Psalm 116

Sometimes I become exasperated with people. I might overhear someone in the hall telling dirty jokes. And they call themselves Christians? My friends might become angry with one another. Can't we all just get along? One denomination accuses another of heresy. Aren't we all brothers and sisters in Christ? Then, before I know it, I'm giving everyone the cold shoulder; I've embodied the traits that I hate and I've become a fellow grouch. Sometimes I just hate being human.
It was one of those times that I crawled back to my room in the dorms after a hard day of tests. My brother tried to give me some constructive advice but I accused him of being a religious parrot of doctrine and tried to ignore him as I crawled into bed.
I had made a promise to myself at the beginning of the semester that I would read at least one psalm every night. So I got to work on it. Immediately, the words of Psalm 116 started to convict me of my sin. I was desperate, and the psalm spoke my heart. I had been zealous for God when I saw wickedness around me. "I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy" (verse 1). I will always praise the Lord for his kindness to me. I cannot love him enough for what he does for me day to day. "Then I called on the name of the Lord: 'O Lord, save me'" (verse 4)! Sometimes I feel hopeless. It is only when I cry to God that I again feel at peace and he fills me up with his sustaining love and I overflow, splashing it back into his lap with joy. "The Lord protects the simplehearted; when I was in great need, he saved me. Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you" (verses 6 and 7). I am not a simplehearted person, naturally. I always try to reason my way through things. However, sometimes God just needs us to empty ourselves of our own knowledge and lean on him. Once we stop struggling to hold up our own head, God will hold it up for us. Why he would do this for a mortal man is beyond me, but he also sent Jesus to die for our sins, and that blows my mind. "And in my dismay I said, 'All men are liars.' How can I repay the Lord for all his goodness to me" (verse 11)? I have often been in this situation where I become so fed up with the shortcomings of men that I throw humanity to the wind. Of course, all men and women are going to let us down at some point, but we need to remember how good God has been to us for our many shortcomings. Let's demonstrate the same sort of patience for other men. There is so much more to this psalm, I encourage you to read the whole thing.