“A father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows, Is God in His holy habitation. God makes a home for the lonely; He leads out the prisoners into prosperity, Only the rebellious dwell in a parched land.” (Psalm 68:5–6, NASB95)
Some of the loneliest of all people are mentioned in the scripture above. There is mention of orphans or “the fatherless”, widows, and prisoners. To each of these groups, God has offered his presence so that they may not be alone. Psalm 68:5 makes clear that “God makes a home for the lonely” who believe in Him. God gives them a new family. The Almighty Father is a “father of the fatherless”. However, there is mention in the scripture for today of one group that will be lonely without God. They are the “rebellious”, the ones who have forsaken God. In their desire to reject God, they will find themselves alone, without divine presence, outside the family of God, and “in a parched land” (Psalm 68:6).
When you choose to believe in God with your whole heart and begin to live in a relationship with God, you become part of the family of God. God takes you into the fold. Subsequently, you are never alone. The Prophet Isaiah promised that God’s plan during the exile was to “comfort His people” (Isaiah 40:1). Jesus recognized this capacity to bring comfort when He taught the disciples that soon the Holy Spirit, “the Comforter”, would come to dwell with them (John 14:16). The Apostle Paul mentioned that one of God the Father’s actions in history is to be a “comfort to all the faithful who are afflicted” (2 Corinthians 1:4). Even during creation, God did not want Adam to be alone, so He created Eve. One way or another, it is God’s hope that the faithful always feel God’s loving comfort surrounding them like a blanket, uplifting them at every turn. God will not leave the faithful lonely.
“Loneliness is a growing problem in our society. A study by the American Council of Life Insurance reported that the most lonely group in America are college students. That’s surprising! Next on the list are divorced people, welfare recipients, single mothers, rural students, housewives, and the elderly.
To point out how lonely people can be, Charles Swindoll mentioned an ad in a Kansas newspaper. It read, “I will listen to you talk for 30 minutes without comment for $5.” Swindoll said, “Sounds like a hoax, doesn’t it? But the person was serious. Did anybody call? You bet. It wasn’t long before this individual was receiving 10 to 20 calls a day. The pain of loneliness was so sharp that some were willing to try anything for a half hour of companionship.”” (Bible.org)
When you are feeling lost or alone, remember this desire of God to bring you comfort and erase your loneliness. As stated in the scripture for today, “God makes a home for the lonely”. Even when you are alone in some place, you will never be truly without company. When God’s Holy Spirit is with you, God’s presence is assured. From the moment you make your vows to be faithful to God and receive the Holy Spirit in return, you are never alone. God is with you. God is present. God knows your name. God knows where you are. God’s Spirit is at work in you and around you. God will bring others to comfort you. And when there is no one available to step in and bring comfort, God is known to send angels to abide with you just as happened with Elijah when he fled from the wrath of Jezebel (1 Kings 19), and with Jesus in the wilderness after Satan’s temptations (Matthew 4).
“Around 1608—more than a decade before the Pilgrims landed in the New World—a group of English traders, led by a Captain Hunt, sailed to what is today Plymouth, Massachusetts. When the trusting Wampanoag Indians came out to trade, Hunt took them prisoner, transported them to Spain, and sold them into slavery.
But God had an amazing plan for one of the captured Indians—a boy named Squanto.
Squanto was bought by a well-meaning Spanish monk, who treated him well and taught him the Christian faith. Squanto eventually made his way to England and worked in the stable of a man named John Slaney. Slaney sympathized with Squanto’s desire to return home, and he promised to put the Indian on the first vessel bound for America.
It wasn’t until 1619—ten years after Squanto was first kidnapped—that a ship was found. Finally, after a decade of exile and heartbreak, Squanto was on his way home. But when he arrived in Massachusetts, more heartbreak awaited him. An epidemic had wiped out Squanto’s entire village. We can only imagine what must have gone through Squanto’s mind. Why had God allowed him to return home, against all odds, only to find his loved ones dead?
A year later, the answer came. A shipload of English families arrived and settled on the very land once occupied by Squanto’s people. Squanto went to meet them, greeting the startled Pilgrims in English. According to the diary of Pilgrim Governor William Bradford, Squanto “became a special instrument sent of God for [our] good . . . He showed [us] how to plant [our] corn, where to take fish and to procure other commodities . . . and was also [our] pilot to bring [us] to unknown places for [our] profit, and never left [us] till he died.”
When Squanto lay dying of a fever, Bradford wrote that their Indian friend “desir[ed] the Governor to pray for him, that he might go to the Englishmen’s God in heaven.” Squanto bequeathed his possessions to his English friends “as remembrances of his love.”
Who but God could so miraculously weave together the lives of a lonely Indian and a struggling band of Englishmen?” (Charles Colson, BreakPoint Commentary, November 25, 1998).
Only those who reject God will feel the true sting of a loneliness that doesn’t go away. If you ever feel lonely, remember that you are a part of a holy family. Remember that God is with you. Trust that God will be close. Ask for God to bring you comfort. “You will never walk alone.”
When you choose to believe in God with your whole heart and begin to live in a relationship with God, you become part of the family of God. God takes you into the fold. Subsequently, you are never alone. The Prophet Isaiah promised that God’s plan during the exile was to “comfort His people” (Isaiah 40:1). Jesus recognized this capacity to bring comfort when He taught the disciples that soon the Holy Spirit, “the Comforter”, would come to dwell with them (John 14:16). The Apostle Paul mentioned that one of God the Father’s actions in history is to be a “comfort to all the faithful who are afflicted” (2 Corinthians 1:4). Even during creation, God did not want Adam to be alone, so He created Eve. One way or another, it is God’s hope that the faithful always feel God’s loving comfort surrounding them like a blanket, uplifting them at every turn. God will not leave the faithful lonely.
“Loneliness is a growing problem in our society. A study by the American Council of Life Insurance reported that the most lonely group in America are college students. That’s surprising! Next on the list are divorced people, welfare recipients, single mothers, rural students, housewives, and the elderly.
To point out how lonely people can be, Charles Swindoll mentioned an ad in a Kansas newspaper. It read, “I will listen to you talk for 30 minutes without comment for $5.” Swindoll said, “Sounds like a hoax, doesn’t it? But the person was serious. Did anybody call? You bet. It wasn’t long before this individual was receiving 10 to 20 calls a day. The pain of loneliness was so sharp that some were willing to try anything for a half hour of companionship.”” (Bible.org)
When you are feeling lost or alone, remember this desire of God to bring you comfort and erase your loneliness. As stated in the scripture for today, “God makes a home for the lonely”. Even when you are alone in some place, you will never be truly without company. When God’s Holy Spirit is with you, God’s presence is assured. From the moment you make your vows to be faithful to God and receive the Holy Spirit in return, you are never alone. God is with you. God is present. God knows your name. God knows where you are. God’s Spirit is at work in you and around you. God will bring others to comfort you. And when there is no one available to step in and bring comfort, God is known to send angels to abide with you just as happened with Elijah when he fled from the wrath of Jezebel (1 Kings 19), and with Jesus in the wilderness after Satan’s temptations (Matthew 4).
“Around 1608—more than a decade before the Pilgrims landed in the New World—a group of English traders, led by a Captain Hunt, sailed to what is today Plymouth, Massachusetts. When the trusting Wampanoag Indians came out to trade, Hunt took them prisoner, transported them to Spain, and sold them into slavery.
But God had an amazing plan for one of the captured Indians—a boy named Squanto.
Squanto was bought by a well-meaning Spanish monk, who treated him well and taught him the Christian faith. Squanto eventually made his way to England and worked in the stable of a man named John Slaney. Slaney sympathized with Squanto’s desire to return home, and he promised to put the Indian on the first vessel bound for America.
It wasn’t until 1619—ten years after Squanto was first kidnapped—that a ship was found. Finally, after a decade of exile and heartbreak, Squanto was on his way home. But when he arrived in Massachusetts, more heartbreak awaited him. An epidemic had wiped out Squanto’s entire village. We can only imagine what must have gone through Squanto’s mind. Why had God allowed him to return home, against all odds, only to find his loved ones dead?
A year later, the answer came. A shipload of English families arrived and settled on the very land once occupied by Squanto’s people. Squanto went to meet them, greeting the startled Pilgrims in English. According to the diary of Pilgrim Governor William Bradford, Squanto “became a special instrument sent of God for [our] good . . . He showed [us] how to plant [our] corn, where to take fish and to procure other commodities . . . and was also [our] pilot to bring [us] to unknown places for [our] profit, and never left [us] till he died.”
When Squanto lay dying of a fever, Bradford wrote that their Indian friend “desir[ed] the Governor to pray for him, that he might go to the Englishmen’s God in heaven.” Squanto bequeathed his possessions to his English friends “as remembrances of his love.”
Who but God could so miraculously weave together the lives of a lonely Indian and a struggling band of Englishmen?” (Charles Colson, BreakPoint Commentary, November 25, 1998).
Only those who reject God will feel the true sting of a loneliness that doesn’t go away. If you ever feel lonely, remember that you are a part of a holy family. Remember that God is with you. Trust that God will be close. Ask for God to bring you comfort. “You will never walk alone.”