But you, O Lᴏʀᴅ, do not remain far away.
You are my source of strength. Hurry and help me!
Into the Text
Our SOAP verse today is a powerful proclamation in the middle of a psalm that can be hard to read. So much injustice is happening, so much trouble and suffering! Yet the Psalmist proclaims, “But you, O Lord…”. He relies on the Lord for his strength and waits for God to help him.
The first words of this psalm remind us of the anguish Jesus went through as He was crucified. He used David’s words from Psalm 22 and cried out, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” (Matthew 27:46). It is a great privilege to have the Psalms recorded in the Bible for us to freely read and use today in our lament and suffering, knowing Jesus was thinking of these same words in the moments before His death.
There is strength and, certainly, faith in proclaiming what we do not see or feel but know to be true. As God’s people, holy and dearly loved, we need to have faith in the midst of trials and suffering to remember who God is, and to proclaim it. We need to speak it over our weary, downcast souls, and proclaim it over and to those around us, including our loved ones, families, friends, and community.
May we be women who remain faithful and hopeful even in our worst circumstances. May we always remember our precious Savior on the cross who turned to the Psalms for comfort during the most excruciating pain and agony. And may we follow His example and turn to God’s Word in our pain, suffering, and seasons of darkness.