Courage in the face of grief and pain

Courage is….

Courage in the face of grief and pain is to grasp hold of ‘life in all its fullness’ when all you want to do is to curl up and cry in bed all day and just wish the world away…

Courage is the will to get out of bed in the mornings, to shower and to wash your hair, to put on makeup and earrings and to dress nicely and walk down stairs and carry on with life for the day. To do what you have to do no matter how you feel. To see whoever the Lord wants you to see no matter how much you want to hide away from the world.

Courage is to wonder as far as your garden or to wander through a park and to sit in the warm sunshine and to enjoy God’s wonderful creation. To notice the flowers and to smell them, pick them and enjoy them. To delight in His tiny creatures.

Courage is to engage with your children…to laugh with them and play with them and help them with their chores, to cry with them and patiently take time to see that they struggle too and to hug them and listen to them and be quiet with them.  To steadfastly pray with them, sing with them and read God’s word to them; to teach them and to give them time to ask questions about God and to gently and tenderly answer them.

To take a walk in a forest with trees so immense that you feel so small and to try to imagine how big our God of the universe must be and how capable God is of looking after your small problems. To think about how He knows when a hair slips from your head -right now, in 17 minutes time, while you slumber tonight – for He never slumbers nor sleeps, He always knows how many hairs we have upon our crowns.

Courage is to wander by the ocean and feel His wind against your sun warmed skin and remember how He stilled the storm, He will still your storms too. Courage is to remember that He is the Light of the world and that in heaven we will need no sun, for we will see Him in all His glory face to face ...courage is to get excited about a wondrous eternity. Courage is to enjoy to feel some of His millions of grains of sand between your toes, and to remember He chose you as a ‘son of Abraham’ since before the beginning of time. To swim in His great waves and remember His power when they knock you flat. And wonder at His mercy in not totally consuming you. And when you leave the ocean to notice how small those powerful waves really are.

Courage is to pant up his great hills and to imagine his greatest mountaintops which you could not even see on the dot of earth if you were to go further out into the universe. And to know He is quite able of carrying you through trouble and to give you rest, because He will. 

Courage is to pray until you know that wherever God will take you, whatever more heartaches you still have to face in life - you will always still love Him, trust Him and know that He will carry you ...  for He loves you with an everlasting love, a covenantal love, a perfect love that never ends.  He has no boundaries, He has no beginning and no end, he infinitely wise; He is infinite, eternal and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth.

Courage is to see the last hint of the sunset or to get up early enough to see the first hint of the sunrise and to worship the great artistic Lord, who takes time each day to paint beauty into your life.

Courage is to make the choice of living life in all its fullness…to be thankful in the face of adversity, to praise God for who He is, to worship when our face is smudged in the dirt, to have gratitude for mercy, for salvation and for blessings, to rejoice in God’s promises, to tremble at His holiness, to cry out for help, to long for heaven, to hanker to see him face to face, to accept what cannot be changed, to fight for what has to be changed with grace and forgiveness and graciousness and dignity, compassion and kindness and love.

Courage is to try and be more like Him seated at the right hand of Abba Father, and to beg for His help in so trying.

Courage is to step out of bed each morning - in faith when you feel as if you cannot go on. To lift your weeping heart to God, to wipe your weeping night away with worship and with love. Courage is to trust God in His perfect wisdom for He does all things for our good. Courage is to realize that it is pride to think that we should live in a sinful world but to be exempt from the heart ache of evil and its consequences. Courage is not to ask 'why God', but 'why not'? Courage is to ask, ‘what can I learn from this, how can I better love God in this, how can I better serve God, how can I have better compassion?' Courage is to never stop reading God’s word, to always keep praying and, in His grace, to always believe He will give wisdom when we ask in faith despite the impossible difficulty of your situation.

Courage is to remember the Lord's dignified regal silence when falsely accused and to be quiet when quietness better honours our Lord.

Courage is to run the good race remembering that we have not yet agonized to the point of shedding blood, to remember Gethsemane and Calvary; to always be looking to the Author and Finisher of our faith! To enjoy him forever and bring glory to Him when it seems impossible due to circumstances by simply crying out to Him for help, for He will help you and be glorified (Psalm 50:15)

Courage is to ask others for help you when you know you need help, to cry with them and pray with them and to know God's gentle hand upon you when they touch your life.

Courage is to grasp hold of ‘life in all its fullness’ for the giver of eternal life so gives us such a life! 

Blessed be the Lord!

May the Lord give us such courage!

A Closer Look at Sadness: 1 (The Emmaus Walk)

We had a lovely sermon a little while ago on the Emmaus two walking away from Jerusalem after Jesus death; perhaps they were going back home . (The sermon is presently on the home page of our church web site, see http://bbcq.org/, but later you will find it in the sermon list. It is called Spiritual Heartburn, Luke 24:13-35)

It has brought about a thorough reflection on sadness ...

Here were two who had interacted personally with Jesus - turning their backs on Jerusalem, having given up on the promises that Jesus had given them. They were discussing the things that had happened when Jesus came to walk with them but they were kept from recognising Him. Jesus asked them what they were talking about. We are told that they looked sad. They told Jesus of their hope that Jesus would be their redeemer, but of how Jesus had been killed at the hands of their own chief priests and rulers.(Their hearts must have been aching with grief and disappointment). Further they told of the women who had been to Jesus' tomb and had see the body gone and of how the angels had told of Jesus resurrection. Some others who were with these two went to the tomb and found the same but did not see Jesus.

What was Jesus reaction to the two?   Luke 24: 25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

How often are we sad due to unbelief?

How often are we sad because we cannot see God's sovereign plan?

And how often do we not trust due to our lack of understanding?

How often are we sad due to giving up on our hope in our Lord Jesus? 

What was Jesus solution for them? 

God in His grace allowed them to understand who He was, for after He disappeared in the mysterious manner that he was able to with His special resurrection body, they realised that He was Jesus by the way He had broken the bread. Their eyes were opened. After Jesus left them, again they discuss what had happened... Luke 24:31 “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”

Do we, when we are sad, walk with Jesus or go our own way?

Do we talk with God in prayer and receive/read His words as these two did as they walked with Jesus?

Interestingly, Jesus went even further in helping them ... for that very night, after Jesus had left them, they rushed all the way back to Jerusalem to share their exciting discovery with others. They may have said something like, "Jesus is alive, indeed, we have seen Him ourselves..." Jesus in His grace appeared to them again while they were with the others and talking about these things. This time there was doubt as to whether Jesus was really alive or just a ghost, and Jesus offered for them to see his hands and feet, with crucifixion nail holes; then Jesus offered for them to touch Him and know His realness, the solidness of flesh and bones! Then He asked them for something to eat and they give Him fish - further proof that He was alive, for He ate in front of them! Finally, He once more went to the scriptures and explained things to them. He also explained repentance and forgiveness. And promised them power from on high (the coming of the Holy Spirit).

What immense grace poured out onto these Emmaus two, truly it is only the Lord Jesus who can take away our sadness! Are we prepared to patiently wait on Him, trusting Him as sovereign? Do we go to His word and talk with Him? It is the best thing that one can ever do when you are sad. Pray that the Lord in His grace will make your heart 'burn' as you walk with Him, as you talk with Him and as you listen to Him!

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"Surely we are not sufficiently sensible of the infinite tenderness of Jesus!" Spurgeon. Psalm 61: 8 Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. "When grief presses you to the dust, worship there, 'pour out your heart before Him. God is a refuge for us.' This sweetens sorrow and takes away it's sting." Spurgeon.

The Character of God:

Oh the depth and beauty of God! So seldom do we fully see - too busy with 'life'; too earth bound and finite are we. How good sometimes to be stopped in our tracks by suffering in order that God would have us to take a good long look at 'who God is' and to bring us to worship God as we ought!
 
The 10 commandments reflect the character of God! This is the best book on the ten commandments!
http://www.tabernaclebookshop.org/god-s-rules-for-holiness-9781870855372.html

The passages on love in the Bible likewise reflect the character of God in all His perfection, here are the best sermons I have heard on the love of God.
http://bbcq.org/sermons.php and scroll down to the following series:Love - The Heart of God - [Pastor Troy D. Cane] ; starting 9 May 2010

He Makes No Mistakes

My Father's way may twist and turn, 
My heart may throb and ache. 
But in my soul I'm glad I know, 
He maketh no mistake.

My cherished plans may go astray. 
My hopes may fade away, 
But still I'll trust my Lord to lead, 
For He doth know the way.

Tho' night be dark and it may seem, 
That day with never break; 
I'll pin my faith, my all in Him, 
He maketh no mistake.

There's so much now I cannot see, 
My eyesight far too dim; 
But come what may I'll simply trust, 
And leave it all to Him.

For by and by the mist will lift, 
And plain it all He'll make, 
Through all the way, tho' dark to me, 
He made not one mistake. 

― A.M. Overton

Robinson Crusoe's text:

Psalm 50: 15 ...call upon me in the day of trouble;

I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”

Often let out of the modern version of this book these days but Spurgeon called it the 'Robinson Crusoe text' as it was in the original book. It has been a great encouragement to me recently. 

When Children Suffer

I have been deeply effected by children's suffering of late. Tonight I saw a photo of a big Australian Aid Worker stooping beside a tiny child with kwashiorkor - the contrast was horrifically startling. As I stared at this photo I realised that this child was on the way to recovery and not the worst I have seen, yet what a contrast!

As a mother I wish I could take all the pain away and make it all better - I would give my life to help a precious dear one to suffer less. My heart breaks inside, in agony I pour out my soul to my Lord for those who suffer. When I suffer I ask that it will give me understanding for those little ones who suffer more, that I might encourage and help them with more gentleness and Christ-like tenderness.

It suddenly struck me tonight that this is how much (and more) our Lord Jesus loves us....in fact He did actually give His life for us, that we may have life in all it's fullness. His heart breaks when we suffer in this sinful world, He longs to bring us home to an eternity of pain free, tear free, joyous living. He uses our suffering to bring us closer to Him in love, closer to experiencing heaven. We are told that Jesus intercedes for us at the right hand of God, that the Spirit groans for us, where there are no words to express... (Romans 8). Just as I beg for help for children so my Lord and my Counsellor beg/intercede on my behalf to my Abba Father.

Oh, what gloriously secure love I have....for a moment we suffer in this world but we have an eternity of comfort and joy to look forward to. We need so much more to better love those who suffer, better protect, better care for them - may the Lord give His church many little ones to care for in such a manner! May we pour out our love on them and bring healing. May we ache to help them and show them our Saviour's love and His hope. How I love the pictures in the Gospels of Jesus tenderly picking up a child as in (Mark 9: 36 And he took a child and put him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them....)

2 Corinthians 4: 17 For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, 18 as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

Should Christians always be happy? (With some more George Muller quotes)

 

 

 

 

I have been reading George Muller's exegesis of Deuteronomy 33: 26 - 29 this afternoon. ( from the book called, 'Can God be Trusted?' Published by Christian Focus Publications. )

Here is an excellent quote, " If we are unhappy the fault lies with ourselves. There is no reason why  we should not be happy children. Our Father loves us, and He will lead us safely through. Having such a Father it may well be said of us, 'happy art though oh Israel; who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency? (verse 29 below)  

These Israelites were happy because they had such a God. Look how He delivered them and saved them. It was He who delivered them from the Egyptians, who led them through the Red Sea, destroying the host of Pharaoh. It was He who led them through the wilderness, provided them with heavenly food and water from the rock, and finally led them into the land of promise. 

And remember that it is by Him that you and I are delivered from a worse power than Egypt: are delivered from greater enemies than the host of Egyptians and by Him we are led through the difficulties of this life. He is leading us until at length He will land us safely above. Ought we not to be happy, truly happy in the Lord? I ask you affectionately, is it so with you? Are you all happy Christians? You ought to be, if you will only look to Him. Trust Him with child like simplicity, and you will see how ready He is to help you and give blessing."  (unquote)

Perhaps this post would be better titled...How should Christians always find happiness? There are very real times of grief, testing and troubles, and yet if we are willing to patiently wait on our Lord in faith and trust, we will find happiness in looking to His face, in knowing His character....for it is only in knowing God that we can find true happiness! As Muller points our earlier in this book, God is our salvation by grace, He is our portion, our strength, our deliverer! Muller points out too that this passage was written at the time before the Israelites were safely in the promised land. Muller says, (quote) " Remember how God fought for them (Israel) time after time. How the sun stood still at the request of Joshua. How again, the elements from heaven fought for them; how stones were hailed from heaven upon the enemy. The hornets  were also by Jehovah used for the destruction of the enemies. In various ways Jehovah fought on their behalf, and showed His mighty power in leading His people to posses the land." (unquote) God is also the eternal God who stays the same forever. The God who saves Israel, saves us, cares for us and looks after us too.

Deuteronomy 33:

26 “There is none like God, O Jeshurun, 

who rides through the heavens to your help,

through the skies in his majesty.

27 The eternal God is your dwelling place,

and underneath are the everlasting arms.

And he thrust out the enemy before you

and said, ‘Destroy.’

28 So Israel lived in safety,

Jacob lived alone,

in a land of grain and wine,

whose heavens drop down dew.

29 Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you,

a people saved by the Lord,

the shield of your help,

and the sword of your triumph!

Your enemies shall come fawning to you,

and you shall tread upon their backs.”

'Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for He is with me.'

Here is an extract from the children book, "Comfort for a Child's Heart. The 23rd Psalm &  Bible Promises" By David and Helen Haidle.

"There is a Valley of the Shadow of Death in the Land of Israel. The four mile long valley wall rises hundreds of feet in some places. Wolves, wild dogs and snakes hide in this valley. This is the most dangerous part of the journey on the way to the best highland pastures.

Sometimes the path is too narrow for a sheep to turn around, sometimes a wide gully cuts part of the path in half, sheep must jump across the gap to follow their shepherd!

Sheep never walk through this dark valley alone if they stay close to their shepherd. He knows the way. He has been there before.

Jesus experienced pain, suffering, and trouble even death on a cross. He understands how you feel. He knows everything you face. And He is with you no matter what happens"

Sanctified Suffering

Suffering is a part of the process by which the children of God are sanctified. They are chastened to wean them from the world, and make them partakers of God's holiness. The Captain of their salvation was made perfect through sufferings, and so are they. There never yet was a great saint who had not either great afflictions or great corruptions. Philip Melancthon said it well: "Where there are no cares, there will generally be no prayers." ~ J.C. Ryle

My grace is sufficient for you: "You need look to no other quarter for help, relief, or comfort. Jesus assures you that His grace is sufficient. You are welcome to it. You are exhorted to have it. To be strong in the grace which is in Christ Jesus. It is sufficient to support you under every privation, to help you over every difficulty, to strengthen you for every duty, to mortify every lust, and to fill you with all joy and peace in believing. His grace is almighty, it is free, it is durable, it brings salvation. Look not at difficulties, dangers, or thy own weakness; but look to the free, powerful, and promised grace of Jesus. Go to His throne of grace this morning, on purpose to receive grace for this day; go every day, and whenever you feel weak, timid, or cast down. His grace was found sufficient for Paul, for the martyrs and saints, in the deepest trials, and it will be found sufficient for thee. He says, "I am the Lord thy God; open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it. Come boldly to the throne of grace, that ye may obtain mercy and find grace to help you in time of need. Every one that asketh receiveth." O Jesus, make good Thy word in me!" James Smith

From Grace Gems: The following in an excerpt from James Smith's Autobiography, when he was 28 years old
Another sharp stroke! My little daughter Ann was in good health on Monday--and on Thursday she was a corpse! She died just two months after her sister Mercy. But the words of the Patriarch came to silence and humble me, "If He snatches someone in death--who can stop Him? Who dares to ask: What are You doing?"
I fear I loved her too much, for she was a beautiful child. Well, she is gone--and I must follow her, nor can I tell how soon.

"The Lord gave--and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised!" Job 1:21

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.

Psalm 18:1-3
I love you, O Lord, my strength.

2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,

my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,

my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

3 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised...

Deut 7: 9 

Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,

Psalm 31: 21-22

Blessed be the Lord,

for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me

when I was in a besieged city.

22 I had said in my alarm,

“I am cut off from your sight.”

But you heard the voice of my pleas for mercy

when I cried to you for help.

Psalm 16: 11 You make known to me the path of life;

in your presence there is fullness of joy;

at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

And beautiful Isaiah 40:

1 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.

2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,

and cry to her

that her warfare is ended,

that her iniquity is pardoned,

that she has received from the Lord's hand

double for all her sins.

3 A voice cries:

“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord;

make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

4 Every valley shall be lifted up,

and every mountain and hill be made low;

the uneven ground shall become level,

and the rough places a plain.

5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,

and all flesh shall see it together,

for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

The Word of God Stands Forever

6 A voice says, “Cry!”

And I said, “What shall I cry?”

All flesh is grass,

and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.

7 The grass withers, the flower fades

when the breath of the Lord blows on it;

surely the people are grass.

8 The grass withers, the flower fades,

but the word of our God will stand forever.

The Greatness of God

9 Go on up to a high mountain,

O Zion, herald of good news;

lift up your voice with strength,

O Jerusalem, herald of good news;

lift it up, fear not;

say to the cities of Judah,

“Behold your God!”

10 Behold, the Lord God comes with might,

and his arm rules for him;

behold, his reward is with him,

and his recompense before him.

11 He will tend his flock like a shepherd;

he will gather the lambs in his arms;

he will carry them in his bosom,

and gently lead those that are with young.

12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand

and marked off the heavens with a span,

enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure

and weighed the mountains in scales

and the hills in a balance?

13 Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord,

or what man shows him his counsel?

14 Whom did he consult,

and who made him understand?

Who taught him the path of justice,

and taught him knowledge,

and showed him the way of understanding?

15 Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,

and are accounted as the dust on the scales;

behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust.

16 Lebanon would not suffice for fuel,

nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering.

17 All the nations are as nothing before him,

they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.

18 To whom then will you liken God,

or what likeness compare with him?

19 An idol! A craftsman casts it,

and a goldsmith overlays it with gold

and casts for it silver chains.

20 He who is too impoverished for an offering

chooses wood that will not rot;

he seeks out a skillful craftsman

to set up an idol that will not move.

21 Do you not know? Do you not hear?

Has it not been told you from the beginning?

Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?

22 It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,

and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;

who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,

and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;

23 who brings princes to nothing,

and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.

24 Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown,

scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth,

when he blows on them, and they wither,

and the tempest carries them off like stubble.

25 To whom then will you compare me,

that I should be like him? says the Holy One.

26 Lift up your eyes on high and see:

who created these?

He who brings out their host by number,

calling them all by name,

by the greatness of his might,

and because he is strong in power

not one is missing.

27 Why do you say, O Jacob,

and speak, O Israel,

“My way is hidden from the Lord,

and my right is disregarded by my God”?

28 Have you not known? Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He does not faint or grow weary;

his understanding is unsearchable.

29 He gives power to the faint,

and to him who has no might he increases strength.

30 Even youths shall faint and be weary,

and young men shall fall exhausted;

31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;

they shall mount up with wings like eagles;

they shall run and not be weary;

they shall walk and not faint.

 

Is there a place for feeling inferior in the church?

Pastor Conrad Imbewe is of the RB church in Lusaka, Zambia. He has been writing about their recent conference where Voddie Baucham /'Pastor Zulu' has been preaching....Below is an extract from his blog that has been encouraging to me over the past week (used with his permission) Each society has it's own issues/culture where even as Christians we can feel bias to others, yes... even in the church context! The obvious issues are race and gender but there are still more issues like schooling, how many kids you have, divorce, past mistakes etc which can all be issues that divide and make some in the church feel spiritually inferior... Sometimes God chooses circumstances for us that are not always to our taste or liking. And yet as we walk the life that God has chosen  for us from before the beginning of time, He can be glorified in each and every circumstance - even when we do not like the circumstance we are in or would not have chosen it for ourselves. The truth of the matter is that if we feel inferior due to our circumstances or status we cannot worship and glorify our God as we should.There is no place for inferiority complexes in the church, it is a type of selfish pride, which clings to a 'poor me attitude'; it is a false humility, which can destroy a close relationship with God and fellow believers; for it is a false view of self and is not God's view of us as his dearly beloved children. God in His sovereignty chooses circumstances beyond us, for his own glory, may we with Job, not sin and fall to the ground and worship ( http://tarryhome.blogspot.com/2011/08/job-blessed-be-name-of-lord.html )

Here is a quote from Pastor Conrad Imbewe, it is Voddie Baucham's teaching on the matter, see the original posting here. http://www.conradmbewe.com/2011/08/4th-day-at-zambian-annual-reformed.html

" “Pastor Zulu” stated that if you suffer from a spiritual inferiority complex then you undervalue what Christ has done for you. Paul wanted the Gentiles to remember who they were (v.11-13). It is only in realising your former circumstances that you will appreciate your current circumstances in Christ. The Jews were glad to see the Gentiles worshipping Jehovah, but they did not want them in the place where they themselves worshipped him. They were to remain in the outer court. Paul was saying that they were no longer to be in the outer court. The blood of Christ brought them near. This is the highest status that anyone can have before men and God. Don’t undervalue that!


Secondly, if you suffer from a spiritual inferiority complex then you make light what God has done for them—i.e. the Jews (v.14-18). The Jews also needed to be saved (see Romans 2:17ff). What they had in their ethnicity, culture, and religion was not enough. Their problem was a sin problem and so they needed the blood of Christ to save them.


Thirdly, if you suffer from a spiritual inferiority complex then you are accusing God of using some inferior materials in building his church (see v.19-22). Paul here uses construction language. That which is being built is a holy temple. As with any painting, the excellence of the painter is what dignifies materials that he uses. Remember, that the builder is God himself. Thus a chief will sit next to a slave and worship the Lord singing, “In the cross, in the cross, be my glory ever…” This will be even more evident when we are all gathered with the Saviour in eternity. At that point what will matter will not be ethnicity but only the cross. This is what the cross-centred life is all about.

As we streamed out of the Lusaka Baptist Church auditorium, it was evident that skin colour, ethnicity, nationality were overshadowed by the power of the cross. Yes, we had come from different tribes and nations across the world but we were all one in Christ. We went home at the end of the day sensing once again that God has been good to us."

Oh Love that will not let me go, by George Matheson 1842-1906

O Love that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

O light that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.

O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.

O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.

Comfort

Psalm 27:   

The Lord is my light and my salvation;

whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life;

of whom shall I be afraid?

2 When evildoers assail me

to eat up my flesh,

my adversaries and foes,

it is they who stumble and fall.

3 Though an army encamp against me,

my heart shall not fear;

though war arise against me,

yet I will be confident.

4 One thing have I asked of the Lord,

that will I seek after:

that I may dwell in the house of the Lord

all the days of my life,

to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord

and to inquire in his temple.

5 For he will hide me in his shelter

in the day of trouble;

he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;

he will lift me high upon a rock.

6 And now my head shall be lifted up

above my enemies all around me,

and I will offer in his tent

sacrifices with shouts of joy;

I will sing and make melody to the Lord.

7 Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud;

be gracious to me and answer me!

8 You have said, “Seek my face.”

My heart says to you,

“Your face, Lord, do I seek.”

9 Hide not your face from me.

Turn not your servant away in anger,

O you who have been my help.

Cast me not off; forsake me not,

O God of my salvation!

10 For my father and my mother have forsaken me,

but the Lord will take me in.

11 Teach me your way, O Lord,

and lead me on a level path

because of my enemies.

12 Give me not up to the will of my adversaries;

for false witnesses have risen against me,

and they breathe out violence.

13 I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord

in the land of the living!

14 Wait for the Lord;

be strong, and let your heart take courage;

wait for the Lord!

Psalm 37 

Fret not yourself because of evildoers;

be not envious of wrongdoers!

2 For they will soon fade like the grass

and wither like the green herb.

3 Trust in the Lord, and do good;

dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.

4 Delight yourself in the Lord,

and he will give you the desires of your heart.

5 Commit your way to the Lord;

trust in him, and he will act.

6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,

and your justice as the noonday.

7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;

fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way,

over the man who carries out evil devices!

8 Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!

Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.

9 For the evildoers shall be cut off,

but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land.

10 In just a little while, the wicked will be no more;

though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there.

11 But the meek shall inherit the land

and delight themselves in abundant peace.

12 The wicked plots against the righteous

and gnashes his teeth at him,

13 but the Lord laughs at the wicked,

for he sees that his day is coming.

14 The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows

to bring down the poor and needy,

to slay those whose way is upright;

15 their sword shall enter their own heart,

and their bows shall be broken.

16 Better is the little that the righteous has

than the abundance of many wicked.

17 For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,

but the Lord upholds the righteous.

18 The Lord knows the days of the blameless,

and their heritage will remain forever;

19 they are not put to shame in evil times;

in the days of famine they have abundance.

20 But the wicked will perish;

the enemies of the Lord are like the glory of the pastures;

they vanish—like smoke they vanish away.

21 The wicked borrows but does not pay back,

but the righteous is generous and gives;

22 for those blessed by the Lord shall inherit the land,

but those cursed by him shall be cut off.

23 The steps of a man are established by the Lord,

when he delights in his way;

24 though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong,

for the Lord upholds his hand.

25 I have been young, and now am old,

yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken

or his children begging for bread.

26 He is ever lending generously,

and his children become a blessing.

27 Turn away from evil and do good;

so shall you dwell forever.

28 For the Lord loves justice;

he will not forsake his saints.

They are preserved forever,

but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.

29 The righteous shall inherit the land

and dwell upon it forever.

30 The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom,

and his tongue speaks justice.

31 The law of his God is in his heart;

his steps do not slip.

32 The wicked watches for the righteous

and seeks to put him to death.

33 The Lord will not abandon him to his power

or let him be condemned when he is brought to trial.

34 Wait for the Lord and keep his way,

and he will exalt you to inherit the land;

you will look on when the wicked are cut off.

35 I have seen a wicked, ruthless man,

spreading himself like a green laurel tree.

36 But he passed away, and behold, he was no more;

though I sought him, he could not be found.

37 Mark the blameless and behold the upright,

for there is a future for the man of peace.

38 But transgressors shall be altogether destroyed;

the future of the wicked shall be cut off.

39 The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord;

he is their stronghold in the time of trouble.

40 The Lord helps them and delivers them;

he delivers them from the wicked and saves them,

because they take refuge in him.