Sonja Lyubomirsky is a professor of psychology at the University of California-Riverside and she does research into what makes people happy. She has written at least two books. In one of them, The Myths of Happiness, she deals with a number of situations which we experience as humans that we often feel like steal happiness permanently from our hearts…
I’ll be happy when… I’m married to the right person.
I can’t be happy when… my relationship has fallen apart.
I’ll be happy when… I have kids.
I can’t be happy when… I don’t have a partner.
I’ll be happy when… I find the right job.
I can’t be happy when… I’m broke.
I’ll be happy when… I’m rich.
I can’t be happy when… the test results were positive.
I can’t be happy when… I know I’ll never play shortstop for the Yankees.
I can’t be happy when… the best years of my life are over.
These ten life events happen to us as Christians all the time, as a church family. Surely someone in our church family is experiencing one of these very situations right this minute.
Let’s meditate on the words of David from Psalm 56… a psalm which he wrote when he was trapped by the Philistines in the village of Gath…
DAVID FEELS PINNED IN – 56:1-2:
Have you ever felt like you were pinned in and had nowhere to go? You did not know what to do and you did not see a way forward?
Eighteen times this verb is used in the psalms: “Be gracious to me!” We need God’s grace sometimes to get through our day, sometimes through each hour!
THE SOLUTION TO HIS TROUBLE – 56:3-4:
“In the day,” the time frame of his troubles, is the same time frame of his trust! The day “I fear,” he states, “I myself (it is emphatic), You, I will trust.” Forty-six times the psalmist talks about trust.
MORE TROUBLE– 56:5-6:
In a series of verbs in verse 6, David talks about what they do against him:
They attack
They lurk
They watch my steps
They have waited to take my life (literally, “soul”)
THE SOLUTION – 56:7-13:
David finds his hope, his solace, his comfort in Jehovah God. God has “taken account” of his wanderings. God knows where David goes, where he hides, where he worries, and where he cries. Notice in verse 8, that David calls on God to “put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?” In other words, David wants God to remember what he is going through; “don’t forget me!” David cries to God. Archaeologists have found small bottles which were apparently for tears shed for the dead; the bottles were deposited at the gravesite.
Let me give you some suggestions in strengthening your faith:
1) God is faithful. While there are a lot of verses that teach about the faithfulness of God, I will direct you to 1 Corinthians 10:13.
2) Remind yourself of other characteristics of God, like His “lovingkindness / steadfast love:” Psalm 136.
3) Remind yourself of various promises of God in the Bible, like Romans 8:28.
4) Read your Bible and meditate on it daily.
5) Pray daily that God will help your faith to be strong and to trust more in Him.
When life attacks you and you cry, remember that God cares. Your tears are in His bottle; trust Him to do the right thing for you.
Paul Holland
