DECEMBER 9
PSALM 89:1–18

Where does your mind go and your heart
run when life doesn’t make sense?

​

I counseled a woman who had enjoyed a wonderful life. She and

her successful husband had two wonderful children. She at-
tended a good church and was surrounded by a group of devoted

friends. But in an act of unfaithfulness and betrayal, her husband
forsook her, and she lost everything. After she realized the extent
of her loss, she had no life in her eyes, no spring in her step, and
no hope in her heart. She was burdened by the uncertainty of her
future. Where would she live? How would she survive? I couldn’t
answer all of her questions, but I knew one thing: she was not
without hope. I told her that even in the face of all the grief and
loss, she would stand. I told her this not because she was strong,
wise, and capable, but because the most important person in her
life, the one who was near to her and who would give the grace to
continue, had not forsaken her. We talked about the rock of hope
that was hers in the steadfast love of the Lord, a love that never
fails. I did my best to help her see that his steadfast love was as
real as all of the loss that had so devastated her. Then we talked
about the decisions she needed to make to move forward in her
new circumstances.
When our comfortable plans for our life come crashing down,
God can seem distant and inactive. Psalm 89 paints a picture for
us of two colliding realities. It first celebrates God’s steadfast love:
I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever;
with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all
generations. (Ps. 89:1)

This is the rock of hope for believers of all generations, for Old
Testament Israelites as well as people in the pews in Chicago. We
all experience the bright mountain peaks and dark valleys of life.
Things happen that make us think life is over. In our trouble, we
can be tempted to think that God has withdrawn his presence
and his promises. But nothing can break his commitment to love
his own.
When we read the first verse of this psalm, we might think that
it’s going to be a happy psalm, but it’s not. Psalm 89 is a lament.
It was written in a moment when it seemed as though God had
turned his back on his children, rejecting them and withdrawing
his love. But his discipline in the face of their sin was not a sign
that he had withdrawn his love.
The surest indication of the steadfast love of the Lord is the
birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. His sacrifice assures us
that our sin will not cause God to withdraw the grace of his love.
Today, in your trouble, remember where your hope is found: in the
steadfast love of the Lord. That love is forever.
 

Prayer

O Precious Lord, may I never lose sight of your precious love! Who
in the skies can be compared to you? Who is mighty as you are, O

Lord, with your faithfulness all around you? Thank you for sur-
rounding me with that faithfulness, and especially for lifting up the

head of your anointed, Jesus Christ, to resurrection life, which is my
hope of eternal blessing. I thank you for all of your promises that are
fulfilled in Jesus, through whom I pray, amen.