It was the enraptured Rutherford who said in the midst of very painful trials and heartaches: Praise God for the hammer, the file, and the furnace! Let’s think about that. The hammer is a useful and handy instrument. It is an essential and helpful tool, if nails are ever to be driven into place. Each blow forces them to bite deeper as the hammer’s head pounds and pounds.
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Pain
They called him Old Hickory because of his tenacity and grit. His mother chose Andrew on March 15, 1767, when she gave birth to that independent-minded South Carolina rebel. Wild, quick-tempered, and disinterested in school, Andrew answered the call for soldiers to resist the British invasion at age thirteen. Shortly thereafter, he was taken prisoner. Refusing to black an enemy officer’s boots, he was struck with a saber—Andrew’s introduction to pain.
Read MoreConfessing Despair
In David’s dark song of depression, recorded as Psalm 142, the king confesses his deepest feelings of isolation and despair. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, You knew my path. In the way where I walk they have hidden a trap for me. (142:3) David feels enveloped or wrapped up in his depression, so much so his spirit feels faint and feeble.
Read MoreOpening to God
The raw emotion of David’s prayer in Psalm 142 comes through clearly in his choice of words. In his Cave of Adullam, the beleaguered future king struggled with depression and shrieked heavenward. I used to wonder why we ever needed to utter words in prayer since God already knows all our thoughts (Psalm 139:4). Then one day I stumbled across Hosea 14:1–2.
Read MoreAn Abysmal Cave
Who hasn’t struggled with those demoralizing seasons of dark sadness? Everyone suffers from grief and sorrow from time to time. But depression is a different matter. Like a disease, it’s very common, but it’s not “normal.” Depression is an extended state of mind characterized by acute sadness that most likely will not go away by itself. It needs attention.
Read MoreWhat God Does
While the first two verses of Psalm 91 depict the faithful character of God, verses 3 and 4 describe what God does. The psalmist names three actions the Lord takes on our behalf: 1. He delivers: from the snare of the trapper and from the deadly pestilence 2. He covers: with His pinions/under His wings 3. He shields: by His faithfulness
Read MoreGod’s Protective Care
The first verse of Psalm 91, a song about battling the forces of evil, establishes the context for everything that follows. So, let’s examine these two lines closely. Protection amid Evil. We must never forget that believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are not removed from the presence of wickedness. In fact, our Savior prayed specifically: “I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one” (John 17:15).
Read MoreThe Shepherd Provides Abundantly
As David’s song of the sheep concludes, he suddenly drops the analogy to consider his own experience of God, both as a simple man in need of a Savior and as a king in need of divine guidance. Verse 5 No sheep ever ate at a literal “table” prepared for it. Abruptly, we are transported from the green pastures, the valley, and the rugged mountainside to “a table” in the enemy’s presence.
Read MoreThe Shepherd Restores
As a former shepherd keeping watch over flocks in the wilderness, the composer of Psalm 23 understood the nature of sheep, including their bad habit of wandering. When one is attracted to a clump of grass away from the flock, off it goes, and sometimes it’s followed by several other woolly wanderers. Soon, night falls. Lurking in the darkness are hungry wolves, four-legged savages, looking for a supper of mutton!
Read MoreIn the Shepherd’s Care
Like many of the songs found in the Bible, Psalm 23 states its case in the first verse and simply verifies it in the remainder of the song. The key thought is this: Because the Lord is my Shepherd, I shall lack nothing! No uncertainty should frighten me. Here is the way the theme of Psalm 23 is played out in the balance of David’s famous song:
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