My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to your word!
Psalm 119:28
It was Christmas break, and I remember it vividly. I had a dog named “Shoes.” He was a rascal. He would dig out from under the backyard fence and go carousing around the neighborhood for a day or two, and then I would have to go and find him eventually. Sometimes he would come back home with injuries from a fight with a larger dog. You see, he was a small manchester terrier. Not big at all.
One Christmas break from school, the temperature was supposed to get down to way below freezing. And this was in the middle of one of “Shoes'” master escape artist times of flirting and running around the neighborhood. I looked for him all day and couldn’t find him. So another day went by, and it turned into a week….
At the same time, my friend and I were riding bikes in a field behind our neighborhood, and I ran across, yes, you guessed it, my dog “Shoes.” He had been in a pretty good fight with another dog and found his way to the field. Little did Shoes know that he would freeze that night in the field alone.
I couldn’t believe it. I carried him back home. It was one of the worst days for me, and I had never experienced anything like that before. My heart sank. It physically hurt. I think I was experiencing sorrow.
Sorrow Melts the Heart
Sorrow is something each of us experiences from time to time. I would imagine that many of us feel that way today, and for different reasons. If I tried to write down all of the reasons we experience sorrow, volumes of books could not hold them. But we do know that God tells us that sorrow melts the heart.
The word sorrow is an emotion of incredible sadness as a result of some significant loss. It is one of the most challenging emotions to struggle through because there is a sense of loneliness that accompanies sorrow that makes you feel isolated.
God describes it perfectly by using the words, “melt away,” because that means to become weary, tired, and to weep. Maybe some of you experienced all of these emotions over the past 24 hours. I don’t know. And while it is very easy to experience weariness, it is a tragedy to stay there. But I do know that in the middle of such a strong group of emotions, God throws us a rope.
God’s Word Strengthens the Heart
The rope is God’s Word, the Bible. Here’s what we have to realize. God’s word is powerful. I know when you’re in the depths of sorrow and have become weary with life that God promises to strengthen our weariness and hearts according to His word.
That is great news for us. So when you feel weary, beaten up, and overcome with sorrow, remember that God’s word is what you need. God is faithful to His promises and cares deeply for you. The thing about sorrow is that it is for a season, and then you move on. The question is whether you move on stronger and encouraged, or discouraged and dismayed.
Psalm 119:28 says that it is God’s word that gives us strength. Go to His word, read it, immerse yourself in it’s living pages.
God is the great counselor and uses His word to strengthen, encourage, and wipe our tears with the hope that only He can give.
Will you seek His comfort for you in His word?