Day 22 ~ Hope for Hurting Souls

Has God ever sent you a word at just the right time, exactly when you needed it? That's what He did for me this weekend through this post by my good friend, Christa Sterken. Check out her wonderful blog here.

Christa's paraphrase of Psalm 18 offers hope for hurting souls. A healing balm washed over my soul as I read it. I trust it will do the same for you.

Based on portions of Psalm 18
I love you, O Lord, My strength.
The Lord is my rock, my safe place, and my deliverer.
The only place where I can take refuge.
I call to the Lord, who is worthy of my praise,
And I am saved from my enemies.
The cords of death and depression entangled me;
The torrents of self-destruction overwhelmed me.
The cords of the grave, fear, coiled around me;
The snares of confusion confronted me.
In my distress I called to the Lord!
I cried out desperately to my God for His help.
From His temple, a place unseen to me, he heard my voice;
My sorrowful cry came before him, into his ears.
His waiting ears.
He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
He drew me out of the deep waters of despair.
He rescued me from my powerful enemy. Rescued me from that which sought to destroy me that was too strong for me.
Those fears confronted me in the day of my disaster, but the LORD was my support! He was in my corner. In fact, he was my corner.
He brought me to a safe place,
He rescued me because He delighted in me. Delighted, in me!
The Lord has dealt with me not according to any righteousness of my own, but according to His son, who cleansed my stained hands, yet he still rewarded me.
For I have often kept the ways of the Lord. Many times I have failed.
But I have never turned permanently from my God.
All his laws are before me; and he shows me mercy when I turn away from his decrees. He softly and kindly turns me back to them.
I am now blameless before him, and try to keep myself from sin.
You teach me to be humble, and bring my eyes low when arrogant.
You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning;
My God turns my darkness into light!
As for my God, his way is perfect; his words are flawless.

******************************

I'm linking up all month at The Nesting Place for the 31 Days of Change blogging challenge. There are over 1,000 topics to choose from! Check it out by clicking the button below.