Finding a way

DEVOTION

PSALMS

FINDING A WAY

Ps 69:1-4

Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. 2 I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold. I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me. 3 I am worn out calling for help; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God. 4 Those who hate me without reason outnumber the hairs of my head; many are my enemies without cause, those who seek to destroy me. I am forced to restore what I did not steal.

NIV

Certainly this is a song of lament. Whoever is the author, for we are not sure this is a song of David, feels his life is in danger. Water over his neck, sinking in the mud, having no foothold, being engulfed in deep flood waters, being worn out just trying to stay alive are all images of feeling overwhelmed by danger. There is a lot more of this feeling further in this song, but also expressions of trust in God. We will get to that in time, but for now let us consider this feeling of being overwhelmed by danger. We may not be faced with the type of danger this psalmist was. Some scholars believe this person was in captivity, possibly in Babylon. We cannot be certain of that as fact, but what we can know is trouble is in the life of this person. Are there moments in our life when we feel overwhelmed with trouble? Sometimes trouble just finds us without our even trying. Life can bring all sorts of situations our way. It could be a health issue. Those words, “You have cancer” can be very scary. There are other moments in life when that feeling of being overwhelmed happens. Too many bills to pay and not enough to pay them may be one of them, getting those overdue statements just adds to the frustration, feeling like being under water.  Unhappy family life, strife with a spouse or with siblings or a grown child can cause that feeling of being not having a foothold. Sometimes just the loneliness of not having close friends or family we can look to for help feels like having more that hate us then we can count, when we feel all alone in our situation. There can be all sorts of situations in life which can cause us to feel everyone is out to destroy us. Whoever said “Life is all a bowl of cherries“, does not know about all the pits that can be bad for them. But the pits are there, and sometimes we just fall into a pit, then it becomes a pity-party. But we also know, as this psalmist will get to, that God is always there. We always remember those words of Daryl Scott, the father of Rachel, the girl killed at Columbine High School. He said there is the conscience presence of God and then the constant presence of God. Even when we are not aware of the presence of God he is still present. We are never far from him for the Holy Spirit dwells within us and he is our ever present help in trouble. We merely have to acknowledge him, to trust him in all our ways and he will direct our path and make it straight. Nothing is impossible for God. How awesome is our God. When there is no way, he will find a way. God always finds the way.