I Will Go in the Strength of the Lord

Psalm 71:16-18  "I will go in the strength of the Lord God; I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only.  O God, You have taught me from my youth; and to this day I declare Your wondrous works. Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, do not forsake me, until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to everyone who is to come."

How appropriate these verses are for me today!  If you read my short little blurb last night, you know that I came home "too pooped to participate" in writing, in cooking, in life in general. A couple of you indicated that you would pray for me to get a good night's rest.  Thank you...I wish I could report that your prayers were answered...unfortunately, my brain just couldn't shut down enough to truly rest through the night. 

As I was reading the above verses from King David's writings in the Psalms, I totally related.  He starts out in verses one and two by saying,  "In You, O Lord, I put my trust; let me never be put to shame. Deliver me in Your righteousness, and cause me to escape; incline Your ear to me, and and save me."   I don't know if you have ever had this kind of experience or feeling before in your life, but if so, you are in good company!  David was considered by God to be a "man after His own heart" (I Samuel 13:14), and even though David made some big mistakes and fell into sin, God still loved him, forgave him, and continued to empower him as the King of Israel. 

I am going through a time of training and expanding my "mind" (what's left of it) in learning my new job.  At times I feel like giving up before I even get totally started because the task is looming too largely before me in my mind.  I fear that at my advanced age my brain is not able to comprehend so much new information, and it may just explode in a great conflagration of overburn, and I will disentegrate into ashes and crumble to the floor.

But then I remember that I've been through tougher times than these before, and God brought me through it.  In verses 20-21, David says to God, "You, who have shown me great and severe troubles, shall revive me again, and bring me up again from the depths of the earth. You shall increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side."

So today "I will go in the strength of the Lord", since I do not have any strength of my own to go on. And I will trust that God will indeed "revive me again", and "comfort me on every side."

"O God, do not be far from me; O my God, make haste to help me!"  (Psalm 71: 12)