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My Troubles Are Enlarged

I don’t know about you, but I have a tendency to make my troubles seem worse than they really are.  I don’t actually make them worse, but as I think about them, they seem to grow and grow and almost become larger than life.

Perhaps that is what the Psalmist was describing when he wrote:  “The troubles of my heart are enlarged; bring me out of my distresses.”  (Ps 25:17)

Yep, that’s me!  I do that!  I enlarge my troubles.  Mole hills become mountains.  Slight hurts become mortal wounds.  Slight generic symptoms become dreaded diseases.

But look how the Psalmist bookended his troubles with truth.  Before verse 17, he wrote:

“My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for he will pluck my feet out of the net. Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.” (Ps 25:15-16)

And after verse 17, he wrote:

“Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins.” (Ps 25:18)

In the midst of feeling his troubles were enlarged and he was distressed, one bookend was that the Lord was the one who could rescue him.  The other was that it was the Lord who could forgive his sins.

While these bookends of truths are based on the character of God, it appears the Psalmist was still honest enough to admit that he was still lonely, afflicted and experiencing trouble.  It could be that when he focused on his troubles, they become so large that they seemed to eclipse the truths he had written about. 

But the Psalmist did recognize that he needed to turn his eyes toward the Lord.  He knew that would be where his help would come from and his hope was that the Lord would turn to him and be gracious to him.

As the Lord turns to us and is gracious, the troubles that were enlarged begin to diminish.  He also plucks our feet out of the nets that once ensnared us.

So turn your eyes ever toward the Lord and remember to bookend your troubles and distresses with truth.

 

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