Psalm 31:14–16
But I trust in you, O LORD;
I say, “You are my God.”
My times are in your hand;
rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!
Make your face shine on your servant;
save me in your steadfast love!
Sometimes it feels like each new day brings new sorrows and new troubles. Each new day brings reminders of old pain and old shame. Waking up feels more like facing a new assailant than it does a bright new start.
So when the days feel perilous and ruinous, remember that God holds the days. He holds your days, your life. Your life is not random or out of control. The days do not wield whatever power they want to wound you. There is evil and pain in them, but they are not off a leash and unhindered. Your times are in God’s hand, and he neither wastes them or discards them.
When the days feel perilous and ruinous, remember that God gives new mercies each day–the very mercies you need for that day. When Lamentations speaks of “the wormwood and the gall” (Lamentations 3:19-23) that means the bitterness and sorrow within, and the Lord knows yours and provides mercies to comfort and care them specifically. He does not forget or overlook your worst days. His faithfulness is unfailing, and his new mercies flow from the fact that nothing about God is new. He is a constant, he does not change, his love is unfailing and unwavering, he keeps every promise, he is never absent. So his mercies today are new to you, but flow from his permanent goodness. And that is just what you need when the days are uncertain and unstable.
I originally wrote this post for my church, Immanuel Nashville, in our Daily Pulse email. If you want encouragement from God’s word delivered Monday thru Friday to your inbox, I encourage you to subscribe.