Crying to the Lord in Your Time of Sadness.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord; O Lord, hear my voice.  Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.”
Psalm 130:1-2

When I saw this woebegone orangutan at the Forest Park Zoo, my heart went out to him for he looked so sad.  And why should he not be sad?  He was captive in a zoo far from his natural habitat, subject to thousands of spectators pointing and gawking at him each day.

Sure, he was well fed and cared for otherwise, but he was not free.  He was a prisoner and pretty down about it.

Do you feel that way today also?  Sure your daily needs are met, but you feel captive to the sadness that comes from your all too familiar sinful condition.  You are a prisoner to those habits and forces that control you and keep you prisoner as surely as if you were behind bars.  Perhaps like this little fellow at Forest Park, you feel at the end of your rope with nowhere to turn.

Then I encourage you to cry out to the Lord in your sadness.  Out of the depths of despair and captivity, make your petition known to your Heavenly Father.  For He is merciful and attentive to your cry, and He will not abandon you to sin and death.  Instead, He has sent His Son, the Redeemer, the Savior from our sin.  This Savior is a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, He knows your sadness, your forsakenness, your hopelessness.

In Him there is hope and forgiveness and life.  In Him there is One who never leaves you.  In Him there is freedom forevermore.

Dear Lord, sometimes I am sad and weary and at the end of my rope.  I feel there is nowhere to turn in my sinfulness and hopelessness.  Thank you that You hear me and have mercy on me, for Jesus’ sake.  Amen.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado