Trusting God in the Midst of Suffering نموونە

Read: Psalm 22

SOAP: Psalm 22:19

But you, O Lᴏʀᴅ, do not remain far away.

You are my source of strength. Hurry and help me!

Our SOAP verse today is a powerful proclamation in the middle of a Psalm that can be hard to read. So much injustice is happening, so much trouble and suffering! Yet the Psalmist proclaims, “But you, O Lord…” He relies on the Lord for his strength and waits for God to help him.

The first words of this Psalm remind us of the anguish our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ went through as He was crucified. He used David’s words from Psalm 22 and cried out, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” (Matthew 27:46). It is a great privilege to have the Psalms recorded in the Bible for us to freely read and use today in our own lament and suffering, knowing Jesus was thinking of these same words in the moments before His death.

There is strength, and certainly faith, in proclaiming what we do not see or feel but know to be true. Hebrews 11:1 describes faith as, “being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see.” As God’s people, holy and dearly loved, we need to have faith in the midst of trials and suffering to remember who God is, and to proclaim it. We need to speak it over our own weary, downcast soul, as well as proclaim it over and to those around us, including our loved ones, families, friends, and community.

When the people around us watch us go through times of great pain and suffering and see we are not crushed (2 Corinthians 4:8-10), perhaps God will use our life and faith as an example to them, drawing them to Himself as they desire to know the source of our strength.

May we be women who remain faithful and hopeful even in the direst of circumstances. May we always remember our precious Savior on the cross who turned to the Psalms for comfort in the midst of the most excruciating pain and agony. And may we follow His example and turn to God’s Word in our own pain, suffering, and questioning.