Psalms 31

So lately I have been dealing a great deal with learning how to rely on God and not in the worldly things. This has been a trying time in my family and personal life due to an unexpected death in the family and loss of friends.
God took me today to Psalms 31. Normally I read more than one chapter at a time but today I needed to meditate and try and digest this passage:

Psalm 31 (The Message)

Psalm 31
A David Psalm
1-2I run to you, God; I run for dear life. Don't let me down!
Take me seriously this time!
Get down on my level and listen,
and please—no procrastination!
Your granite cave a hiding place,
your high cliff aerie a place of safety.

3-5 You're my cave to hide in,
my cliff to climb.
Be my safe leader,
be my true mountain guide.
Free me from hidden traps;
I want to hide in you.
I've put my life in your hands.
You won't drop me,
you'll never let me down.

6-13 I hate all this silly religion,
but you, God, I trust.
I'm leaping and singing in the circle of your love;
you saw my pain,
you disarmed my tormentors,
You didn't leave me in their clutches
but gave me room to breathe.
Be kind to me, God—
I'm in deep, deep trouble again.
I've cried my eyes out;
I feel hollow inside.
My life leaks away, groan by groan;
my years fade out in sighs.
My troubles have worn me out,
turned my bones to powder.
To my enemies I'm a monster;
I'm ridiculed by the neighbors.
My friends are horrified;
they cross the street to avoid me.
They want to blot me from memory,
forget me like a corpse in a grave,
discard me like a broken dish in the trash.
The street-talk gossip has me
"criminally insane"!
Behind locked doors they plot
how to ruin me for good.

14-18 Desperate, I throw myself on you:
you are my God!
Hour by hour I place my days in your hand,
safe from the hands out to get me.
Warm me, your servant, with a smile;
save me because you love me.
Don't embarrass me by not showing up;
I've given you plenty of notice.
Embarrass the wicked, stand them up,
leave them stupidly shaking their heads
as they drift down to hell.
Gag those loudmouthed liars
who heckle me, your follower,
with jeers and catcalls.

19-22 What a stack of blessing you have piled up
for those who worship you,
Ready and waiting for all who run to you
to escape an unkind world.
You hide them safely away
from the opposition.
As you slam the door on those oily, mocking faces,
you silence the poisonous gossip.
Blessed God!
His love is the wonder of the world.
Trapped by a siege, I panicked.
"Out of sight, out of mind," I said.
But you heard me say it,
you heard and listened.

23 Love God, all you saints;
God takes care of all who stay close to him,
But he pays back in full
those arrogant enough to go it alone.

24 Be brave. Be strong. Don't give up.
Expect God to get here soon.

This is a wonderful passage. It spoke to me so much with everything I have been going through. I absolutely LOVE how he opens with I run to you God...don't let me down! I feel like I have been saying that so much lately! Ironically He will never let me down but yet I still feel the need to say it because I am so used to being let down by people. I have found myself on numerous occasions this last month falling to my knees and crying out to God trying to take shelter in Him just as David is in this passage.
Lately I have felt that too many times the people around me are too concerned with the "religion" aspect instead of where God's heart is and yet here it is David back 2,000 years ago crying out about how much he hates the silly religion and that he trusts God NOT the religion! I feel this way so much of the time! I trust my God. I trust what he tells us in his word. Religion is man's interpretation of His Word and all too many times man is way off on the mark.
This passage also gave me even more hope in the fact that God will take care of His people and will deliver you from those that torment you or plague you. He will give you room to breathe! Does that not just make you smile? It does me! Even though that life as a Christian is never going to be easy and God doesn't just take away all the bad things or people in your life HE WILL GIVE YOU ROOM TO BREATHE! So take him up on that....take a breath, find comfort in Him, run to Him, call out to Him!
Just as the scripture says God will take care of all of those who stay close to Him! But likewise he will pay back in full all of those that choose to not stay close to him....not sure about you but I don't want to find out what that pay back is like.
I truly love how he closes out this Psalms....."Be Brave. Be Strong. DON'T GIVE UP. EXPECT GOD TO GET HERE SOON!!!" All to many times we....myself included get so discouraged and think that when everything is going bad that God has forgotten about us or is never going to show up....guess what EXPECT GOD TO GET HERE SOON!!!! It is not on our own timing but on his! Yes we may be hurting...physically, mentally, emotionally....but if you show up seeking God, taking refuge in Him and expecting Him to show up He will!!!
Love you all and REMEMBER BE BRAVE! BE STRONG! DON'T GIVE UP! EXPECT GOD TO GET HERE SOON!!!