Psalm 56

Be merciful to me, O God, for man would swallow me up;
Fighting all day he oppresses me.
² My enemies would hound me all day,
For there are many who fight against me, O Most High.

³ Whenever I am afraid,
I will trust in You.
⁴ In God (I will praise His word),
In God I have put my trust;
I will not fear.
What can flesh do to me?

⁵ All day they twist my words;
All their thoughts are against me for evil.
⁶ They gather together,
They hide, they mark my steps,
When they lie in wait for my life.
⁷ Shall they escape by iniquity?
In anger cast down the peoples, O God!

⁸ You number my wanderings;
Put my tears into Your bottle;
Are they not in Your book?
⁹ When I cry out to You,
Then my enemies will turn back;
This I know, because God is for me.
¹⁰ In God (I will praise His word),
In the Lord (I will praise His word),
¹¹ In God I have put my trust;
I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?

¹² Vows made to You are binding upon me, O God;
I will render praises to You,
¹³ For You have delivered my soul from death.
Have You not kept my feet from falling,
That I may walk before God
In the light of the living?

Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You

While the psalmist is talking about actual people who have been bothering him, I think we can apply this psalm to other circumstances too. You may or may not have noticed, for instance, that it has been several days since I have posted. Part of it was because I was busy studying for exams and making exams and decompressing from all of that. But, the bigger part was because I got an ear infection. In the greater scheme of things, it’s no big deal. But, I had taken extra strength Tylenol and some Advil and some homeopathic ear drops and whatever decongestants I could find all while I had a heating pad strapped to my face with a scarf and I was still in so much pain. I was to the point where I felt like surely cutting off my ear would hurt less (and maybe make me a famous artist?). I was mad at the universe, mad a God. I haven’t gotten an ear infection since elementary school. Why now when I’ve got so much to do? And I’ve prayed and asked for it to be taken away. Why is it still here? And why can’t the doctor see me for two more days? Why aren’t you paying attention to meeeeeeeee?

I don't think that look would work for me.

 

You number my wanderings; put my tears into Your bottle; are they not in Your book?

But He is paying attention to me. Even now while I sit waiting to take my next amoxicillin with a clove of garlic shoved in my ear (the internet said it would work), He’s paying attention to me. He’s keeping track of every tear that falls from my eyes and has counted every pill I’ve popped in the past few days. Maybe He’s standing there saying, “Hey, Allyson, stop being such a wimp. We’ve got to teach you some tolerance.” Or maybe it’s, “Stop overextending yourself and you won’t get sick in the first place. You’ve got to suffer through the consequences on this one.”

Have You not kept my feet from falling

After all, I suppose it’s not really that bad. I could have gotten really sick all over or been so drained that I would have done something incredibly stupid (rather than my normal level of stupid) on my test. And even though I’m gauging my pain at a 10, I suppose it could have been worse. The lack of sleep…it did help me to get some extra work done.

We’ve got to keep in mind that no matter how bad we think it is, it could always be worse. God never abandons us, He’s constantly keeping watch over us, keeping track of every minute detail of our sufferings. For whatever reason He lets us go through trials or just general inconveniences, He never lets us fall completely. He always wants us to stay on His path and to walk with Him.