ICS Daily Devotions
The Miry Pit of Self-Pity

Psalm 121:1-2 (NKJV) I will lift up my eyes to the hills—From whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

One would think that it should be natural for people to instinctively look up to God for help when they are in the valleys of life. Unfortunately, it is not always the case.

One of the reasons why we may not do that is because we are dwelling in self-pity; we think that God is disappointed with us and has forsaken us or even given up on us. Self-pity will cause us to look inward and downward—we will rehearse in our minds how hopeless the situation is and how our bad decisions have led to the current state. Sometimes, we may even have the tendency to look towards others who are in a similar or worse situation in order to draw strength or to come to terms with what we are going through. However, being in a “pity party” not only doesn’t solve the problem, our self-pity will only worsen by comparing our lives with others’ and eventually lead to wrongful resentment towards God. Self-pity is like being stuck in a miry clay—something hard to climb out of.

“What have I done to deserve this?” is usually a common question. While bad decisions, such as those made out of our selfish desires and ambitions, may have led us to reap what we have sown in life, what is done can’t be undone. The way forward is to live through the consequences and reposition ourselves with the help of God, the first step of which is to look up to God and ask for forgiveness for living our lives apart from Him.

1 John 1:9 (NKJV) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Although when we are at a very low point in our lives, we may not feel worthy to come before the Lord, we need to remember that He is waiting for us to return to Him, just like the father in the story of the prodigal son, who chose to forgive his son, extended grace and restored everything to him. We can look to the hill of Calvary where Jesus’ shed His blood for us, because it expresses the riches of God’s grace and the work of redemption.

Ephesians 1:7 (NKJV) In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.

God has chosen to redeem us from the enslavement of sin through the work of Jesus Christ. We have the forgiveness of sins, and He will forgive us our sins and remember our lawless deeds no more when we ask him for forgiveness—He will cleanse us from all unrighteousness! Remembering this truth will help us to stand up under the pressure and ascend from the valley to the mountain towards God.

Sermon Series: We Have an Unwavering Help and Support from the Lord