Hello, I'm Pastor Jorge Diaz
Today's Reflection comes from Psalm 130 which tells us of the joy of...

Longing for a new dawn

Psalm 130

¹ Lord, help me! I am in the depths of my loneliness.
² Lord, hear my cry for help.
Give me a little of your attention, hear my plea please.
³ I know, Lord, that if you look at the story of my life,
Like everyone else, I have done nothing to deserve your mercy.
⁴ But I also know that you like to forgive, and you have forgiven me,
That is why I seek you to thank you.
⁵ I pray to the Lord every day and night of my life.
and I wait to hear and see what he will say or do.
⁶ My soul hopes in God, my Lord,
Longing for a new dawn,
like the sentinel anticipating a new day.
⁷ Dear brother, dear sister, ask and hope in the Lord,
Because when he says and does something, he does it with love.
Have no doubt, the Lord will redeem His children.
⁸ He will deliver us from the bondage of sin.

A Paraphrase - Jorge E. Díaz 

Suffering and pain are two feelings that are part of our experience as human beings.  In the book "Put a flower in your hair and be happy" Barbara Johnson reminds us of a famous saying: "Pain is inevitable, but how you feel and control it is optional".

Psalm 130 deals with just this great truth: The children of God, Christians, also suffer, but they hope with faith in God!

Christians do not deny suffering, they do not hide it, they do not do as the actor in the poem Garrick does, "they laugh, while inside, they cry."

Christians admit that something hurts them physically sometimes.

Christians admit that they sometimes forget important things.

Christians admit that they sometimes feel lonely and unworthy.

Christians admit that sometimes they no longer feel like moving on.

On the other hand, Christians, although they accept suffering, are not masochists. They do not think that suffering makes them holier; nor do they think that the more you suffer, the closer you are to heaven.

Suffering reminds us of the character of our God.

Psalm 130 tells us several things about God's character that we should keep in mind:

God takes it seriously and cares about what happens to us.

God is willing to do the loving and wise thing and forgive us.

God is a personal being and therefore is willing to redeem us. That is, to give us freedom.

The believer recognizes the various sources of suffering in order to deal with it properly.

Much of the suffering occurs because of the natural deterioration of our physical bodies.

Much of the suffering occurs because we have sinned, and the person reaps the result of his chaotic life.

Much suffering happens because God allows it to manifest himself gloriously in our lives, and ultimately strengthen our faith.

The believer adopts the attitude of a watchman.

Verse 6 tells us: My soul waits on God, my Lord, longing for a new dawn, anticipating a new day like the sentinel.

As important as a guard can be, he can't do much to bring about a new dawn or a new day to come.

God is at work; he is the one who is making all things around us—including pain and suffering—work together for our good.

This is where the two wonderful actions described by the Psalmist (v.7) come in:

Dear brother, dear sister, ask and hope in the Lord, because when he says and does something, he does it with love.

Asking the Lord is not an illusion. Hope is not a dream we have. It is to act like the sentinel who stays awake until morning comes.

To wait on the Lord is to believe that when He says He will do something, He does it with love. He will work on our behalf in due time and according to His wonderful purpose.

Without a doubt, the best example of trust and hope in God is found in Jesus Christ who, when he was in the midst of the deepest pain, suffering and in his darkest hour, exclaimed: "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. You have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth."

Pray

Thank You, heavenly Father, for letting me know by Your Word that You are doing what is best for my welfare. Thank you that everything you do for me you do with love.  I thank you in Jesus' name, amen.

Reflection and action

The author of this Psalm says that he prayed this prayer when he was in the midst of great loneliness, with much physical and emotional pain. It may be that you are in the middle of a similar situation. Can you reread Psalm 130 and make these actions your own: asking, hoping, waiting on the Lord, and believing that God will work for your good?

 May God bless you is my wish, and my prayer for you today.