Devotion's by Deborah

Devotion 1-6-24. Psalms 13:1 - 6 - "How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long shall I take counsel in my soul, Having sorrow in my heart all the day? How long will my enemy be exalted over me? Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; Enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death, And my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” And my adversaries will rejoice when I am shaken. But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, Because He has dealt bountifully with me." It is useful at times to deeply look at the emotional side of the psalmist. We humans all experience ups and downs - times of joy, times of overflowing happiness, times of grief, times of despair over people, things, evil and life in general. In Psalm 13, we find David's true thoughts and feelings. We see his questions and his determination to put his eyes on God. He chose to trust and worship God rather than wallow in questioning self-pity and fear. We learn from David that God will accept our questions. God will allow our statements of the facts as they seem to be. God will allow us to express ourselves. But God must be the end of the expression. God must be the ultimate source. He must be our stronghold, comforter, encourager and defender. God must be given first place over all that we see. Then we may testify with David, "He has dealt bountifully with me." In the end, who is God to you? You must choose to wallow or rise in praise.