Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord. Psalm 31:24
Today’s Scripture
Psalm 31:13-18
Listen to Today’s Devotional
Today’s Devotional
Kristin’s son had died from cancer when he was just seven. Now, three years later, her older son was diagnosed with a terminal illness. Friends who were not believers in Jesus grieved with her, but they couldn’t understand why she continued to trust Christ. “How could your God allow this? Why keep believing in Him?” they asked.
For Kristin, however, it was an even stronger reason to keep believing. “I don’t understand why this is happening,” she said, “but I know God will help us through this. Only God can give me hope to keep going.”
Such a hope and trust kept King David going when he found himself in overwhelming circumstances. Surrounded by enemies seeking his destruction, he probably couldn’t understand why all this was happening to him. Yet he knew he was following a God he could trust to deliver and bless him in His time (Psalm 31:14-16). This certain hope enabled him to keep submitting to God and to say, “My times are in your hands” (v. 15). And it uplifted him, such that he could also say, “Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord” (v. 24).
In times when we feel overwhelmed and there seems little to look forward to, we know we can hang on even more tightly to God and the life-giving hope He alone provides.
Reflect & Pray
What do you need to keep going through life’s challenges? How does God’s promise of hope give you joy and strength even in hardship?
Loving Father, You know my struggles and doubts. Please give me the faith to keep trusting in You and the strength to keep going.
For further study, read A Place for Doubt in a Growing Faith.
Today’s Insights
As Jesus hung dying on the cross, He spoke the words of the Psalms. We’re familiar with those from Psalm 22:1: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (see Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34). The words communicate deep pain and a kind of hopelessness in the face of utter despair. The circumstances of both David and His true heir, Jesus, led both to cry out in anguish.
But the words that Christ quotes just before surrendering to death carry a different note: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46). Here, He quotes David again—but the words of Psalm 31 point to an unshakable confidence in the goodness of the Father despite suffering. When we face overwhelming pain and suffering, the words of this psalm lead us to hold on to the Father just as Jesus did. We share the same hope as the Son of God.
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