Psalm 6:7, “My eye wastes away because of grief…”
Isaiah 43:2, “when you pass through the waters, I will be with you…”
A few things to notice in these two passages. First, in Psalm 6, see that the Lord’s provision for David has not kept this “man after God’s own heart” from sleepless, grief-filled nights. The trouble goes to David’s bones (v.2), and his soul is “greatly troubled” as he wonders “how long” until the Lord will give relief (v.3), he’s becoming physically wearing from the anguish (v.6), and–as quoted above–his eyes feel like their wasting away from the sorrow. He is in the throes of suffering, sorrow, fear etc….he is in its grip, as it were.
And yet, there is a glimmer–a slender silver thread–of hope….he knows that His covenant Lord has heard His plea and accepts his prayer (v.8), and to be heard….to be accepted….to be attended to by the Lord is enough to sustain him another day, until the darkness lifts….
As I considered these things, I was reminded of Isaiah 43:1-3, which is a particularly treasured section of scripture for me….what always strikes me about these verses is the inevitability of the fire and the flood….He says, when you pass through the waters and when you walk through the fire. And yet, with the inevitability of hardship comes the inevitability–the sworn reality–of the Lord’s own presence with us…..a presence that was proven at the cross where our Lord and God entered and endured the totality of all that this life or the next could possibly throw at us.
So….when, not if, we are in David’s position….gripped by fear or sorrow or pain…may the Lord grant us the preserving grace to know His own presence with us in the midst of it….to know that “underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deut. 33:27)–arms that were extended in sovereign love to secure joy as the end of our song.
