I saw only trouble and sorrow.
Death wrapped its ropes around me; the terrors of the grave overtook me.
I am deeply troubled, Lord.
Wow, how do we walk in the Lord’s presence as we live in the midst of the chaos of earth? Your chaos will look different from my chaos and our chaos will look different from the next person’s. But truly, each day has troubles of its own. So, today, how?
The answer can be found in the verses surrounding these. Psalm 116, gives us a pattern to follow if we want to be able to live in the Lord’s presence even while living amid the turmoil of daily living. Verse 1 begins, “I love the Lord because He hears my voice.” I am a firm believer in praying a prayer of faith. When we start our conversation with Him believing that He hears us our faith begins to sprout. Sometimes actually saying it aloud helps that seed to take root even better.
The Psalmist intersperses these faith statements in his cry for help. In one moment he’s saying death is near, in the next he’s proclaiming how kind and merciful and good our God is. This is so key to walking in His presence! Even in the turbulence—we’re not denying that it’s there—announcing the greatness of our God.
“I believed in you, so I said, I am deeply troubled, Lord.” He expects us to be real. God can handle our feelings. God, Himself, is an emotional God. Throughout His Word we see that He grieves (Eph. 4:30); although it’s slow coming, He gets angry (Ex. 34:6); the joy of the Lord (Neh. 8:10) is referred to throughout; He displays sadness through tears (John 11:35). Being real with God is important, not forgetting that the way we please Him is by having faith (Heb. 11:6).
And so I walk in the Lord’s presence as I live here on earth! What a privilege. What a joy. What a comfort. I can take Him into the pandemonium that sometimes describes my life and trust Him to walk me through it successfully, bringing glory to His name.
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