I’ve been debating what to write this week, with a couple different ideas rolling around in my head. So I’ll start writing and see where this comes out…
Earlier this week, someone commented on the fact that Christians suffer from depression at the same rates that non-Christians do. Living in a fallen world, we’ve all been impacted by the sin of others, as well as our own sin. For some of us it can take months and even years to work through the consequences of that sin. At times it can feel like the past has been ravaged by destruction and all that is left is a barren field.
When Israel went through a literal destruction by locusts, God spoke through the prophet Joel to say, “I will restore to you the years that the locust has eaten… You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame” (Joel 2:25-26). Somehow God can restore that which the enemy has taken from us. He can free us from the shame and guilt of our own sin as well as what others have done to us. We all know from Romans 8:28 that God uses all things, both good and bad, to shape us into who He has called us to be.
In Psalm 103, David prays, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s” (vv. 2-5). God redeems us from the pits we fall into either through our own sin or the sin of others.
As I thought about renewal, redemption and restoration, I realized that they can have at least a few related meanings. It could be the restoration of physical strength and vitality in the present time. It could mean that God restores or gives us a new perspective on the past, so that what has seemed so desolate now has new life. And there is also the sense of ransom from captivity and being freed from the sin and darkness that has bound us for so long. All of these are true, though it can take time for us to assimilate them into our daily walk and belief. We need constant reminders of these truths through the Word and fellowship with believers.
I am gaining a greater appreciation for the psalms of David. Here was a man who experienced great persecution due to the sins of others (from his brothers to Saul to his own son), and he also faced the consequences of his own sin with Bathsheba. He was in a variety of pits during his life and he wasn’t afraid to tell God what he was really thinking. He evidently wasn’t afraid of what others would think of him either, since we still have written record of his psalms today. We can all learn a lot from this “man after God’s own heart.”
