Dealing with Discouragement - Part 2

DAILY BYTE

Yesterday, it was mentioned that King David possibly wrote Psalm 23, and if he did so it was during an incredibly traumatic time. At a time when for whatever reasons, many of them probably his own fault, his loved ones had turned against him. David’s own son Absalom led a rebellion against him that included in its numbers many of David’s most trusted friends and allies. All of which resulted in the great King David - slayer of giants - fleeing for his very life from his own palace. Fleeing up into the mountains with only a small portion left of a once mighty army.

But it was exactly in this middle of this terrible event – in the agony of a son’s betrayal, in the discomfort of losing a home, in the fear of losing life and livelihood – it was in the middle of all this that David remembered. David remembered that God was good and would be always be with him during even the very worst of moments.

We can only guess at the actual scene of his remembering. Perhaps David had been tossing and turning through the night, until finally frustrated at his inability to sleep, he got up just before sunlight and went for a walk to clear his head. Perhaps he stopped for a rest on a hill somewhere with a nice view. Except, he wasn’t really seeing anything before him, he was just chewing on his lip as his thoughts tumbled and his heart almost break. The rejection, hurt and utter loneliness of the last few days threatening to defeat him forever.

But it was exactly at that grey, foggy moment of human despair that grace broke through into his heart like the sun breaking through storm clouds. For suddenly David saw something that brought back memories recently forgotten – memories that had been drowned out in his life’s discouragement. For David saw a shepherd tending to his flock … and it was then that David remembered.

He remembered how it had been in his own youth when he had grown up looking after his father’s sheep. He remembered the strong sense of God’s presence with him always as he slept out nights in the dangerous wilderness. He remembered how God had always cared for him just as he cared for his own sheep and how God had protected and guided him through all dangers just as he did for his own sheep. The pastoral scene before him brought back such powerful and evocative memories that his senses were awakened and his faith stirred once more – faith that slowly but surely began to warm his heart with hope and trust.

It was then that King David began to sing: ‘The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want …’

You may be someone who is suffering through great discouragement and disillusionment. It is common at this time of the year when life gets so busy and hectic. Stress abounds! Well, the message of Ps 23 is one of great hope and renewed faith. During dark gloomy days of discouragement, Ps 23 can be like that sunray which breaks through the clouds, because, like it did with David, Ps 23 REMINDS us of some of the things we may have forgotten in our discouragement.

Spend some time today looking back over your life. Try to remember the different ways God has acted in your life and let these memories stir your faith and bring encouragement to you.

PRAY AS YOU GO

Holy God, you are the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last. You have always been there for us and you always will be. Help us to remember the incredible ways your grace has been worked into our lives in the past, and like it did for David, let those memories stir our faith into life once more. Amen.

FOCUS VERSE

Psalm 23:3a

God restores my soul.