I Love the Lord - Page CXVI

scripture and prayer reflection

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Click HERE to listen to the song on Spotify

Lyrics

He heard my cries, He bowed his ear

And chased my griefs away

O let my heart no more despair

While I have breath, breath to pray

I love The Lord

He chased my griefs away

Despair no more

And use this breath to pray

To pray, to pray

My flesh declined, my spirits fell

And I drew near the dead

Return my soul to God thy rest

For thou hast known known His love

I love The Lord

He chased my griefs away

Despair no more

And use this breath to pray

To pray, to pray

My God I cried, “Thy servant save”

Thy power can rescue me from the grave

My God hath saved my soul from death

And dried my falling tears

Now to His praise I'll spend my breath

And my remain, remaining years

I love The Lord

He chased my griefs away

Despair no more

And use this breath to pray

To pray, to pray

Psalm 109:21-26

21 But you, O God my Lord,

deal on my behalf for your name's sake;

because your steadfast love is good, deliver me!

22 For I am poor and needy,

and my heart is stricken within me.

23 I am gone like a shadow at evening;

I am shaken off like a locust.

24 My knees are weak through fasting;

my body has become gaunt, with no fat.

25 I am an object of scorn to my accusers;

when they see me, they wag their heads.

26 Help me, O Lord my God!

Save me according to your steadfast love!

Psalm 116:1-9

1 I love the Lord, because he has heard

my voice and my pleas for mercy.

2 Because he inclined his ear to me,

therefore I will call on him as long as I live.

3 The snares of death encompassed me;

the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;

I suffered distress and anguish.

4 Then I called on the name of the Lord:

“O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!”

5 Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;

our God is merciful.

6 The Lord preserves the simple;

when I was brought low, he saved me.

7 Return, O my soul, to your rest;

for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.

8 For you have delivered my soul from death,

my eyes from tears,

my feet from stumbling;

9 I will walk before the Lord

in the land of the living.

Reflection

Clinging to God to ride out the storms of life may sound like a picturesque, inspiring idea until you are in the midst of actually doing so. Suddenly what used to sound so clear and strong and faithful is experientially quite different than we’d imagined.

Clinging is born more out of need and desperation, than out of a quiet, centered calm. It often looks much messier — less consistent and much more up and down — than we thought it would. We might feel more tossed around by our emotions, less stable than we thought we would. Moments of the Spirit’s unexplainable peace may be quickly followed by moments of distress. And yet when everything around us is falling apart, there is a grace in being able to have one sure, unshakable thing to truly cling to — God. It is ultimately His strength, faithfulness, and steadiness that brings us through, not our own.

This song holds the peace and thanksgiving of knowing God listens and is with us, and will successfully bring us through anything that life can throw at us. But it also holds a constant call away from despair that indicates the ongoing struggle is just that— ongoing. The question becomes what to do in the midst of grief and struggle.

Notice, though, that both the psalmist and songwriter not only call their heart away from something — despair — but also to something — prayer. Offering prayer in the face of despair might in some moments feel like a pious platitude, a one-size-fits-all canned answer. But it’s not about being good or doing the “spiritual thing” by bucking up and powering through with formulaic prayers that lend lip service to God. It’s about calling upon God in the honesty of our situation and clinging to Him and His love for us, even when that looks messier than we would like.

Ultimately it is a call to be with the God who is already and always with us — turning our eyes to Him in the midst of despair. In some moments this may feel like we’ve come up for air. In others it may simply be continuing to cling to the life raft as we feel pummeled by the waves of our feelings and our circumstances. But either way, we are clinging to the only one who can save us, and He will not fail.

Take some time to reflect on your life. When have there been deeply distressing times that God has brought you through? How can reflecting on those times give you hope for current or future difficulties and griefs? If you are in the midst of grief and despair now, consider praying through the psalms above as a way to orient your heart to God in this time. Close by reflecting on the hope of His promises to love and keep you — demonstrated by the lengths Jesus went to secure your ultimate salvation — and ask Him for help as you cling to Him.