Episode 1904 lesson 2 Wednesday January 10, 2024: From despair to hope

We all have probably faced times when the presence of God seemed very far from us. Who, at times, has not thought: How could this have happened?The psalmists, humans like the rest of us, surely faced similar things. Though, yes, at times our sins bring trials upon us, at other times they seem to be so unfair, and we feel as if we did not deserve what we are now faced with. Again, who has not been there?Read Psalm 13. What two main moods can you distinguish in this psalm? What decision do you think brought the radical change in the psalmist’s general outlook?“How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me?” (Ps. 13:1, NKJV). Again, who cannot relate to these sentiments, as wrong as they might be? (Does God ever forget any of us?)Psalm 13, then, points to the way to avoid another common ­mistake—focusing on ourselves and our problems when praying. This psalm can transform our prayer by leading us to reaffirm the faithful and unchanging nature of God’s dealings with His people.Sure, though the psalm does begin with laments and complaints, it does not end there. And that’s the crucial point.The psalm leads us to deliberately choose to trust God’s redemptive power (Ps. 13:5), so that our fear and anxiety (Ps. 13:1–4) can gradually give way to God’s salvation, and we begin experiencing change from lament to praise, from despair to hope (Ps. 13:5, 6).However, a mere repetition of the words of the Psalms with only a slight comprehension of their meaning will not produce the authentic transformation intended by their use. When praying the Psalms, we should seek the Holy Spirit to enable us to act in the way demanded by the psalm. The Psalms are the Word of God by which believers’ characters and actions are transformed, not simply informed. By God’s grace, the promises of the Psalms are made manifest in the lives of believers. This means that we allow God’s Word to shape us according to God’s will and to unite us with Christ, who demonstrated God’s will perfectly and, as the incarnate Son of God, prayed the Psalms, as well.How can your trials draw you closer to God? Why, if you’re not careful, can they push you away from Him?