A DIFFICULT HILL

A Difficult Hill

Read: Psalm 110
Bible in a Year: Jeremiah 40–42; Hebrews 4

He will drink from a brook along the way, and so he will lift his head high.—Psalm 110:7

High in a fold of Jughandle Peak in the mountains north of our home in Idaho lies a glacial lake. The route to the lake goes up a steep, exposed ridge through boulders and loose stones. It’s a strenuous ascent.

At the beginning of the climb, however, there is a brook—a spring that seeps out of soft, mossy earth and flows through a lush meadow. It’s a quiet place to drink deeply and prepare for the hard climb ahead.

In John Bunyan’s classic allegory of the Christian life, The Pilgrim’s Progress, Christian arrives at the foot of a steep ascent called the Hill Difficulty, “at the bottom of which was a spring . . . Christian now went to the spring and drank to refresh himself, and then began to go up the hill.”

Perhaps the difficult mountain you face is a rebellious child or a serious medical diagnosis. The challenge seems more than you can endure.

Before you face your next major task, visit the spring of refreshment that is God Himself. Come to Him with all your weakness, weariness, helplessness, fear, and doubt. Then drink deeply of His power, strength, and wisdom. God knows all your circumstances and will supply a store of comfort, of spiritual strengthening and consolation. He will lift up your head and give you strength to go on. —David Roper

Father, at this moment I turn to You for strength in my weakness, energy for my weariness, and faith in my doubt.

To help strengthen your trust in God, read Hope: Choosing Faith Instead of Fear at discoveryseries.org/q0733

He who overrules all things . . . enabled Christian to . . . continue on his way. John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress

INSIGHT: Psalm 110 is one of many Messianic psalms. These prophetic Hebrew hymns are called Messianic because they predict the coming of God’s anointed king or Christ (Messiah means Christ) which is Jesus. This particular psalm reaches both back and forward in the biblical text to teach us something about who Jesus is and the role He plays in bridging the gap between God and humanity. Dennis Moles