Come to God for Help in Time of Need!
The very special news about God is His willingness to walk through our trials in life–with us. Psalm 77 which Ray Stedman unfolds in his wonderful study.
Psalm 77
1 I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, that he may hear me.
2 In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord;
in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted.
3 I think of God, and I moan; I meditate, and my spirit faints. [Selah]
4 Thou dost hold my eyelids from closing; I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
5 I consider the days of old, I remember the years long ago.
6 I commune with my heart in the night; I meditate and search my spirit:
7 “Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favorable?
8 Has his steadfast love forever ceased? Are his promises at an end for all time?
9 Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” [Selah]
10 And I say, “It is my grief that the right hand of the Most High has changed.”
11 I will call to mind the deeds of the LORD; yea, I will remember thy wonders of old.
12 I will meditate on all thy work, and muse on thy mighty deeds.
13 Thy way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God?
14 Thou art the God who workest wonders, who hast manifested thy might among the peoples.
15 Thou didst with thy arm redeem thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph. [Selah]
16 When the waters saw thee, O God, when the waters saw thee, they were afraid, yea, the deep trembled.
17 The clouds poured out water; the skies gave forth thunder; thy arrows flashed on every side.
18 The crash of thy thunder was in the whirlwind; thy lightnings lighted up the world; the earth trembled and shook.
19 Thy way was through the sea, thy path through the great waters; yet thy footprints were unseen.
20 Thou didst lead thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.
Isaiah calls us all to come freely to God for healing and hope and fullness of life,
“Ho, every one who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Hearken diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in fatness. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. Behold, I made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. Behold, you shall call nations that you know not, and nations that knew you not shall run to you, because of the LORD your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.
‘Seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. ‘For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and return not thither but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
For you shall go out in joy, and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall be to the LORD for a memorial, for an everlasting sign which shall not be cut off.'” (Isaiah 55)
