May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples with equity and guide the nations of the earth. (Ps. 67:4)
Expanded Passage: Psalm 67
Sweaty and tired, we loaded the bus after our game. Facing yet another loss, we felt defeated as a team. The ride home was quiet except for a few barking orders from our notably exhausted coach. By nature, she was normally a fun-loving person who always found something to joke about. However, stretched thin with doubts flooding her eyes, she was less jovial on this particular drive home.
The senior players on our team seemed to take the constant losses the hardest out of any of us. They had taken us under their wings and taught us valuable skills in how to successfully win games, yet we were not performing. We were losing nearly every game we showed up to. For all of their experience and excellence, they could not win alone. The rest of us also needed to step up and implement our knowledge in order for the team to succeed. Sadness and despair hung in the air.
When discouragement arises, gladness and joy can quickly fade. This verse in Psalm 67 reads like a pep talk from a coach who is trying to encourage someone toward joy in light of any heaviness they are currently facing. Amidst the difficult, amidst the hard—may you today “be glad and sing for joy” because of who God is and how well he guides those under his care with tender justice.
Read through Psalm 67, and be coached to joy and gladness.
Sarah Cochran received an MDiv from Wesley Seminary and is an ordained Wesleyan pastor in the Florida District. She and her husband, Tom, work for an agency rescuing kids from trafficking.
© 2024 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
