It has been almost one year since we have been troubled by this pandemic.  Because of the Covid virus we have been limited in what we can do.  We cannot meet to worship like we did before (photo of "socially-distanced" tea party).  We have been doing everything remote.  We even have school and worship services on Zoom.  We cannot have parties with friends like we used to.  We must wear masks and stay socially distanced.  We are beyond tired.  We are burned out.  The psalmist voiced our feelings when he wrote Psalms 6.  

Read verses 2, 3, 6, and 7.

“²I am worn out, O Lord; have pity on me!

          Give me strength; I am completely exhausted
³             and my whole being is deeply troubled.
How long, O Lord, will you wait to help me?”

“⁶I am worn out with grief;
          every night my bed is damp from my weeping;
          my pillow is soaked with tears.
⁷I can hardly see;
          my eyes are so swollen
          from the weeping caused by my enemies.”

That certainly sounds like how we feel some days.  We are just tired.  No, we are burned out.  We have about reached our limits.  In addition to the virus we have experienced extreme weather (photo of Dutch snowstorm).  It seems our world is
falling apart.  How long will we have to endure this?  Where is our hope?  The problem is that we are not yet at the end of the Psalm.  The answer is in the rest of the story.  Look at verses 8 and 9.

The Lord hears my weeping;

⁹         he listens to my cry for help
          and will answer my prayer.
 

We are not alone.  The Lord hears our weeping.  God is a loving God and like a loving mother He loves His children and watches and listens to every cry we make.  He hears every whimper.  He sees every tear.  He will answer our prayer.  God is still with us.  The apostle Paul said he could live with the difficulties because he could feel the presence of Christ (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).  I pray that we will all: Be smart, be careful, be helpful, be safe, and not be afraid.  God is with us now and forever.​

 

Dale D. Meredith

Pastor, University Baptist Church, Amherst, New York and

Professor Emeritus, State University of New York at Buffalo