognized that God is the only One Who can heal and strengthen him.
Why does he say he knows God will deliver him? "Because of ....lovingkindness." Another word for mercy. He appeals to God for mercy because he knows he doesn't deserve it. A man after God's own heart. He knows he needs the mercy of God.
In verse five, David refers to death, and the fact that when a person dies, their body (the physical body) can no longer praise and glorify God. David knew that as the king of the children of God, he had a responsibility to lead them spiritually. If he died, he couldn't do that - and he couldn't bear the thought of the people turning away from God because of his sin.
As children of God, we can follow David's example, and He will restore us when we struggle with spiritual tiredness. Restoration is a wonderful time of peace and fellowship with Him. And God can use our return from spiritual tiredness to strength, as a testimony for His glory!
The one person we should not be socially distancing from in these times is the Lord God, but this is exactly what we do frequestly .... well I certainly do! We all of us have much in common with David.
ReplyDeleteI agree with CATachresis.
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