Days 18 and 19 Summer Psalms 86-95

I have a book I read every day, year after year. It is a book of divinely inspired messages from God. The first copy I had, I picked up at a garage sale probably over 20 years ago. The messages God gives through its pages, one for each day of the year, I find uncannily appropriate for every day of my life. It often feels like the words are directly intended for me, that God is speaking to me personally. The book is called God Calling and it is edited by A.J. Russell. He doesn't claim to have written any of its contents, he only takes credit for getting it into publication. He notes that the book was actually written by two anonymous women from England who claim to have had apparitions of the Living Christ. Narrated in first person, God speaks with such a gentleness, firmness, strength, and unconditional love that the power of His words sink deeply into your heart. I reread my garage sale copy for so many years, the pages became yellow, brittle and eventually broke lose from the spine. God must have known I needed a new copy, because one day when my husband and I were on one of our crazy excursions, the Punxsutawney library to see the groundhog Phil, while browsing through a bargain bin of used books, I ran across another copy of God Calling! My hands could almost feel the power of its words as I realized that me finding it amongst all of the discarded books thrown randomly into boxes was no coincidence. This copy, the one I still use today, was intended especially for me, it is one from the book's 49th publication!

Today's message from God Calling was powerful. It's about mistakes. God tells us that often our mistakes are vital. We need them to learn a lesson; we need to learn how to "overcome" our weaknesses.and wrongs in our own nature in order to grow closer to Him. He says that the overcoming is not overcoming the person who may have bothered us, but the weakness in ourselves that that person may have aroused. That's pretty powerful. If we look at our mistakes as opportunities to "overcome" our weaknesses, we can find a certain joy in them and we can also gain wisdom from them. In today's psalms, I  focus on the ability to "overcome". It is a lifetime process. We are always overcoming, even up to our last breath here on Earth when we overcome our biggest obstacle, life into death. So it is important to learn from the authors of today's psalms. How did they "overcome"?

In Psalm 86, David is praying to God for a miracle or a sign to show his enemies that God favors him. In short, David feels he needs to show proof of God's love for him to the world.  Maybe he's hoping for a parting of the Red Sea type of miracle, but in the Psalm's last line, David looks to God to help him overcome, "Give me a sign of your favor: make my enemies see, to their confusion, that You, Lord, help and comfort me." Maybe asking for a miracle worked for David, but for most of us, overcoming is a struggle, a day to day cross to bear. Consequently, however, when we are in our darkest hour, praying for a little miracle doesn't hurt.

Do you remember our boy band who wrote some of the Psalms I discussed in my last posting , our joyful Sons of Korah singers, David's awesome personal choir? Well, they are back in Psalm 87, still shouting out hymns of praise to the Lord. Telling Him how wonderful and great He is through song. God must have loved these guys, as they sang all day, maybe into the night, worshiping Him 24/7. The Korah boys had it going on. They overcame through adulation, always keeping God on their good side. For example, in verse 3 they sing, "Glorious things are said of you, O City of God!" A little sugar goes a long way; and as my niece Kristen would say, the Sons of Korah knew how to "work it!"

We transition from the jubilant psalm of the Sons of Korah to Psalm 88 which is said to be one of the saddest Psalms. I'll relate the story of its writing in the best way I can. You see, King Solomon had a son named Rehoboam. Poor Rehoboam was lacking in character; even as he grew into adulthood, he was what one would call a "jerk." It was considered important for men without character at that time to seek counsel when needed from those who did have it. So when as a leader Rehoboam was asked to lighten the heavy tax burden that his father had set upon the people, Rehoboam, having no character, put the matter in front of his advisers. The younger men wanted to burden the people with more taxes, while the older men vehemently advised him to lower taxes. Well, Rehoboam was not only without character, but he was unwise as well. Now, wouldn't you think it would be wiser for him to listen to the advice of the experienced older men over the inexperienced younger men? No, not Rehoboam.The wisest of all the advisers was an elderly man named Heman, but his opinion to lower taxes was totally ignored by Rehoboam.  Heman writes about his rejection in Psalm 88. Poor Heman, I feel so bad for him as he fights to overcome being shunned. He considers himself an outcast in his old age. In verse 5 he says, "I am set apart with the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave." My heart goes out to Heman; he had to have been in the clutches of loneliness when he cried out to God in the last verse, "You have taken from me friend and neighbor - darkness is my closest friend."

Overcoming must seem insurmountable for many of the elderly. We see in our society how they are cast aside, expected to retire from their life's work then vanish into obscurity.  As a people, we are like Rehoboam, lacking in our own character. We fail to seek the advice and wisdom of the old. I greatly fear a day when I and millions of my fellow baby boomers may be discarded by our families into nursing homes or shut-in and forgotten in a confined apartment. I fear the loneliness of it, of endless days and nights of crying out to the Lord to help me "overcome" the abandonment of old age, where the only deliverance from such isolation is impending death.

Wise Heman had a brother named Ethan. He was also one of the elderly advisers shunned by Rehoboam, and in Psalm 89, Ethan writes a song in response to his rejection. The mood and tone of Psalm 89 is different than the deep anguish of Heman's previous psalm. Ethan begins by praising the Lord then proceeds to remind the Lord of the promises He had made to His people. It isn't until the final verses of this psalm that we learn of Ethan's grievance. He doesn't take his rejection by Rehoboam as personally as his brother Heman. Instead he puts a little spin on things. Ethan cries out to God, not for rejecting him individually, but for rejecting His people, basically for allowing such an imbecile as Rehohoam to lead the nation that was supposed to be protected and loved by God in the first place. Ethan is overcoming by not taking the weight of the world on his shoulders. He sees Rehoboam for the jerk that he is and refuses to have a pity party for himself over Rehoboam's shunning.

As a senior citizen, which brother would I rather be, Heman or Ethan? Certainly, Ethan. Instead of giving up and committing myself to loneliness like Heman; my hope is to overcome the depression of old age by picking myself up by the boot straps, as they say, and enjoying every ounce of life that I still have left in me. I hope to find a place where I will be needed, useful, accepted, and looked after with love and mutual respect. If one place doesn't need me, I hope to continue my search until I find a place that does.

More on "overcoming" the despair of old age can be interpreted in Psalm 90. The author here is Moses. In speaking to God from the holy of holies, inside the tabernacle, the secret place of the most High, Moses relates the hardships of God's people, endured through the many years spent roaming the desert. It is easy to imagine an elderly person writing the same words, especially verses 9-15 :

 "All our days pass away under your wrath;
    we finish our years with a moan. 
¹⁰ Our days may come to seventy years,
    or eighty, if our strength endures;
yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow,
    for they quickly pass, and we fly away.
¹¹ If only we knew the power of your anger!
    Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due.
¹² Teach us to number our days,
    that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
¹³ Relent, Lord! How long will it be?
    Have compassion on your servants.
¹⁴ Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
    that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
¹⁵ Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
    for as many years as we have seen trouble.

Verse12 is so important to remember in praying to overcome the looming or present condition of aging, "Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." I take this to mean that we should learn something from each and every day that we have the opportunity to live. And in verses 14 and 15, we can overcome any afflictions in this life simply by finding joy in God's love and gladness in our hearts. God's answer for everything that ails us is "joy" and the joy He has reserved for us, ultimately, Moses states in the last line of Psalm 91, "I will satisfy you, and show you my salvation." 

Psalm 92 was written by David possibly as a daily tribute to God, a good prayer for beginning the day. With the mindfulness of giving our day to Him, we can "overcome" any obstacles that the day may bring. In verses 1 and 2, David reminds us, "It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High proclaiming your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night." 

Today's last three psalms address the second coming of Jesus Christ. David gives his people hope in these psalms, reminding them that all darkness, evil, sadness, and pain will be "overcome" when the Lord rises up. In Psalm 94, David makes several references to judgement day and the payback that will come to the wicked and unbelievers. 

In my book God Calling, from the July 28th message, the Lord says, "I am your Shield. No buffets of the world can harm you. Feel that between you and all scorn and indignity is a strong shield. Practice feeling this until nothing has the power to spoil the inward peace. Then indeed a marvelous victory shall be won." God doesn't expect us to wait for judgement day to "overcome". We can "overcome" every day's trials today. I remember a cute little verse from a song my children sang in their vacation Bible school days, "Early in the morning when the sun begins to shine, I will open up my eyes and I'll praise you." That's all we have to do to overcome, just open up our eyes and praise Him. How easy and simple God makes it! Keep his joy in our hearts and praise him, voila!