Psalm 102:1
“The prayer of one afflicted and wasting away whose anguish is poured out before the Lord.”
I groaned when I read this first verse of Psalm 102. Cancer has a tendency to make one terrified of phrases like “afflicted” and “wasting away.” Someone I love very much is battling cancer, and while there is always hope, underneath us both is an underlying dread that this isn’t going to end well. So far, through God’s grace, our fears have been manageable. So we soldier on, trying to live each day like there isn’t the spectre of death hanging over our heads.
The psalmist calls out to the Lord in verses 2 and 3, “Lord, hear my prayer; let my cry come to you. Do not hide your face from me now that I am in distress.” I give thanks that I know, without a shadow of a doubt, I am God’s beloved, and that this God who loves us both is at our sides always, regardless of how this ends.
(c) 2015 Debra Cook
