Not Forgotten And Never Forsaken
BRD REFLECTIONS:
1 Samuel 1:1-28; 2:1-11 and Psalm 42 (NIV)
(Jesudas Menon, Precepts Facilitator)
READ:
I read of how God remembered Hannah in her circumstances of utter despair (1 Samuel) and how a Psalmist recalls God’s goodness in his period of dire distress (Psalm 42).
OBSERVE:
Hannah endures a bitter sense of humiliation as she carries the burden of her barrenness. Neither Elkanah nor Eli seems to be able to understand her perpetual sense of deep grief. She then turns to her God to remember her in her utter despair. He hears her silent yet gut-wrenching prayer, rewards her with a son, who, in turn returns to His service as the young prophet Samuel.
Similarly, the Psalmist bemoaned his period of exile as he searches and thirsts, day and night, to be in God’s presence once more. He was seeking refreshment for his dry soul in his period of dire distress. Nevertheless, his hope wasrekindled twice in this Psalm by the reassurance that his God, whom he had once before hoped in, would once more be the source of his future deliverance.
God did not forget Hannah; nor would He forsake the Psalmist in their anguish.
APPLY:
I am encouraged, like Hannah and the Psalmist, to bring my petitions to the Lord, no matter how gut-wrenching or hopelessly parched. I will remember His unceasing faithfulness and past goodness as my only source of hope.
DO:
I will read and meditate on His Word daily, study the context of the various situations presented in each book of the Bible, and seek to find relevance of how the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who was real to Hannah and the Psalmist, will also be as to me today
PRAY:
Father in Heaven. I come before you in my times of utter despair and dire distress due to unfortunate circumstances. In such moments, when all hope seems lost, Your Word reminds me that Your Son’s death on the cross and His resurrection tore the veil that separated me from You. I now have open access to You in my moments of hopelessness: anytime, every time and for anything, knowing that You have not forgotten me and will never forsake me. This I claim in Jesus’ most precious Name, Amen.
