DIE HERE IS DIE TOEVLUG VAN MY LEWE

(Afrikaanse Ou Vertaling)

1 ’N PSALM van Dawid. Die Here is my lig en my heil: vir wie sou ek vrees? Die Here is die toevlug van my lewe: vir wie sou ek vervaard wees?

DIE BOODSKAP

Die Here help my deur my donkerste krisis.

Sy hulp is soos ’n lig wat ’n mens in ’n pikdonker kamer aanskakel. Hy red my.

(Afrikaanse Ou Vertaling)

29 Want U laat my lamp skyn; die Here my God laat my duisternis opklaar.

die Here is my lig (1a), dui op die feit dat sy lewe veilig is in die hand van die Here.

In die Ou Testament is lig ’n simbool van die lewe (49:20 – vgl. 36:10),

en donkerte rondom ’n mens, van gevaar en die dood (18:29; 23:4a; Jes. 9:1).[1]

C. S. Lewis once wrote, “Down through the ages whenever men had a need of courage they would cry out ‘Billy Budd, help me’ and nothing happened. But for 1900 years, whenever men have needed courage and have cried out, ‘Lord Jesus, help me,’ something always happened.”

Max Lucado shares the story of a parakeet named Chippie, who has had a very bad day.

Here’s how it all began.

Chippie’s owner decided to clean his cage… with a vacuum cleaner. She was almost finished when the phone rang, so she turned around to answer it. Before she knew it, Chippie was gone.

In a panic she ripped open the vacuum bag and there was Chippie, covered in all manner of things one would find in a vacuum cleaner bag, and poor Chippie was gasping for air.

She rushed him to the bathroom, shoved him under the faucet and washed the dirt away. Suddenly she realizes that Chippie is cold and wet so she reached for the hair dryer!

Poor Chippie never knew what hit him.

His owner was asked a few days later how he was recovering.

"Well", she replied, "Chippie doesn’t sing much anymore. He just sits and stares."

Have you ever felt like that? One minute you’re singing praises, and the next you’re caught up in a whirlwind of stress. Life sucks you up into its vortex and just when you think you’ve recovered from one storm another storm begins to blows in.

Wat moet jy doen? Wel, jy kan 1van 2 dinge doen.

1. jy kan soos Chippie die parakeet wees en laat jou vrees jou lied en vreugde steel.

2. jy kan die hart van 'n kryger ontwikkel en weier om jou liedjie te laat sterf.

Dit kan slegs bereik word wanneer ons fokus op ... wie God is ... Hoe groot hy is, en wat hy vir ons beteken.

Een ding wat ons oorgenoeg van het is tyd.

Miskien kan jy nou begin om jou eie geloofsbelydenis neer te skryf.

Die Psalmdigters het dit gedoen end it het hulle sekerheid versterk. Wat glo jy regtig oor God.

By expressing your faith during the time of trouble, you take the first step toward healing and wholeness[2]

Soos die Disipels het ons ook Jesus op die boot en vrees dan nog

ook Jesus op die boot en vrees dan nog

(Afrikaanse Ou Vertaling)

38 Maar Hy was agter op die skuit aan die slaap op die kussing. En hulle het Hom wakker gemaak en vir Hom gesê: Meester, gee U nie om dat ons vergaan nie?

39 En Hy het opgestaan en die wind bestraf en vir die see gesê: Swyg, wees stil! En die wind het gaan lê, en daar het ’n groot stilte gekom.

40 Toe sê Hy vir hulle: Waarom is julle so bang? Hoe het julle dan geen geloof nie?

As gelowige is ons nie geroep om probleeme te begin nie, maar Probleem oplossers te wees.

Ons is geroep om voorbidders te wees, Gaping-staanders, oorwinnaars, krygers van geloof.

Love’s Quiet Confidence

Though waves and storms go o’er my head,

Though strength and health and friends are gone,

Though joys be withered all and dead,

Though every comfort be withdrawn,

On this my steadfast soul relies—

Father, Thy mercy never dies!

Fixed on this ground will I remain,

Though my heart fail and flesh decay:

This anchor shall my soul sustain,

When earth’s foundations melt away:

Mercy’s full power I then shall prove,

Loved with an everlasting love.

—John Wesley[3]

[1] Van Zyl, A.H., 1993. Die Bybel verklaar: 1983-vertaling, Kaapstad: Lux Verbi.

[2] Jeremiah, D., 2005. God, I Need Some Answers: Life Lessons from the Psalms (Study Guide), San Diego: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

[3] Hobbs, H.H., 1990. My favorite illustrations, Nashville, TN: Broadman Press.