The NIV 365-Day Devotional Reading Planنموونە

Holding Out Hope

…We can’t be sure of the identity of Ethan the Ezrahite, the ascribed author of Psalm 89. Perhaps he wrote this psalm in response to this event in the life of Rehoboam. Or the occasion may have come more than 300 years later with the attack on Jerusalem by the Babylonians and the exile of King Jehoiachin (see 2 Kings 24:8–17). At any rate, the psalmist was depressed and mystified as he asked, “Lord, where is your former great love, which in your faithfulness you swore to David?” (Psalm 89:49).

The first half of the psalm reflects on God’s promises to David and his royal lineage. But beginning at verse 38, Ethan’s tone changes: “You have cut short the days of his youth; you have covered him with a mantle of shame” (verse 45).

Ethan’s psalm resonates with some of us with regard to our marriages. Every couple that celebrates a wedding echoes the enthusiasm of the first 37 verses: “God’s love endures forever and will shine through our lives!” But too many relationships run into hard times. For example, one couple we know struggled through decades of infidelity. She partied with her friends from work, and he cozied up to other women while on business trips. When the couple finally decided to call it quits, she realized she was pregnant. Unsure of what to do, they put parting on hold. During that time, they fell in love all over again.

Some years later I was part of their 25th anniversary celebration in a rented hall. When the couple stood to thank the large gathering of friends for coming, the tears flowed. They confessed sins. They told of their early hopes and wayward paths. They spoke of losing faith and questioning God’s promises.

Then they revealed why all of us had been invited to the party. Each of us, they said, had kept faith in God for them even while they had lost courage and confidence. They had tried, failed, prayed and grown bitter. But we had wrestled with God on their behalf, using both praise and lament, similar to the way Ethan did in Psalm 89.

That night we laughed together in the great joy of God’s promises—and we wept together over the pain of lost opportunities and faded hopes. And as we lingered over final good wishes, we recognized that life in all its shades is a faith journey.

—Wayne Brouwer

Taken from NIV Couples’ Devotional Bible