When you root for your favorite team, you not only support and cheer them on. You also feel joy and pain with them. You share in their joy when they win the close game. When the devastating loss happens, you feel that loss, too. Part of being for someone means that you walk through emotions with them. The same is true with God. Because He is for us and cheering for us, He feels our joys and our pain. When we cheer, He feels that joy. When we are sorrowful, He feels our sorrow. This is the truth that we can cling to every step of our lives.
When David was in the depths of despair and sorrow, he turned to God. He prayed and wrote down his prayers. As he prayed, he wrote, “You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in Your bottle. You have recorded each one in Your book” (Psalm 55:23). As he prayed, he knew that God knew each one of his sorrows. No sorrow he faced was unrecognized by the Lord. He understood that God saw Him and cared about every trial, sorrow, and heartache he faced, big and small. Why was this the case? Because God was for him and cared about what David cared about, too.
In the same way, God cares for you and me, too. He sees each tear that falls, even the tears that we shed in secret. He feels every pain and heartache that we feel because He is for us. When we feel joy, He too feels our joy. When we are sad, He feels our sorrow along with us. This is what happens when God is on our side, championing us and cheering us on. We do not face any of our pain alone. Because of this, we can turn to Him whether we are feeling joy or pain. He is with us through it all, and He cares deeply. May we all feel His great comfort today.
Is there any pain or heartache that you are feeling today? Take it to God. Share your hearts and your pain. As you pray, remember that God feels your heartache, too. Thank Him that He is a God who is for His people and shares in our pain and sorrows with us.
Listen to my prayer, O God,
do not ignore my plea;
hear me and answer me.
My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught
because of what my enemy is saying,
because of the threats of the wicked;
for they bring down suffering on me
and assail me in their anger.
My heart is in anguish within me;
the terrors of death have fallen on me.
Fear and trembling have beset me;
horror has overwhelmed me.
I said, “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest.
I would flee far away
and stay in the desert;
I would hurry to my place of shelter,
far from the tempest and storm.”
Lord, confuse the wicked, confound their words,
for I see violence and strife in the city.
Day and night they prowl about on its walls;
malice and abuse are within it.
Destructive forces are at work in the city;
threats and lies never leave its streets.
If an enemy were insulting me,
I could endure it;
if a foe were rising against me,
I could hide.
But it is you, a man like myself,
my companion, my close friend,
with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship
at the house of God,
as we walked about
among the worshipers.
Let death take my enemies by surprise;
let them go down alive to the realm of the dead,
for evil finds lodging among them.
As for me, I call to God,
and the Lord saves me.
Evening, morning and noon
I cry out in distress,
and he hears my voice.
He rescues me unharmed
from the battle waged against me,
even though many oppose me.
God, who is enthroned from of old,
who does not change—
he will hear them and humble them,
because they have no fear of God.
My companion attacks his friends;
he violates his covenant.
His talk is smooth as butter,
yet war is in his heart;
his words are more soothing than oil,
yet they are drawn swords.
Cast your cares on the Lord
and he will sustain you;
he will never let
the righteous be shaken.
But you, God, will bring down the wicked
into the pit of decay;
the bloodthirsty and deceitful
will not live out half their days.
But as for me, I trust in you.
