Living Life by Design

God does not promise any of us an easy path through life. Life can be, and often is extremely hard. The psalmist in Psalm 71:19-24 has seen ‘troubles, many and bitter’ (v.20). His troubles, pressures and worries were not occasional or trivial. They were numerous, ugly and serious.

It is easy to trust God when things are going well. The challenge is to keep trusting in the midst of our troubles. Never stop believing in the goodness of God: ‘Your righteousness reaches to the skies, O God, you who have done great things. Who, O God, is like you?’ (v.19).

Your troubles will not last forever either. In the midst of troubles, there is always hope: ‘You will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up. You will increase my honor and comfort me once again’ (vv.20-21). God will use your troubles for good. He will shape your character through them. As a result, he will increase your honor. He will comfort you through them so that you can comfort others (2 Corinthians 1:4).

Keep on praising God in spite of the troubles: ‘I will praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, O my God; I will sing praise to you with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel. My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you – I, whom you have redeemed’ (vv.22–23). 

Spend time in worship today. The presence of God in worship brings us peace and solace, especially in difficult times.