19 When the cares of my heart are many,
your consolations cheer my soul. – Psalm 94:19
Cares
Can you relate to King David? Do you ever feel like your many cares are weighing down your heart? I’m sure we’ve all been there. In fact, I’m confident some of us are “there” today. As we go about our daily activities, our cares have a tendency to distract us at best or overwhelm us at worst. In so doing, they deny us many of life’s joys. And unfortunately, as they keep us tossing and turning in our beds at night they also rob us of our rest and peace of mind. We can close our eyes but that doesn’t stop our cares from haunting us.
Too often, the multitude of thoughts within us are like a crowd jostling for position. And what an unruly and unmanageable crowd it can be. This distraction bumps into that regret which wrestles with that question. Why me? If only! What’s next? Today has so many concerns, what will tomorrow bring? Not even a man like King David is immune from such forebodings.
As King David could attest, as long as we live in a fallen world, we will have to wrestle with cares. And in the context of Psalm 94, David is struggling with inequity. From his vantage point, things just didn’t look fair. The proud and wicked “fools” were oppressing the poor. According to David, they were “slaying widows and foreigners and murdering the fatherless”. To make matters worse, as the perpetrators poured out arrogant words they mocked God as inattentive and uncaring. But despite his heavy heart and distracted mind, David knew better.
My Heart
I’m confident that if you took a quick inventory of your heart, you would find a multitude of cares residing there. Just think; who could have ever imagined just a few short years ago how much our lives would be impacted by a pandemic and corresponding regulations? In addition, there has been so much political turmoil and divisive partisanship making cynics of even the most stout hearted among us. And even if you manage to insulate yourself from the cares “out there”, others will find a way into your daily life.
Like many of you, my heart is still heavy today because of the string of recent deaths that have upset so many hopes and dreams. And sadly, life has a cruel way of bringing us constant reminders of what we have lost. How can we feel our way through such a labyrinth in the dark? Just when we think we are close to finding our way out, another “care” blocks the way, and we begin to grope in the dark once again. Or so it feels.
Are you trying to feel your way through the dark labyrinth today? What cares are weighing down your heart and blocking your way? How is your physical or mental health, or the health of those you love? Any cares? How about your relationships? Are there any you need to work on or mend? Perhaps it is your finances that keep you tossing and turning at night. If none of these is a concern how about work or school? Any cares at church or with your spiritual status? As long as our blood is coursing through our veins, there seems to be no limit to the sources of our cares. The question becomes, what do we do when the cares of our hearts are many?
Escape
How many of us are inundated with so many cares that we look for means of escape? It’s Monday morning and we are already looking forward to the weekend! Unhappy, and too often unfulfilled with what we have, we dream about something “better”. Often succumbing to the grass is greener syndrome. But winter approaches and turns the grass brown, reminding us that fantasy won’t chase away our cares.
If we can’t find relief in one form of escapism, we try others. For some it is drugs or alcohol. Many turn to opiates to dull their senses and/or drinks to drown their troubles. But these only add to their woes. Foreign substances not your style? How about illicit relationships? Sadly, pornography and extramarital affairs have become all too common, yet they also only add to our woes. That painful crash after a temporary “high” reminds us that addictions are also ineffective in curing our cares.
We don’t have time to exhaust the numerous means of escape, but at the end of the day how many of our cares are “relatives” of David’s cares of inequity? Why do the righteous suffer and the wicked prosper? More specifically, why did he get a raise and not me? Why is my marriage falling apart? Why did I get that diagnosis? Why did I have to bury a child?
Life isn’t fair!! Hence looking for answers in an “unfair” world isn’t going to help.
Consolations
So where do we turn when our hearts are full of cares? Listen to what David says just a few verses later in Psalm 94.
22 But the Lord has become my fortress,
and my God the rock in whom I take refuge. – Psalm 94:22
Despite what the wicked of David’s time (and all time) said, God is not inattentive and uncaring (Psalm 94:7).
For every care the world weighs on your heart, God has an infinite number of consolations to cheer your soul. Death have you depressed? He is the Resurrection and the Life. Relationships strained? His love is eternal and perfect. Financial concerns? Nothing can touch your treasures in Heaven. Feelings of abandonment? He will never leave you or forsake. He will not go back on His Covenant promises.
God has loved you from eternity past. He knit you together in your mother’s womb. He sent His Son to die for your sins. Christ defeated the grave and death and you are clothed with His righteousness. As His child, your salvation is secure. Your Savior has risen to the right hand of the Father and you are seated with Him.
Look to your Fortress and Refuge. Meditate on what He has done for you. Because of the blood of Christ, you have been united with Him in His death and life. You are not only dead to sin, you are also indwelt with the Holy Spirit. Further, some day Christ is coming back in all of His glory. When He does He will not make all things fair, but in His grace He will make them right!!
Cheer
The world gives us cares and chaos. Storms that trouble our hearts. God gives us a Rock in whom we can take refuge. He gives us consolations that bring us joy, cheering our souls. Imagine that. While we struggle with escaping our cares, God wants us to bring them to Him (1 Peter 5:7). Oh, the circumstance may remain the same, but God’s consolations crowd out our cares.
In the midst of our cares; our multitude of thoughts, Jesus meets us and quiets the crowd. He brings order to our distractions, regrets and questions, by offering peace, forgiveness and rest. By bringing Heaven to our hearts, Jesus doesn’t just alleviate our cares, but in addition, He brings to us what the world never could. Joy.
11 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;
you have loosed my sackcloth
and clothed me with gladness,
12 that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.
O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever! – Psalm 30:11-12
Who doesn’t want to exchange mourning for dancing and sackcloth for gladness? Sorrow and grief must yield to joy.
Souls
Earlier I asked you to look into your hearts and take an inventory of the cares that are weighing you down. Now I want to challenge you to reflect on Biblical truths and see what the consolations of God won’t do for your soul. I’m convinced the darkness cast by our cares must give way the the glorious light of Truth.
Overwhelmed by cares? Run to the Rock and see if His Divine consolations aren’t efficacious in turning your cares into cheer. Your heart might be weighed down with cares, but perhaps soon it will be leaping with joy as you contemplate the sacrificial love of your Savior.