Comfort From The Psalms April 11, 2016 Issue

A psalm that hasn’t let me down

Annette Kreutziger-Herr

A psalm that has been a guidepost to me is Psalm 73. The whole psalm does not mince words with regard to the hopelessness we may feel when confronted with fierce opposition. It also addresses the difficulty of feeling unable to confront this opposition properly.

It’s been good for me to remember that, as Paul alludes to in the New Testament, this opposition has to do with the imaginings of the human mind. And he helps us see the way to counter it: “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (II Corinthians 10:5).

The opposition we encounter is mental—a bunch of degrading, demoralizing, dispiriting mental suggestions aiming for acceptance and insisting on failure—but they have no actual power. For example, as I’ve looked at Psalm 73, the struggle to overcome mental darkness is seen. Verse 21 of the psalm speaks of this state of thought, “Thus my heart was grieved.” The Psalmist goes on, “So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee” (verse 22). But after this elegy of many verses filled with despair, the tide begins to turn, the light of Truth shines brightly, and we read: “Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory” (verses 23, 24). My eyes fell on those two verses when I was in need of assurance during the writing of my master’s thesis on musicology and Italian.