“Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.” Psalm 143:8
My sleeping child suddenly jumped up on the bed exclaiming, “The sun is up! And so am I!” Okay, I admittedly don’t leap out of bed with such optimism at the start of a new day. But I do love the early morning hours when I see the dew on the grass and hear chirping birds.
There’s something about the newness of morning.
If we only read this Psalm 143:8, we might assume that all is going well for David who penned Psalm 143. However, this assumption is far from right. In this Psalm, before we ever make it to verse 8, David prays and pleads for God’s mercy, asks God to not judge him, declares the enemy has pursued and crushed him to the ground, claims the enemy makes him dwell in darkness, says his spirit has grown faint, his heart is dismayed, and claims his spirit fails, and pleads with God to not hide His face from him.
But tucked into his despair, we see in verse 1 David declaring God’s faithfulness and righteousness and in verse 5 he considers what God’s hands have done in the past.
In verse 8, we see David’s decision to lean into God by faith. David asks for a renewal of being able to hear God’s unfailing love. Sorrow has a way of causing us to not be able to hear God. David in faith says, “Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love.” In other words, please supply me with an ability to hear your word. And in particular, help me hear your words of your unfailing love.
I will never forget when I found out one of my children had severe high frequency hearing loss. Due to her loss, I realized my precious adopted daughter had never even yet heard her name correctly. Chad and I were devastated. Around that same time, another child began to have large seizures. And around that same time, a church partner quit partnering with us because we equip women as leaders and church planters (and the pastor let us know through a text message – uh, yeah…) Those days were dark. We felt alone, dangling out there in Asia. Satan wants the hearts of the redeemed to move into despair, and he even at times uses Christians to help that process along! We truly felt deep despair and found ourselves begging God to not take His face away from us.
But David shows us the way to look up in faith even when in despair. David counted on God’s love and because of that he prayed, “Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.” David was able to entrust his life to God because He trusted in God’s unfailing love! He knew if he could hear God’s unfailing love, he could yet live.
We also can offer our lives in faith to the God whom we know loves us! When we hear words of God’s unfailing love, it is like divine dew in the early morning. When we rely on God, God cannot and will not disappoint us. I think God smiles every time He hears one of us say, “I trust you!” As we lift our souls to God in faith, God shows us the way to walk.
So, in those three instances of despair during the one week I listed above – deafness, seizures, and the loss of a partner? Well, God.
1. Deafness – God moved a family to help us purchase hearing aids. God showed us through them that God heard our cries, and we weren’t alone. God had provided community for us.
2. Seizures – God healed our daughter of seizures. She heard God say one day, “You will never have another seizure.” When she heard God’s voice, she said her entire body became warm. Two years later, she has yet to have one. (And a family chose to not fulfill their commitment to 1040 when we mentioned God has healed her. They were against both healing and women using their gifts… Yeah… God steps in and Satan counter-attacks.).
3. Church partner – God quickly encouraged as we remembered. We knew their act didn’t match the character or Spirit or Word of God. He helped us remember the 200,000 plus salvations that have happened because 1040 has equipped women.
4. And, oh the money we lost because we believe God still heals and values women and empowers them in His mission? Well, one couple stepped up during that same time (without knowing of this couple who quit their commitment early) and increased their own donations making it more than when both couples gave. And we spoke at a church, and a couple came forward and gave a one-time donation that was 6 TIMES what this church gave in a year.
Since that time, our daughter has adjusted to hearing aids, another daughter learned to hear God’s voice and experienced God’s healing power from seizures, and we continue to have the funds we need to equip women to multiply God’s disciples in persecuted areas of the world.
Just as I don’t bound out of bed each morning with as much optimism as my little girl, I also don’t always look up in faith immediately. I have moments of despair just as David did. But oh, how I want to grow to more fully trust in the One whose love is truly unfailing. Thankfully, God is growing me in this. Working in ministry gives me lots of room to practice!
Today, as I sat with God, I looked back at what God has done in the past. I am reminded that when we entrust our lives to the One who loves us, He guides us. Even in our despair, if we can just spread out our hands in surrender and prayer to God, He will send us each morning words of His unfailing love.
Sisters and brothers. lift your eyes of faith to the Lord, and God WILL lift your soul. You and we can trust this God who loves us! When we choose to entrust our lives to God, God notices. God walks with those who trust in him.
