Psalm 121 — Morning Devotions

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Transcript

It was Paul Reece, the author, tells the story of a man on a ship that was being torpedoed actually during the Second World War. This ship was sunk. The people were in a little light raft, and they were picked up by a freighter that was actually piloted by the Germans. So the men were on board. They were thrown into a big hold area, very dark, and these men were in fear of their lives. So the strain on their nerves was terrible, as you can imagine, in wartime.

And one of these men who was in that situation started to tell the story, and he said to Doctor Reese, I began to talk with the Lord. At first I couldn’t sleep, and then the Lord reminded me of Psalm 121, which says, Where will I find help? It will come from the Lord who created the heavens and the earth. The Lord is your protector. And He won’t go to sleep or let you stumble. The protector of Israel doesn’t doze or ever get drowsy. That’s from Psalm 121. And so he said, Lord, there’s no use both of us staying awake tonight if you’re going to keep watch. I’ll thank you and I’ll get some sleep.

And he said I went to sleep. I thought this was an amazing story. Actually, it’s a story, simple story, but one of survival and faith, the ability of one man to cope with a bad situation. I’m sure that we all want to cope better with the bad stuff that life throws up at us. So, you probably know what I mean.

Surviving life

The polls show that most of us believe in God. Most people believe in God, and many people pray to God, but we still have questions, and we may wonder sometimes, is my faith real? How can I know God exists? And if God exists, does he really care for me? How does that help me cope?

I remember it was the Stanley Jones, the writer from some years back, who said that the art of living is the least learned of all arts.

And he wrote a book called Mastery. He said man has learned the art of existing, of getting by somehow with the demands of life, by escaping with half answers, but he doesn’t know much about the art of living with all the demands of life, and I think Stanley Jones was right. If we were honest, we would say that many of us, we find it difficult to cope with the complexities of life. Life is pretty horrible for some people. They don’t like their families. They don’t like their wife or the husband.

And they don’t like their jobs. They’re not happy with their income, and you know, they’re fairly unhappy much of the time. And unfortunately some good people have been brought to the end of their rope by the stresses of life. It could be illness, for example, or the loss or death of someone very close to them, or sometimes they feel their life is out of control. So we wonder, is God really there? Can God give us the strength? Whatever it is, we can wonder about these questions.

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If you get down to it, I think it’s not the circumstances often that’s the problem. It’s the person that is actually the problem, and the person is you and me. If we might buy some new clothes, go to the hairdresser, but you know, it’s still the same person who is unhappy deep down inside, alcohol or drugs that may seem to be the answer. And I think Stanley Jones was right when he said man doesn’t know how to live. Now it’s something similar to what Job said. Job in the Old Testament said: Man is born into trouble.

The simple words there. It’s true. Everyone’s got problems. The question is not who has got the problems, but who’s got the victory or the answer over some of these problems. Can we cope with some of these issues? It’s so interesting to know that Paul, the apostle, whose writings are amazing and changed the lives of so many people. He said in Philippians 3: Nothing is as wonderful as knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. All I want is Christ and to know that I belong to Him.

If ever a man lived in terrible circumstances, it was Paul. He somehow learned to cope with life. And even if it meant he had to die for his faith, he had learned the secret of coping. So I think it’s a good thing to perhaps start reading the Bible, like look at the New Testament, the Gospel of Mark, some tremendous stories, or to talk to people who profess to be Christians and remember what God’s word says. I am the Lord, he said. Those who hope in me will not be disappointed.

Let’s Pray

Heavenly Father, we thank you that you come to us. Lord, we thank you that your power is there to help us cope. May that be true today. Amen.