At times life can seem like a sticky, muddy pit; it’s like
you’re trapped in an endless cycle of get up – go do this stuff – go back home
– repeat, repeat and REPEAT!
This
is the condition of the Psalmist in the “pit of despair”. The “mud and mire” of Psalms 40 reminds one
of what’s left after a Tsunami wave has washed away everything. Where once there was a thriving coastline
community, now there is just silt and slime; all is broken and bogged together.
But
the Psalm-writer said when he was in a condition like that he waited patiently
for the LORD’s help. The Hebrew phrase
“waited patiently” is based on a word which has various meanings, one of which
is “to bind”[1]. This word suggests a picture of one sitting
and weaving or twisting strands of twine or string into a rope. “Binding-together” is also a picture of
prayer; what’s bound together is you and God’s-will.
Waiting
is not easy!
· just
check-in with someone sitting in a hospital waiting room
a parent waiting for that kid to come home
or a Krone’s disease sufferer waiting for that wave of nausea to pass
But,
to “wait-patiently” is to bind yourself to God’s outcome.
That
sounds a little too stoic, like the brave little bird facing the big wind and
driving rain of a storm. That, my
friend, is not me! I’ve got to have more
to hold onto than just – be patient…it’s
ok….there, there….you’ll feel better soon.
So, what DO we have?
What
we have is resurrection! The Psalmist
proclaimed that the LORD had set his feet on solid ground and steadied
him. He set my feet…and steadied
me are words that remind us of resurrection. To “set” is to align the course. To be “steadied” is to keep the vertical posture.
Combined with the miry pit (death) is the
new song of standing-up and moving out confidently (resurrection).
A
really old song made popular by Frank Sinatra has a “never give up” theme, expressed
in this line about what to do when life throws you in the pits:
Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, start all
over again[2]
I really like the
positive way this is expressed, but here’s the way I would rewrite the lyrics using
Psalms 40:
I found myself trapped in a dead-end,
barren wasteland of a life and decided to bind myself to God’s solution, no matter
what He might choose. I stayed close to Him,
and He picked me up, dusted me off and got me going again!
Connect the dots
When
life has you in the miry pits you can just do the hand-wringing thing, or you
can do the life-weaving thing…pray…bind your life and will to whatever God’s
cooking-up for your future.
No comments:
Post a Comment