God’s Consolation Prize

¹⁷ If the Lord had not been my help,
My soul would soon have dwelt in the abode of silence.
¹⁸ If I should say, “My foot has slipped,”
Your lovingkindness, O Lord, will hold me up.
¹⁹ When my anxious thoughts multiply within me,
Your consolations delight my soul.   (Psalm 94)

We’ve all been in places where we have felt there was no way out, where we felt trapped.  Everything inside of us cries for help, but the vocals never make it beyond our lips.  No one would hear us, No one would care, so we think.  But God does hear and God does care.

¹⁷ If the Lord had not been my help,
My soul would soon have dwelt in the abode of silence. 

Perhaps we already feel we are dwelling in the abode of silence.  No matter what anyone tells me, I believe silence is a sound.  Or perhaps it is just the absence of sound, but when you are in the abode of silence, it can be deafening.  Ever stepped outside on a very snowy morning.  Everything covered in white, nothing is moving.  The snow deafens any sound you could near, except the light, downy sound of flake on flake.  That is the closest thing to being in the abode of silence that I know.  And yes, if a tree falls in the forest, and no one is there, it dos make a sound.  Sometimes we are that tree.But the Lord is our Help, a Very present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear.         (Psalm 46)

¹⁸ If I should say, “My foot has slipped,”
Your lovingkindness, O Lord, will hold me up.  Ever had that feeling, perhaps walking along an unstable pathway, ever felt your foot slipping.? I have, I have turned ankles, had my knees give out occasionally, and O what a helpless feeling.  Just one twist and down we go.   God will hold us up when life causes our knees to buckle.  Bruce and I had a week, one time, where four items of devastating news hit us one after the other, like ocean waves.  Down we went, onto our knees together, holding each other and weeping.  But God was right there with us, His arms around us both, as our arms were around each other.  He does hold us up.

¹⁹ When my anxious thoughts multiply within me,
Your consolations delight my soul. 

It’s so very hard not to get anxious in those in those times, perhaps impossible.  But His Consolations do delight our soul.  When you lose a race, or don’t get the 1st, 2nd or 3d prize, often there is a Consolation prize.  A prize to console you in the loss of that hope of winning.  Consolation, in this context, means “compassion, solace, comfort.”  God’s compassion delights my soul.  God’s comfort delights my soul.  God’s consolation Prize is Himself, His presence, in the midst of all this disappointment and loss we feel.   Perhaps you are in a place like that, right now, a place of loss, confusion, or hurt.  Let God console you in His Word.  Sit often with Him there, and sit long.  He is Our Joyous and Wonderful Consolation.

O God, life just doesn’t feel great sometimes.  It hurts to be alive, sometimes, a real, tangible hurt.  We need You to be our help, our consoler, our comforter.  We just want and need You.  Your Lovingkindness Delights our Soul, and spurs us on.  Thank You God, Thank you for just Being You