A Table Laden With Hope

Have you ever woken up and you just feel sad? Nothing is wrong; perhaps, everything is actually going very well, but you feel a bit glum. You don’t know why. You try to shake it. Maybe you engage in retail therapy. Maybe you take a long walk. Maybe you watch a favorite old movie. You have coffee with a friend. You eat ice cream. Maybe all the above helped disguise your heart of despondency — for a time. Then the end of the day comes. With the setting of the sun an overall sense of sadness rises. You don’t want to go to sleep that way. You don’t want another day like the one you just had, disguising what’s on the inside by outward activity.

I share a verse in Psalm 22:26 that I find a great help. It says this: “The poor will eat and be satisfied. All who seek the Lord will praise Him. Their hearts will rejoice with everlasting joy.” Upon reading the first sentence, it would be easy to mistakingly think this is talking about those who are physically hungry, but that is incorrect. It’s talking about those who are sad, going through an emotional or spiritual despondency. For those, they may eat at the Lord’s table and be satisfied. What does that mean? It further tells us that all who seek Him, will praise Him. What does that mean? Then it tells us that such hearts will rejoice with a happiness that lasts for eternity. What? Really? What does that mean?

This is the Vickie Blair paraphrase: When you’re feeling really down, eat from God’s Word. His Word is a table laden with help in every time of trouble. Seek those truths from God. Eat and digest them in your spirit. The sweet words of truth are so tasty that praises permeate your once downtrodden heart with fresh hope. Joy will spread throughout your being. God’s joy lasts for eternity.

Eat from the table that serves a dish of, “Come to me all who are weary from heavy burdens and I will give you rest,” or “Cast all your cares upon me because I care for you,” or “As for me, I will sing about Your power. Each morning I will sing for joy about Your unfailing love. For You have been my refuge, a place of safety when I am in distress.” Matthew 11:28, I Peter 5:7, Psalm 59:16-17

It is a table laden with hope.