Posted on 03/11/2022 8:51:27 PM PST by Pilgrim's Progress
“The thoughts of the righteous are right: but the counsels of the wicked are deceit” (Proverbs 12:5 KJV).
Here is the classic passage on all this:
“I cried unto God with my voice, even unto God with my voice; and he gave ear unto me. In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord: my sore ran in the night, and ceased not: my soul refused to be comforted. I remembered God, and was troubled: I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah. Thou holdest mine eyes waking: I am so troubled that I cannot speak. I have considered the days of old, the years of ancient times. I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search. Will the Lord cast off for ever? and will he be favourable no more? Is his mercy clean gone for ever? doth his promise fail for evermore? Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies? Selah. And I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High. I will remember the works of the LORD: surely I will remember thy wonders of old. I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings” (Psalms 77:1-12 KJV).
“my soul refused to be comforted,” do you ever get like that? People try to help you, but just nothing will help.
“I call to remembrance my song in the night,” there was a time when I did have joy—consider those first days right after we were first saved and we were so close to the Lord, but time erodes our fellowship. As soon as a man is saved, he’ll never be as close to God again in this life. He begins to backslide immediately. If you ever had cataracts and remember opening your eyes and viewing the world right after the bandages were removed—you can get some idea of what a special time it was as you saw the world in a whole new clarity that you did not know before.
“Will the Lord cast off for ever?” You know He won’t. He said He’ll never leave or forsake you. Sooner or later God is going to work it out.
“will he be favourable no more?” You know He will. You do right, you’ll find favor.
“Is his mercy clean gone for ever?” You know, it feels like that sometimes. David is here communing with his heart. He is thinking things through. The Devil is saying, “He’s gone now! You’ve really messed up this time. There’s no repentance left for you.” The Devil will talk you into all kinds of things if you listen to him.
“doth his promise fail for evermore?” You say, “Lord, how does this thing work together for good? You can’t see it working for good right now, but it is. It is.
“Hath God forgotten to be gracious? hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies?” I mean, “Lord, how much more am I going to have to endure? When are You going to lean off of me?
But David had the answer.
“This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High. I will remember the works of the LORD: surely I will remember thy wonders of old. I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings.”
Forget the situation you are in, and consider what the Lord has done, and will do. That is how to bring thoughts into captivity. Best way to control thoughts is not to be thinking about what God isn’t doing, but what He has done in the past and what He will surely do in the future, for you. You are saved, going to heaven, He has given you a Bible. You’ve seen Him work in your life and others, and you know that He isn’t through working.
Selah! Or just pause and think on that!
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