A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.
“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” Psalm 63:1
June 4, 2025
“Song sung blue, Everybody knows one…” Many could finish the lyrics sung by Neil Diamond in his hit song of 1972. A song about depression can stand another arrangement of thought. David was in a hard and difficult time in his life, but one thing stands out. All sadness is not necessarily wrong, “…not all sadness is meant to be immediately overcome. We may be sad because we are burdened with cares we ought to unburden on the Lord…we may be sad simply because we are weak and life is difficult” (thank you, Tim Challies). Our desire for God can rise above the harshest of times. Is your God only the God of the good times and good feelings? God can accomplish good things in our times of sorrow. Let the words of Charles Spurgeon lift your wings: “The absence of outward comforts can be borne with serenity when we walk with God, and the most lavish multiplication of them avails not when He withdraws.” Are you crushed by your circumstances? Are the long shadows of the future causing you fear? Make the nearness of God be your treasured company when sadness is your guest. We are satisfied with God when our desire is set upon Him.
H
“Till Thou bid sadness flee,
And, drawing near,
With Thy good cheer
Awake Thy life in me.”
“Hard Times” – George MacDonald (last stanza of four).