Do You Feel Alone
There are moments when I genuinely feel alone. The only sound in the house was the squeak of my rocking chair. Everyone else was asleep, my and I was so tired. I wanted nothing more than to crawl back between my covers. But my hungry, little newborn nursed happily.
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In my lower moments I wanted so badly to kick my husband as I got out of bed, just so he would have to be awake too (this was unreasonable, since as soon as I finished nursing, he got up to change the diaper and resettle the baby). But there wasn’t quite anything as lonely as the quiet darkness of midnight.
To comfort myself I would imagine all the other mothers in dark rooms around the world also nursing their babies. I would stare out the dark windows and imagine them waving back, and I felt a little less lonely. But that overlooked something even more comforting. God was there with me. He was holding me with even more love than I held my baby!
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The Psalms are many poems and songs grouped together into one book of the Bible.
They provide us with a beautiful template for honoring God in human emotions. God knew that as people we would experience sorrow, joy, gratitude, worship, pain, security in his love, confidence in the future, celebration of the past, and many more. The fact that he includes prayers of all kinds in the Psalms shows that he doesn’t expect his people to be robots just singing one note of emotion to him.
This book doesn’t have one author like most of the books of the Bible but has poetry and songs collected from many of the wise leaders of Israel. They were common among the Israelites, and they would sing them together as they went on pilgrimages, celebrated victories, or grieved loss and defeat. Because this book is different from other books of the Bible, we read it differently!
This Psalm is the first of six hymns that close the book like the grand finale of a fireworks show. If you have time to read the whole hymn, you will see it’s a hymn of praise. The people singing are remembering together how often God has been there for them and shown up in their distress. Because of his faithfulness, they have confidence that he is near to them. Even when they can’t see his hand working right away, they can know he hears their cries.
The biggest thing to remember when reading the Psalms is that it shows us there are no emotions off limits with God. He holds his people as they struggle with depression, anger, and sorrow, as well as joy, celebration,
and peace.
As God’s child, you can know that he sees YOU. He’s there with YOU in this exact moment and stage of life. He has a loving plan he is working out for your growth and good, as well as his glory!
