Psalm 31: ²¹ Blessed be the Lord, for he has wondrously shown his steadfast love to me when I was beset as a city under siege. ²² I had said in my alarm, “I am driven far from your sight.” But you heard my supplications when I cried out to you for help. ²³ Love the Lord, all you his saints. The Lord preserves the faithful, but abundantly repays the one who acts haughtily. ²⁴ Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord. 

This is David again pleading with the Lord under difficult circumstances. What gets my attention is the contrast between what David’s eyes say about his situation and what his heart says. His eyes tell him he is surrounded, as a city under siege (v.21). He has doubts as to whether the Lord is still with him “I am driven far from your sight”. But then there’s v.24 in which he implores the reader to “let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord”. I think this is David writing from experience. There were many times in David’s life when things looked particularly bleak, only to have the Lord eventually come to his aid.

There is a difference between the testimony of the eyes and the testimony of the heart.

The eyes say the situation is hopeless. The heart says with God there is always hope. That’s a good word for me today. There are places in my life where I am waiting on the Lord to act, to show me the way, to turn around a difficult situation. Lord give me grace that, like David, my heart might take courage. Amen.