"Hear my prayer, Lord....Do not hide your face from me when I am in distress....For my days vanish like smoke....My heart is blighted and withered like grass....I am like a desert owl, like an owl among the ruins. I lie awake; I have become like a bird alone on a roof." (From Psalm 102, NIV)
Loneliness is a horrible affliction. Is there medication for this? Can "counselors" help deal with this? If you find yourself here today, don't feel as though your are "out of it." King David, "the sweet psalmist of Israel," once cried out, "Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted."
The psalmist in today's text speaks of this loneliness, the feeling of being alone in the world as, "....I am in distress." The dictionary describes, "distress," as "extreme anxiety, sorrow or pain." Only those who have "been there" can feel it. The psalmist likens the sense of loneliness to, "alone on a roof." He feels like, "....blighted and withered...grass." There is no doubt the pain is deep, awaiting, longing for some "cure."
If you are in such a state today, I encourage you to hear our Lord Jesus Christ breathing on you His glorious invitation and promise, "Come to Me, all you who are weary and weighed down, and I will give you rest....From Me...you will find rest for your souls." This is my encouraging offer to you today as the "cure" for any distress-causing loneliness. Feed on Jesus, His Words, our Glorious Comforter, and, "....what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called the children of God." I pray this helps a little.
Father, in Jesus' Name, for all the lonely out there today, Have mercy. Amen.
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
Hebrews 12:2
Hebrews 12:2
