“When my “heart-cares” are many, your consolations cheer my soul.” Ps. 94:19
Heavenly Father, we carry many kinds of “cares” in life—small, mid-size, and large. But the ones which make it into the “heart-care” category have the most power to rob us of peace, sleep, and hope. As “heart-knower,” Father of compassion, and God of all comfort (Acts 15:8; 2 Cor. 1:3), we camp out at your throne of grace today.
King David said, “your consolations cheer my soul.” That’s like saying oxygen “cheers” our respiratory system when we’re gasping for air; or water “cheers” us up when we we’re dangerously dehydrated, and the well is dry; or the Gospel brings us “cheer” when our mortality, eternity, and need for your grace are 6 inches from our face.
Father, you are no mere cheerleader. Thank you. We don’t need a pep talk or propping up. We ourselves, or friends we are walking with, need you to be the “God who raises the dead” (2 Cor. 1:8-9)—the Father who is able to do “immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine” (Eph. 3:20.
On this January Friday, we cry out for mercy and “consolations”—for your hand and heart to take our “heart-cares,” for they are too heavy for us to cast on you. We ask for supernatural deliverance for people we love; and a kiss of hope for friends overwhelmed with anxiety or grief.
Lastly, Father, we look to you for encouragement for all of us who love you, but are a bit weary, trust you but are being stretched to our limits, need you and aren’t at all embarrassed to own it. You are so good, faithful, and kind. So Very Amen.