We Can Endure

Clap your hands, all you peoples;
shout to God with a jubilant cry.
For the Lord, the Most High, is awe-inspiring,
a great King over the whole earth.
Psalm 47:1-2 CSB

There seems to be a perpetual heaviness to our days—so much uncertainty, unrest, and disunity. It feels like wickedness is having a field day in the world. It wears on our already worn hearts.

These pangs of helplessness have been felt throughout history. The wicked prosper, the faithful suffer, and the days keep going with no change in sight. What good is there when all of life feels upside down?

Psalm 49 is a psalm of admission that life feels unfair, that the wicked prosper with no break for the upright person. Is there any justice for the righteous? Where is God when it feels like His people can’t get ahead? It’s exhausting trying to tread the trends of this world only to realize you’re losing steam.

But we can endure, because kingdoms rise and fall, fads come and go, and what many put their focus on—money, power, status—crumble. What lasts is understanding and relationship with God.

The writer of this psalm understood who had his back. He lifted his perspective and made a prediction that God was still attentive and would come to his aid: “But God will redeem me” (v.15). It’s a guarantee. The psalmist was confident of the Lord’s involvement and placed his trust in God for the redemption of his own shortcomings as well as overcoming the evil of the world.

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Honored to be writing about Day 15 in the Lent online study at She Reads Truth. Will you join me there to read the rest?