Savoring the Scripture

A Prayer for Comfort in Affliction  Psalm 119:49-56 Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly… ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭40‬:‭1‬-2a For the souls weighed down by oppression and affliction, they long for comfort and rest. Questions may rise. Does God care? How long will this last? Will I feel this way forever? Will my sorrow ever come to an end? Will I feel joy again? What comfort can be mine now in the midst of my suffering? God cares for the afflicted For twenty years Jacob suffered at the hand of his oppressor. Deceived and cheated many times, Laban's authority and power over him put Jacob in a position of vulnerability. At times, he was even fearful. The story of Laban’s mistreatment of Jacob can be found in Genesis 29-31. Truly, these years were years of affliction for Jacob. But God had given him a promise, "Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you...

A Prayer for Comfort Psalm 86 He is able…to give hope and joy under the heaviest sorrows. Matthew Henry Paul, in 2 Corinthians, gives us a wonderful description of the Lord. He is the “Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). For the believer, our Heavenly Father is the source of all comfort we look for and receive. To be the source of comfort means that God is where our comfort comes from and can be obtained. And He is able and willing to comfort us in ALL our affliction. He comforts in any trouble, distress, anguish, affliction, hardship, trial, tribulation, irritation, disappointment, setback, financial distress, or sorrow we face today. There is no situation that befalls us where we lie outside the reach of God’s comfort.  Psalm 86 is David’s cry to the Lord for God to be gracious toward him according to His abundant love and truth. There were many times in David’s life where this psalm would’ve been appropriate for...