A PRAYER OF THE AFFLICTED WHEN HE IS OVERWHELMED

This is a soul-searching psalm. There will be few who can honestly say they have never been in this place. It is the place of affliction. If this has not been so with you then probably you have never had meaningful dealings with God. It is an essential learning ground for all His true sons, Heb. 12. 5-10.

Thank God for the relief that the opportunity of speaking with Him procures for the weary, forlorn saint. A prayer, becomes a cry and a calling to God. There is a growing desperation to have the His ear to hear, His face to see and an assurance that He will bend down to listen, vv. 1, 2. This is real, tangible converse with God. Commence today with a renewed determination to make your prayer life the very centre of your spiritual experience, see 1 Thess. 3. 7-10.

These deep soul afflictions are learning phases through which we pass as the Lord deals with us. The areas of pressure and the associated effects and feelings are well described in verses 3 to 11. ARTHUR CLARKE has aptly sectioned it as: ‘Distressed in body’, vv. 3-5; ‘Desolated in soul’, vv. 6, 7; ‘Derided by men’, v. 8; and ‘Disciplined by God’, vv. 9-11.

There can be dramatic physical manifestations during such deep exercises. This is not the pharisaical hypocrisy of those who seek the attentions of men, but a very real manifestation in one’s physical being. Bones that burn, lack of appetite and drawn features declare the inner heartsearchings of soul, vv. 3-5. There can be a sense of isolation, and of rejection by others on account of the affliction.

Others can cause immense distress at times like this; some on account of their inability to truly sympathize, others out of a vindictive spirit to emphasize your calamity to satisfy their own ends, v. 8.

But, may you know this, child of God; His hand will only be upon you as long as He wills it to be. Let Him have His way, and believe. He hasn’t changed, v. 12. He will not forsake you now, and the time of His favour; that set time, may well dawn today, v. 13. Trust Him, ‘for he careth for you’, 1 Pet. 5. 7.