Psalm 71:1-6

“For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth.” vs. 5

Like many of us the psalmist had trusted and served the Lord from his youth. That meant regularly bringing sacrifices and offerings, and participating in the rituals and practices of Judaism. But that didn’t mean that he had been preserved from the ugliness that spoils the tranquility of life in this good and broken world. He was well acquainted with the wicked, the unjust, and the cruel. Sometimes those experiences can cause us to question the goodness of God, and even wonder why we’ve bothered being so faithful in the course of our lives. Life doesn’t always go as we have been conditioned to believe that it will. It’s interesting that the psalmist doesn’t even consider turning away from the God he’d leaned on from his birth, the One who had taken him from his mother’s womb. Instead he doubles down, and continues to trust in the One he called his rock and his fortress. And that’s what people of faith continue to do, even when it feels like evil forces have risen against them. Instead of whining about how God has let them down we continue to trust the Ground of our Being. There really are no better options! There never have been and there never will!  The Lord who breathed life into the universe is continually with us and will sustain us forever. 

Thought for the Day: What do you say to someone who believes God has let them down?