Wednesday, June 22, 2022

Chains of the MIND

 

Wednesday, June 22, 2022

Rescue me from my enemies, O God.  Protect me from those who have come to destroy me.  Rescue me from these criminals; save me from these murderers.  They have set an ambush for me.  Fierce enemies are out there waiting, Lord, though I have not sinned or offended them.  I have done nothing wrong, yet they prepare to attack me.  Wake up! See what is happening and help me!  O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, wake up and punish those hostile nations.  Show no mercy to wicked traitors.  Psalm 59:1-5

King David seems just a little paranoid (OK…a LOT paranoid).  He cries out to God for rescue from the “enemies” who are coming after him to destroy, to murder by ambush…fierce enemies!  David even tries to be God’s alarm clock…wake up, wake up, God…RING….RING….RING! 

To be tormented by an enemy face-to-face is bad enough, but the faceless enemy in the night that keeps you awake is the border of madness.  As a boy, tending his father’s sheep in the wilderness, David had plenty of encounters with ferocious beasts – lions, and bears.  As a youth he stood before the gathered armies of two great nations, facing a giant of a warrior (Goliath).  David and his sling faced the taunting sneers of this towering, grizzly, battle-hardened war machine with only a sling and a few small stones, and he gave no ground.  Fast forward a few decades and now King David is a heap of shivering night sweats, fearing enemies he can’t see.  The mind of a warrior king, can be chained like any of us.  Fear cannot read your resume’. 

But that fear, as genuine, or imagined as it can be, has the potential to be the greatest teacher at any stage of life.  David’s imprecatory plea that God might wake-up and clean house of these enemies, is uttered in the wake of fear and faith.  His fear awakens his own fight-or-flight response, but his faith holds it in check, calling-out for protection and justice to the only One who can give it.  And the result is what David’s son, Solomon, who watched his Dad’s faith growing up, would write later, the calmness of an untroubled soul:

It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.  Psalm 127:2

This is full cycle for anyone who lies awake, fretting over what might happen.  We awaken to our fears, face them like the Goliath that threatens, and offer the outcome to the hand of He who loves us best.  After that, there’s nothing left to do but enjoy a good night’s rest.

And that is precisely what David did, his untroubled soul resting in the night, and rejoicing in the morning!

But as for me, I will sing about your power.  Each morning I will sing with joy about your unfailing love.  For you have been my refuge, a place of safety when I am in distress.  O my Strength, to you I sing praises, for you, O God, are my refuge, the God who shows me unfailing love.  Psalm 59:16-17

For You Today

My friend and mentor from seminary days was Dr. Charles Graham.  One of his favorite expressions of faith which overcomes worry was:

If something bad is going to happen…that will be a bad event;

Worrying is a second bad event;

One bad event is enough!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!  

[1] Images:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©   

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