C.S. Lewis, once he came to faith in Christ, realised that as an atheist he had completely misunderstood the Christian idea of faith. As an atheist, he thought that faith meant choosing to believe something for which one had no evidence – which is a stupid thing to do.

Once he realised that Christian faith is clinging to what one has come to believe because of the evidence, his attitude changed. We come to faith because of the evidence. But in moments of weariness, or when we have received bad news, we are tempted to forget the evidence that convinced us to believe. Our emotions take over when we are under stress. Faith is the ability to tell our emotional reaction to shut up, so that we can continue to live according to what our intellect judged to be true under calmer circumstances.

This psalm is about that stubborn faith that helps us go on in what is right, even in moments when – due to discouragement of some kind – we feel like giving up.

The day of my trouble

I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me. ² In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted. ³ When I remember God, I moan; when I meditate, my spirit faints. ⁴ You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak. (1-4)

This is a psalm we would do well to read when we come to our day of trouble. Such days will come to every one of us. Days of trouble and sleepless nights will come. What should we then do?

Remember His past deeds

We should remember the past days. We should remember the Lord’s past faithfulness and meditate on it.

I consider the days of old, the years long ago. ⁶ I said, “Let me remember my song in the night; let me meditate in my heart.” Then my spirit made a diligent search: ⁷ “Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favourable? ⁸ Has his steadfast love forever ceased? Are his promises at an end for all time? ⁹ Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his compassion?” (5-9)

Hard times will come. Faith responds by remaining constant in prayer and worship. As Lewis found out, one cannot be a good Christian (or even atheist) if he cannot cling to what he claims to have found to be true. In moments of trouble and doubt, we must review those things we studied in the calmer moments. Otherwise, we will become unstable fools forever dithering between different opinions.

I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. ¹² I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds. ¹³ Your way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God? ¹⁴ You are the God who works wonders; you have made known your might among the peoples. ¹⁵ You with your arm redeemed your people, the children of Jacob and Joseph. (11-15)

Here we might ask, “Why are Jacob and Joseph specifically mentioned?”

Perhaps because many people find it easy to remember the Exodus and to forget the 400 plus years that went before — the 13 years of Joseph’s slavery, the seven years of famine, the 80 years of violent oppression in Egypt. There have been hard times in the past. The current hard times are not, therefore, something that should destroy our faith. Instead, fed by the memory of the past, our current troubles are put in proper perspective.

Some scholars indicate that the “remembering” of God’s wonders is a public recounting of them rather than simply mentally remembering them. Such was the nature of much of Israel’s worship (Passover, Booths), and such a public act of remembrance is at the heart of Christian worship. But remembering the deeds of the Lord must be a daily activity as well (Dt. 6:4-8, 20-21).

Hidden movement

When the waters saw you, O God, when the waters saw you, they were afraid; indeed, the deep trembled. ¹⁷ The clouds poured out water; the skies gave forth thunder; your arrows flashed on every side. ¹⁸ The crash of your thunder was in the whirlwind; your lightnings lighted up the world; the earth trembled and shook. ¹⁹ Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters; yet your footprints were unseen. ²⁰ You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

There are times when God’s actions light up the world as lightning lights the sky (17). There are other times when his “footprints are unseen” (19). But whether seen or unseen he is present and he is active.

God acts in his time and in his way. Often the means he chooses may be as difficult for us to understand as his timing. We misread several Bible stories in our attempt to manufacture human heroes. God is the hero of Joseph’s story, of the books of Ruth, Esther, and Philemon. But in all these cases his activity was indirect, largely unseen, and far from instantaneous.

The difficulties we face may often be means to an end. But our comfort is rarely God’s chief concern. Rather, our holiness and the salvation of as many as possible is God’s goal. This means that sometimes what is very bad for our comfort may come to us either for our long-term good, or for the long-term good of others.

Hugh Latimer is quoted as having said to Nicholas Ridley: “Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man; we shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out.” Their death by fire may seem a very odd means to a good end. But it accomplished its end. If they had believed that God’s purpose was their comfort, if they had been serving God merely for what they expected to get from him, then I cannot conceive how they would have faced the stake.

Are we Christians only because of what we hope to get out of it? If so, I hope that we grow up. Because it is not about us. It is not about our comfort, not about our pleasure.

Are we Christians because we hope to be instruments of God’s will? If so, we will find great comfort and satisfaction even in trial and we will develop a stubborn faith that sticks with what is right even when everything seems to be going wrong.