He Lifts

Psalm 107 cont’d:

Then their numbers decreased, and they were humbled by oppression, calamity and sorrow;

he who pours contempt on nobles and made them wander in a trackless waste.  But he lifted the needy out of their affliction and increased their families like flocks.

Remember what we read yesterday about God’s blessings and fruitfulness? 

Today’s verse is the flipside of that picture.  Decrease, humility, calamity and sorrow.  Not something any of us desire to experience, but yet it happens. 

Look at your own children.  When they are on a winning team, they have a posse of best friends, their grades are all A’s, and they think they look like a million dollars, they’re on top of the world! But they are often hard to live with, because they become self-absorbed and obnoxious. 

It’s no different for us. Great blessings are awesome, and trees dripping with fruit are beautiful.  But someone worked hard to plant, cultivate and water that vineyard, right?

The hard times in life include those activities, because it’s in those times that deep roots are growing, pruning is taking place, and weeds are being pulled.

Even our children, though we find it hard to watch, need to experience a lost game or two, a friend who wounds, and a failing grade, as well as a zit on their faces.  They just have to, in order to grow up to be a mature, pleasant adults full of mercy and grace for others.

Don’t grow weary if you’re in a season of decrease.  Remember, He lifts the needy out of their affliction.