“Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate. I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands.” – Psalm143:4-5
When the psalmist found himself overwhelmed he turned to God. David at different times had been overwhelmed due to personal relationships, parental problems, private sin and enemies at home and abroad. David endured through the whole spectrum of experiences that can leave us feeling overwhelmed.
Yet in turning to God he turned to the One who is above all those things and could lift him out of the mire of human hurts and harms.
David did three things, he remembered the past, he meditated on God’s works and he considered God’s creation.
David remembered God’s faithfulness to him and others in years gone by. God had not failed before and it convinced David God would not fail now.
David meditated on God’s present work. He choose to see God as in control of the circumstances and ruling and overruling in the lives of men.
Biblical meditation is in stark contrast to eastern meditation. Human religions teach you to empty your mind, Biblical meditation tells you to fill your mind with God’s words and works.
David mused, or thought on creation. Nature had often spoken to David. The existence of all things taught him about God’s greatness as the Creator; the vastness of space and the smallness of man had humbled him that God would take notice of people; and the provision for creatures had demonstrated God’s love.
Nature was an open book revealing the Sovereign Creator of all things.
David’s memory, meditation and musing comforted him and by God’s grace he found himself no longer overwhelmed by trouble, but overwhelmed by God’s care for him.
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