CHRIST REIGNS!

Often people write to us saying, “I have no one to talk to, no one to share my burden with. Nobody has time to hear my cry. I need someone I can pour my heart out to.”

King David was surrounded by people. He was married, with a large family, and had many companions at his side. Yet we hear the same cry even from David: “To whom shall I go?” It is in our very nature to want another human being, with a face, eyes and ears to listen to us and advise us.

When Job became overwhelmed by his trials, he cried out with grief: “Oh that one would hear me!” (Job 31:35). He uttered this cry while sitting before his so-called friends. Yet those friends had no sympathy for Job’s troubles. Instead, they were messengers of despair.

In his sorrow, Job turned only to the Lord: “Behold, my witness is in heaven, and my record is on high… Mine eye poureth tears unto God” (Job 16:19-20). In the Psalms, David urged God’s people to do likewise: “Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us” (Psalm 62:8). David also wrote in Psalm 142:

“I cried unto the Lord with my voice; with my voice unto the Lord did I make my supplication. I poured out my complaint before him; I shewed before him my trouble. When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, thou knewest my path. In the way wherein I walked have they privily laid a snare for me. I looked on my right hand, and beheld, but there was no man that would know me: refuge failed me; no man cared for my soul. I cried unto thee, O Lord: I said, Thou art my refuge and my portion in the land of the living” (142:1-5).

I believe in my heart this message is an invitation to you from the Holy Spirit to find a private place where you can frequently pour out your soul to the Lord. David “poured out his complaint,” and so can you. You can speak to Jesus about everything – your problems, your present trial, your finances, your health – and tell him how overwhelmed you are, even how discouraged you are. He will hear you with love and sympathy, and he will not despise your cry.

God answered David. He answered Job. And for centuries he has answered the heart-cry of everyone who has trusted his promises. Likewise, he has promised to hear you and guide you. Indeed, he has pledged by oath to be your strength. Go to him, and you will come out renewed.