Psalm 28

I had been meaning to post about this since October 28. I can't help but declare God's hand in our lives, and my heart is overwhelmed with His tendermercies.

The first two verses of Psalm 28 are written:

To You I will cry, O LORD my Rock;
Do not be silent to me,
Lest, if You are silent to me,
I become like those who go down to the pit.
Hear the voice of my supplications when I cry to You,
When I lift up my hands toward Your holy sanctuary.

In the margin of my Bible, I have these verses highlighted with a note that says, "August 28, 2007--Crying out to conceive". It had already been over a year and a half at that point that we had tried to add a new member to our family, and I had had one miscarriage. There were times it was hard to trust in God and know that He had a plan for us, but I truly had no where else to go. Only He can create life; no matter what we tried, it was out of our hands. I had to force myself to trust in the love of Him who knows better than me.

I hadn't returned to these verses in some time, that I can think of. When I sat on the morning of October 28, 2008, just a few weeks ago, I read this Psalm again. I swelled with tears when I got to the end of the Psalm:

Blessed be the LORD,
Because He has heard the voice of my supplications!
The LORD is my strength and my shield;
My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped;
Therefore my heart greatly rejoices,
And with my song I will praise Him.

In the margin next to these verses, I have a note: "October 28, 2008--Rejoicing in worship b/c HE answers!" There were times in this journey of waiting that I felt like I could slip into a pit because of my own desperation and disappointment, especially after my second miscarriage at the beginning of this year. The amazing and wonderful thing that I'm experiencing is that God really can and does wipe away the tears. He is the God of the impossible, able to do what no human can, which is to redeem the moments of our lives for His glory. Praise to Jesus for dying on the cross to overcome death and sin for those who will trust and believe in Him, making it possible to have joy in the midst of sorrow because in the end, He is the Overcomer and the Victor, and He is gracious enough to share that with His children.

Thank you, God, for giving me "beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning" (Isaiah 61:3). "You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me in gladness, to the end that my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to You forever" Psalm 30:11-12.