Psalm 119:49-128 | Our Greatest Need In Times Of Difficulty

"Remember the word to Your servant, in which You have made me hope. This is my comfort in my affliction, that Your word has revived me." (Psalm 119:49-128)

It has taken me years to see this, and I often miss it still. But the issue in every situation of our lives is always faith. We are born utterly independent from God. The great act of salvation and its purpose is to bring us back into intimate dependency upon God. Therefore, the purpose of every exercise God allows in our lives is to push us into corners where we remember that we can't make it without God.

This is the point of the promises, of which there are 7,000. God is speaking to us in the promises saying, "Here I am. This is the way you are to operate. You are to listen to me and trust Me. Anything less will not work."

The Psalmist realized that affliction is about being pressed into God. And there is nothing that will help us or revive us at that moment but God and what He says and promises.

Let's get practical: if you have a problem today, how are you approaching it? The most common response is to simply "work it out" on your own. Your best thinking and effort are applied. You get some human solution, and you trudge through the difficulty.

But there is another option. You can go to God's Word, find out what He says about the situation, and take His path. You can rely on Him. and trust His faithfulness to His promises. And then, when God brings His solutions, there is only One who gets the credit. This approach is called "faith" and is the whole point of the exercise.

Father, let me see my problems through Your perspective. Help me to understand what You desire to do amid each difficulty. Help me learn to "lean not on my own understanding, but in all my ways acknowledge You" so that You can direct my paths.