Jan 20 - Avoiding Comfort

January 20

Avoiding Comfort 

Ps 77:2 In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord:

… my soul refused to be comforted.

 

The psalmist tell us he was having a bad day. He had something he considered troubling.  He must have been a wise man because when he had trouble he sought the Lord.  But he found no comfort.  You may have done the same thing and wondered why God did not answer you.  

Perhaps you have not accepted His son, Jesus; or you were insincere in what you said; or God did answer but His answer did not comfort you, or God has a lesson only distress and agony can teach.  Those were four reasons we considered yesterday. If you missed it I suggest you go to Jan 19 and read it to better understand today’s thoughts.  

Today I want to focus on why the psalmist was not comforted.  Read our verse carefully and note that after he sought the Lord it does not say “…and God refused to comfort him.”  It says MY soul refused.  When we just read over the verse with little thought it reads like he sought God but God would not comfort him. Instead we now see that God may have provided the means of comfort but his soul refused to be comforted.  Yesterday we looked at why God may not have provided the comfort sought after. Today we will look at why the psalmist refused to be comforted.

There is a multitude of reasons why people will not be comforted. Here are a few.  Perhaps the most common reasons are ignorance or stubbornness.  The Word of God is our instruction book. Some people do not read the instructions.  Have you ever tried to assemble something and after a few failed attempts turned to the instructions and learned some simple thing you were doing wrong?  Yes, the same thing happens to people who do not spend time reading the Bible. They don’t read the instruction book of life and wonder why things are all messed up and they are not comforted. 

But our vesre says “…my soul refused to be comforted”  Perhaps the psalmist is like many Christians today who have some special problem that is so unique the Bible has no answer.  They know what the Bible says but…!  That word “but” is the key to their stubbornness.  You may know Christians, even pastors, who mention something from the Bible and explain why that won’t work in their very unique case. The truth is they refuse to follow clear Biblical instruction and try to excuse their disobedience by claiming some new, never happened before, circumstance. 

Ec 1:9 … and there is no new thing under the sun.  

Unless there is a medical reason , the plain fact is people often refuse to be comforted.  They want anger, discouragement, frustration, and trouble to continue.  Why would anyone want that?

Bitterness is one reason. The best definition of bitterness I have heard is “withholding love”.  The Bible says “love one another”  13 times. (Rom 13:8, 1 Thes 4:9, 1 Pet 1:22, 1 John  3:11, 3:23, 4:7-11-12, etc)  But the bitter person thinks it is OK to withhold love. Someone hurt them and in spite of clear Biblical instruction they feel entitled to withhold love.  

Busy bodies meddle in what is none of their business. If you pick up another person’s offense you will be troubled. God gives grace to those who are having trials but not to those who aren’t.  Yes we should “bear one another’s burdens”  (support, pray, and care for them) but when you assume another’s problems as an offense toward you, there will be no God given grace to sustain you and no comfort for you.  

People refuse to be comforted because they want their own way. Twenty years later they are still complaining about the people who wanted that ugly blue carpet in the church, instead of the beautiful lime green one they wanted.  They feel discomfort every time they see that blue carpet.

Others like the attention they get.  I knew a man who would retell the details of why his soul was not comforted and the people who were at fault for making him miserable. Every effort to help him was side stepped with some reason why it couldn’t be done.  I finally stopped trying to help him. He refused to be comforted because he wanted people to feel sorry for him and pay attention to him.

Some are not comforted because they think God needs their help and have told Him how they want a problem solved. But God has not done exactly what they have told Him to do. They can’t understand why and are not comforted.

And finally some try to continue in the pleasure of some sin and wonder why they are not comforted. 

There are many reasons people refuse to be comforted.

When you find someone who is troubled they may have refused to be comforted for one of the reasons mentioned.  But be assured it is a failing on their part and not God’s.  You can cast all your cares upon Him for He careth for you. Christ said his yoke is easy and His burden is light. If your burden is heavy it is self-imposed.  God is in the comforting business. 

2Co 1:3 ¶ Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;