A Helping Hand
Friday (December 19)
A Helping Hand
Psalm 123:3-4a
Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt. Our soul has had more than enough of the scorn of those who are at ease.
When was the last time you uttered in exasperation, “ENOUGH!” Maybe you didn’t say it aloud, but when did you last think it? Was it when you woke up to yet another dreary, rainy day? Was it when you turned on the news to hear more doom-and-gloom? Was it when the doctor called to tell you that the chemotherapy hadn’t worked and that your cancer was spreading? Was it when your six-year-old and ten-year-old decided that your five-minute trip upstairs to change clothes was the perfect time to start fighting with each other and screaming bloody murder? Was it when the morning sickness of pregnancy derailed your plans for the week and all you could do was lay in bed feeling miserable? Was it when you looked up at your ceiling and saw the signs of a leaking pipe during the same month when your HVAC system went down, bats made a nest in your garage, your dishwasher went out, your truck tire ruptured, and your teeth needed pulling? Purely hypothetical, of course. Well, I’m grateful that God preserved sacred hymns like Psalm 123:3-4 in this divine psalter because they serve as reminders that, like us, the saints of old had burn-out days. Like us, guys like David and Asaph and Korah woke up some mornings and only had enough strength to muster a cry for help.
If today is already turning out to be one of those ‘enough’ sort of days, friend, rest for a moment in the comfort of Christ’s empathy. Marvel at the wondrous thought that even our very LORD, in the crucible of His Passion, while He spilled out every last drop of strength His weakened form could muster, needed Simon of Cyrene to help carry the cross up Golgotha’s Mount. Oh, we’ve never been beaten down to that degree, friend, but even if we had, our LORD understands. And just think: if the Savior of the world, while carrying the cosmos on His very shoulders, needed the help of a friend to lift the burden of a wooden cross, He knows you and I need a helping hand as well. And He’s sure to provide it.