MAKE US GLAD, LORD
Satisfy us in the morning with Your loving devotionH2617, that we may sing for joyH7442 and be gladH8055 all our days. Make us gladH8055 for as many days as You have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen evil.
Psalm 90:14-15 (a prayer of Moses the man of God)
90:1–17 The thrust of this magnificent prayer is to ask God to have mercy on frail human beings living in a sin-cursed universe. Moses begins the psalm with a reflection on God’s eternality, then expresses his somber thoughts about the sorrows and brevity of life in their relationship to God’s anger, and concludes with a plea that God would enable His people to live a significant life. The psalm seems to have been composed as the older generation of Israelites who had left Egypt were dying off in the wilderness (Num. 14).
MacArthur Study Bible
H2617 חֶסֶד cheçed – a masculine noun indicating kindness, loving-kindness, mercy, goodness, faithfulness, love, acts of kindness . . . The classic text for understanding the significance of this word is Psalm 136 where it is used twenty-six times to proclaim that God’s kindness and love are eternal . . .
The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament, Baker and Carpenter, eds.
Moses prayed for God’s chosen people, the Israelites. His petition was that after the long night of affliction and trials, they would see a new dawn of God’s loving-kindness. He prays that the days of joy would equal the days of their affliction. Moses is certain the response to God’s comfort, relief, and mercy toward the Israelites will result in songs of joy and gladness the rest of their days. Only God can create gladness in the shadow of sadness. Sometimes He does it through people sharing just the right words. Sometimes when you feel so low you could play handball against the curb (slightly shorter than me LOL), God can elevate your mood with a baby’s laughter. I’ve been in such chronic sudden pain that I have screamed out the name of the Lord in the middle of the night. Sometimes it feels like days of affliction will never end, when the temporary of this life seems to be awfully permanent. But then God sends the dawn of joy. I’ve never had the fun of feeling the breeze in my hair while running or riding a bike, but when the Holy Spirit is flowing through me as I study or teach God’s word, I feel that freedom. When I listen to Christian music and wave my hand like a conductor to express my worship, I feel the joy of God’s loving-kindness.
Are you feeling depressed, afflicted? Are you experiencing chronic pain or financial struggles? Pray. Ask the Lord to send a new dawn of His loving-kindness to you and to fill you with His joy because His loving-kindness, peace, and joy are everlasting. Remember that the trials of this life are fleeting compared with the glory we will experience in His presence forever! (Romans 8:18)
Father, we thank You for the breezes of joy that flow over us even as we struggle with pain, sorrow, or trials. We pray for the day You grant us complete healing and joy unspeakable and unending, and we trust Your wisdom as to when that comes.