Day 9:
Psalm 34 begins by saying, “I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” Then in verse 34 we read, “The LORD is near to the broken hearted.” David makes a declaration to praise and exalt the name of God unceasingly. This implies in the good times and the bad. So, the “highs” and “lows” in life are completely irrelevant to whether we praise our Savior or not.
This has been our theme. To glorify God in everything. And one practical way to see the magnificence of Him is to both witness and feel His comfort in our lives when trials and sorrows strike. In prior Lifeline Letters we have revealed some ways God comforts us and how this magnifies His glorious Name. Let us look at a few more ways He comforts us to bring a fitting conclusion to this intensely rich subject.
Perhaps the greatest way He comforts us is by directing us to Scripture. Please do not ever minimize this precept. Its here we learn some of the most valuable lessons ever known to mankind. Consider the story of Habakkuk as an example. Judah has simply lost her moral compass. God is no longer revered and sin is running amok. Habakkuk pleads with the LORD to intervene and God answers his prayer with a “yes” but not in the way Habakkuk expected. The LORD reveals to Habakkuk He is raising up the evil Chaldean people to invade Judah as a form of judgment because of their sin. Habakkuk later responds by saying, “I heard and my inward parts trembled, at the sound my lips quivered. Decay enters my bones, and in my place I tremble. Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress, for the people to arise who will invade us (3:16).”
Look at the context! It’s suffering. It’s distress. And yet, somehow, Habakkuk finds comfort in his personal understanding of God’s sovereignty when he says these next remarkable words. “Though the fig tree should not blossom and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the olive should fail and the fields produce no food, though the flock should be cut off from the fold and there be no cattle in the stalls, yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength (3:17-19a- italics added).”
Maybe during our hardship, God nudges us to Job. The story is familiar to us but maybe God needs us to truly pine after the lessons in this popular Old Testament book ourselves. Job lost everything materially speaking along with his children. Then Job has to endure 35 chapters of listening to 3 of his friends provide no accurate counsel to his plight. It’s not until chapter 38 that God Himself finally engages Job on a very personal level. God then, in the next 4 chapters simply reveals a greater disclosure of Himself to Job. That’s all it took! That turned the tide. God never answered “why,” He simply revealed “Who.” Job suddenly had the proper perspective. Is this perhaps where God wants us when we suffer trials?
God comforts us through the life of David as well. David is credited with writing at least 73 Psalms. Many of his Psalms are the backdrop to serious hardships, pain, and distress. Yet, David somehow manages to praise God in all of it. He pined for God when fighting giants. He pined for God when laying in the grass at night staring at the cosmos while his sheep slept. He pined for God as Saul chased him through the wastelands of Palestine. And he pined for God when sitting on the throne as King over Israel. Great times or tough times, David greatly desired the company of his God. Trials never thwarted that pursuit. If anything, it enhanced it. And David witnessed first hand the comfort only God can provide. What a joy that today, we can read about these splendid words in our Bibles.
One final thought to consider when trials come our way would be found in I Peter 5:9-10. “But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.” Did you see that phrase? “Will Himself!” Jesus Christ, our Savior, will Himself oversee our growth during suffering! Don’t let this be a passing footnote. This is a phrase showing the intimacy of our LORD toward us. He is a personal God. II Thessalonians 2:16-17 makes the same comment to remind us of God’s deep involvement in our daily lives. This type of closeness should be a comfort so real that our only response is worship, praise and glory to our Father.
In conclusion, let us consider James 1:2 where we are commanded to “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials.” Embracing joy during hardship is indeed a tall order. Especially in our comfort-soaked America where everything should be easy. Is it possible to achieve genuine joy during the hard times? The answer is of course “yes” for many reasons. But let’s just focus on one way we can maintain joy no matter our circumstances by simply glorifying Him as we witness His comfort in the many ways in which He demonstrates it.
“But as for me, the nearness of God is my good (Psalm 73:28).”
Children of Light 
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