Psalms: Saying Yes in the DarknessSýnishorn

My husband and I have six kids: two biological “blondies” and four children from Ethiopia. As you can imagine, life is full and fun and full of laughter…but it’s also full of healing and trauma and loss.

Not long ago, one our children decided he didn’t want to be in our family anymore. He’d been with us for several years, but trauma is a confusing beast and sometimes it wins out. When I see David’s pain and fear in this psalm, it reminds me of my experience in that season 

But consider the beauty of these words from verse 8: Our heavenly Father counts our wanderings (NASB). God numbered each weary step David took. And He numbers each weary step we take, as well. After my son left, when I thought my devastation would consume me, I needed to remember I was not alone in my pain and grief.

You’re not alone in yours, either.

God counts our wandering steps, He keeps our tears in a bottle, and He records it all in His “book of remembrance” (Malachi 3:16, esv). He writes down all the details, all our circumstances, all our loves and losses. He pens the duration and how they will conclude…making notes on the whys and what He’d like us to learn through each experience. He writes it all down because nothing happens without His permission. 

Yes, even the hard stuff. Because somehow there’s strength, hope, and faith to be learned through it. God doesn’t cause suffering, but He does use our pain to change our perspective. As C. S. Lewis wrote in The Problem of Pain, “Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world."

David’s time of running from Saul had a purpose, rousing him from a comfortable life and calling him into closer relationship with God. Your hard season has purpose, too. It may just take awhile to see it.

You've completed the Get Wisdom - Psalms reading plan! To keep going, check out the full book - Saying Yes in the Darkness: 7 weeks in the book of Psalms  by Teresa Swanstrom Anderson. Be sure to look for the Get Wisdom reading plans and studies for Joshua and Philippians.