Psalm 25:16-18 not done

Psalm 25:16-18 ESV
Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. [17] The troubles of my heart are enlarged; bring me out of my distresses. [18] Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins.

In another post I mentioned a work by Christopher Love. The title is, A Christian's Directory.  It is indeed well worth reading.  He deals, at one point, with our struggles - sorrow concerning "worldly crosses," vs "our sin."  He writes:

"If you mourn for sin, the true joy that arises from the forgiveness of sin, will swallow up the grief that comes to you through any worldly cross of affliction."

Do we find that to be true?  I think that's part of the point of Psalm 25:16-18.  Our worldly crosses really can take our eyes off His mercy and grace which in turn diminishes our comfort and confidence in Him.

We are not prohibited in any way from sorrowing for our worldly crosses but we have to keep all things in perspective.  When we suffer "crosses" in our lives it is all too easy to forget the "cross" we will never ever have to bear.  This is very unhealthy for the believer.

I think we have gotten confused about "here."  We have forgotten that it is not our home.  We have forgotten that it is judged for destruction.  We strive to be "at home" in a place we are just visiting - though we are visiting with a purpose.

Even in this Psalm we can see how our minds can focus on the "crosses" to the detriment of our mortifying our sin.  We are forgiven - though we still sin.  It is our sin and its forgiveness we need to work on keeping before our eyes.

The Puritans can be tough to read.  They had great senses of humor but when it came to sin and salvation it seems to disappear (as well it should). They found themselves going to prison, to the chopping block, to the pyre.  They found themselves homeless, destitute, hungry, oppressed, persecuted ---- etc. etc. etc ---

But they also knew they were going to heaven - they knew they were saved and they fought anything, feeling or thought, that turned their minds and hearts away from those facts.   It's is not easy to hurt now and hope for heaven then.  Sometimes it hurts so bad now that we beg for heaven now.

We read in the Word about hero's.  Well folks - there is only one hero in the Word and that's God.  Every marvelous and miraculous deliverance, release, rescue, etc. were God's doing NOT Abraham's or Moses' or David's or Paul's --- but God's.  These men and women we elevate to the status of heroes were just men and women like you and I who learned to trust in God and were used by Him through His power and provision to be there when He worked His wonders and displayed His glory.

We've got to quit looking for and/or trying to be heroes.  We need to be humble and meek and faithful servants of the only hero (which is a pretty poor term for Him).

Let us be sad in our affliction but rejoice in our salvation - It's not always easy and it sometimes feels fake - but it is what we need to be doing.

Father, teach me, gently, to look to You alone for my needs and to acknowledge You alone for all my blessings.  Teach me from your Word how to do this humbly, regularly and wisely.

Amen