Need Encouragement? Eyes Up!

The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.¹ Give thanks to the LORD,² for he is a forgiving God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love.³

For the LORD is a merciful God⁴ who wants to restore your soul.⁵ When we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.⁶ That’s why there’s no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life set us free from the law of sin and death.⁷ For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him!⁸ Jesus came so we can have life to the full.⁹

True, sometimes we’re hard-pressed on every side, but he won’t let us be crushed. We get perplexed, but he lifts us from despair. We’re persecuted, but he never will abandon us.¹⁰ The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. There is no record of him ever forsaking those who seek him.¹¹ And there never will be. He has promised, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”¹²

Oh, blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.¹³

Yes, call upon God in the day of trouble,¹⁴ and he will hear you,¹⁵ answer you,¹⁶ and deliver you from all your fears.¹⁷ He will honor you¹⁸ and save you from all your troubles.¹⁹ God’s way is perfect; his word is trustworthy.²⁰ He is a shield for all who take refuge in him.²¹

The Lord assures us that his eyes are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayers.²² A righteous man may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all.²³ This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us, we know that we have whatever we asked of him.²⁴

If you don’t know what to pray for, the Spirit himself will intercede for you with groans that words cannot express.²⁵ Yes, the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.²⁶ So, devote yourself to prayer, being watchful and thankful²⁷ and never give up.²⁸

Remember, you can do all things through Jesus who gives you the strength²⁹ because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.³⁰ That’s why nothing can ever separate us from the love of Christ. Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?³¹ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. And we know that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.³²

We have so much to look forward to — because no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him!³³ Let the righteous rejoice in the LORD and let all the upright in heart praise him!³⁴ Sing to God, sing praise to his name!

Extol him who rides on the clouds — his name is the LORD!³⁵

_{¹Ps 145:18 ²Ps 118:1 ³Neh 9:17 ⁴Deut 4:31 ⁵Ps 23:3 ⁶1 Jn 1:9 ⁷Rom 8:1-2 ⁸Ps 103:11 ⁹Jn 10:10 ¹⁰2 Cor 4:8-9 ¹¹Ps 9:9-10 ¹²Heb 13:5 ¹³2 Cor 1:3-4 ¹⁴Ps 91:15 ¹⁵Ps 34:6 ¹⁶Ps 86:7 ¹⁷Ps 34:4 ¹⁸Ps 91:15 ¹⁹Ps 34:6 ²⁰Ps 18:30  ²¹Pr 30:5  ²²1 Pet 3:12 ²³Ps 34:19 ²⁴1 Jn 5:14-15 ²⁵Rom 8:26 ²⁶Jas 5:16 ²⁷Col 4:2 ²⁸Luke 18:1 ²⁹Phil 4:13  ³⁰1 Jn 4:4 ³¹Rom 8:35 ³²Rom 8:37-39 ³³1 Cor 2:9 ³⁴Ps 64:10 ³⁵Ps 68:4}