I remember the days of old;
I will meditate on all Your accomplishments;
I will reflect on the work of Your hands.
I spread out my hands to You;
My soul longs for you, like a weary land.
Psalm 143:5-6

Can you feel it? David, the Psalmist, needs help. He’s weak. He is under attack. He is in a dark place. He knows his only hope is from his Father. We don’t see him trying to figure out how to fix the situation himself or hoping his friends come along to save the day. Instead, he remembers. He meditates. He reflects. He places himself in the will of the Father.

I obviously don’t know what David was thinking about when he “remember(ed) the days of old.” When I read that, I think about the first chapter of Genesis; the Spirit of God hovering over the waters and saying, “Let there be light.” And then how YHWH accomplished the rest of creation through the work of His hands. Wow! I can see it! Whatever David was remembering, he was doing more than just “thinking” about it; it wasn’t a passing thought acknowledging “God is good and He’ll be there for me,” and then moving on to wonder what he’s going to have for dinner. David was sitting with that memory, rolling it around in his mind. Looking at it from all angles. Studying it. Seeing it. He was contemplating the power, glory and sovereignty of our Almighty God. When you do that, how can you put your trust and faith in anything else and how could there be room for doubt?

David spread out his hands to the Father, opening himself up to YHWH. He knew that’s where his hope lay. Have you been there? In a place where you are desperate and thirsty for the peace and rest that only the Father can provide? David was in that place so he meditated, he prayed, he begged, he acknowledged his own weakness, and he trusted. And the Father delivered him.

In fact, we read throughout the Bible how the Father delivered so many of His people. He delivered Daniel from the lion’s den. He delivered Noah and his family from the flood. He delivered Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from the fiery furnace. He delivered Saul on the road to Damascus.

And He delivered me. Not from situations as dramatic or life-threatening as these heroes of the Word. But when I’ve been in a position that seemed hopeless, He gave me peace and He ultimately delivered me from the circumstance that had been going on for more than two years. When I was at my lowest, I was blessed to be able to spend a lot of time alone talking it out with the Father. I came away knowing He had a solution. I didn’t know when or how, but I knew it would happen. Praise YHWH, it did. I consider that often when I start to feel the shifting sands of this world making me feel I’m on shaky ground. It is a great comfort.

This passage from Psalms also reminds me that it’s easy to lose sight, in the daily demands of our lives and the worries of the world, of spending as much time as we should truly grasping who this awesome God is that we serve. Do I approach Him every day with the awe and reverence He deserves and with a heart that is truly contemplating, meditating and reflecting instead of just thinking? Do I merely read His Word or do I dig with a pickaxe and shovel for every new piece of knowledge and truth about Him that I can glean from even the simplest of verses? Sadly, I can truly say I can do better. But I know my soul can have the peace and rest I long for when I immerse myself in contemplating the depth and breadth of who He is and placing myself in the will of the Father — even as I feel the sands beneath me shift.

 

Kim Chimene
Latest posts by Kim Chimene (see all)