I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
Believing that one will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living is what keeps a person from fainting, and that confidence sustains the discouraged. The land of the living means this present life, where God's goodness and saving help are to be seen with certainty and not merely hoped for in the future.
Such believing is simple, childlike confidence, and it is the privilege of every Christian to exercise it, with Jesus as burden-bearer, even when discouraged, dissatisfied, and oppressed by life's realities and prospects. Waiting on the Lord with good courage until He strengthens the heart brings that sight of His help. He works on behalf of those who wait, giving a strong movement heavenward and not allowing His work and His gathered servants to break up in confusion and darkness.
The verse calls the discouraged to believe that it is not too late to rise to the higher standard God designed, and that life can still become useful and a blessing to others even when present prospects feel oppressive. That rising means a life filled with good works rather than living for outward appearance and self-gratification. Specifically it means becoming a useful wife and mother whose life is a blessing to those around.
Believing that one will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living is what keeps a person from fainting, and that confidence sustains the discouraged. The land of the living means this present life, where God's goodness and saving help are to be seen with certainty and not merely hoped for in the future.
Such believing is simple, childlike confidence, and it is the privilege of every Christian to exercise it, with Jesus as burden-bearer, even when discouraged, dissatisfied, and oppressed by life's realities and prospects. Waiting on the Lord with good courage until He strengthens the heart brings that sight of His help. He works on behalf of those who wait, giving a strong movement heavenward and not allowing His work and His gathered servants to break up in confusion and darkness.
The verse calls the discouraged to believe that it is not too late to rise to the higher standard God designed, and that life can still become useful and a blessing to others even when present prospects feel oppressive. That rising means a life filled with good works rather than living for outward appearance and self-gratification. Specifically it means becoming a useful wife and mother whose life is a blessing to those around.