Grace

Psalm 31: 9-10 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; My eye is wasted away from grief, my soul and my body also. For my life is spent with sorrow And my years with sighing; My strength has failed because of my iniquity, And my body has wasted away.

Like I mentioned before, this chapter is full of complaints…and praise…much like the chapters of our own lives. 

Have you ever cried so hard and so long that your eyes feel “wasted away,” as well as your body?  Grief over loss can do that to us.  Even years go by of sorrow and sighing, and we feel extremely weak.

But in this passage it also indicates that some of the crying and sorrow is due to sin (iniquity) that has also caused weakness and wasting away…

It may seem and look impossible to rise out of grief due to either of the above scenarios.  Grief that is imposed on us through tragic circumstances is extremely heavy and long.  Grief that we bring into our own lives through sinning against our bodies or against others is perhaps even harder to bear, becomes with the grief comes guilt.

However, look back at the first few words of the verses that say “Be gracious to me…”

God’s grace is ever present even in our deepest pit, and his light is always there to lead us up and out to the land of the living once again…

Call on him in your distress, and He will answer.