A Pit of Despair

A Series from the Psalms
God is my… Help
 (Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Psalm 40

[God is many things to many people. In this series, we will be looking at various Psalms that completes the statement “God is my…” Maybe ultimately this answers the question that we all ask at some point in our life, “Who is God to me?”.]

 

David began Psalm 40 by writing about his life in the pit.

 

² He lifted me out of the pit of despair,
    out of the mud and the mire.
He set my feet on solid ground
    and steadied me as I walked along.
³ He has given me a new song to sing,
    a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see what he has done and be amazed.
    They will put their trust in the Lord. NLT

 

Life can be like a pit of despair, slogging through the mud and the mire. In fact, there have been many times in my life when I felt that way. Thankfully, the Lord has brought people into my life who have helped me through those times.

 

In high school, because I was so shy around girls, my best friend taught me how to slow dance. 

My brother helped me get through a very difficult time during my junior year of college.

 When my wife and I bought our first home, my Dad loaned us the down payment. 

Whenever I lost a baseball in the field behind our house, my Mom would find it.

Friends at our church in Michigan supported us when we had our stillborn. 

Friends at our church in Ohio helped us following my wife’s stroke & my foot surgery, which were a week apart.

 

There are three verses in this psalm that remind me the Lord is my help.

 

¹ I waited patiently for the Lord to help me,
    and he turned to me and heard my cry.         NLT

 

¹¹ Do not withhold your mercy from me, Lord;
    may your love and faithfulness always protect me. NIV

 

¹⁷ But as for me, I am poor and needy;
    may the Lord think of me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
    you are my God, do not delay.              NIV

 

Waiting is very difficult to do, especially when you need help now. During those times, it is critical to remember that the Lord is faithful and always loves you. It’s also helpful to remind yourself of those times when God has helped you in the past. 

 

Life can be a pit, but God is our help and our deliverer.

 

Copyright 2022 Joseph B Williams

 

 

 

Deliverance

 A Series from the Psalms
God is my… Deliverer
 (Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Psalm 34

 [God is many things to many people. In this series, we will be looking at various Psalms that completes the statement “God is my…” Maybe ultimately this answers the question that we all ask at some point in our life, “Who is God to me?”.]

  

In the 1972 survival thriller movie “Deliverance”, four suburban middle-aged men decided to spend the weekend canoeing on a river instead of playing golf. They thought it would be an adventure… but little did they know.

 

The river itself contained treacherous whitewater rapids. But it was the mountain men who posed the greatest danger, and the biggest need for deliverance.

 

The backstory of Psalm 34 is that David was running for his life from Saul. He decided to take refuge in the Philistine city of Gath. Unfortunately, someone recognized him as the anointed king of the Jews, and as the mighty warrior that people praised saying, “Saul killed thousands; David killed tens of thousands”.

 

Sensing another threat to his life, David decided to pretend that he was crazy. In the end it worked, and the king of Gath set him free. This doesn’t seem like a great story about God’s deliverance, but here’s what David wrote about it.

 

¹⁷ The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them;
    he delivers them from all their troubles.
¹⁸ The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
    and saves those who are crushed in spirit.    NIV

Or…

¹⁷ The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help.
    He rescues them from all their troubles.
¹⁸ The Lord is close to the brokenhearted;
    he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.  NLT

 

You’ve probably never canoed down a raging river where mountain men are trying to bring a reign of terror on you. And you probably haven’t had to run for your life pretending like you’re crazy. But you may have found yourself in other circumstances where you felt like you needed the Lord’s deliverance; you needed the Lord to rescue you.

 

When Jesus’ disciples asked him to teach them how to pray, here’s what he included about being delivered.

 

¹³ And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from the evil one.          NIV

 

Eugene Peterson paraphrased the Lord’s Prayer like this in The Message.

 

Our Father in heaven,
Reveal who you are.
Set the world right;
Do what’s best—
    as above, so below.
Keep us alive with three square meals.
Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.
Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.

 

Copyright 2022 Joseph B Williams

 

 

 

 

Basketball: A Story of Redemption

A Series from the Psalms
God is my… Redeemer
 (Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Psalm 32

 [God is many things to many people. In this series, we will be looking at various Psalms that completes the statement “God is my…” Maybe ultimately it answers the question that we all ask at some point in our life, “Who is God to me?”.]

  

When I was in college, I played on an intramural basketball team with some friends from my dorm floor: Michigan Tech University, Fifth floor of Coed Hall. One particular game sticks in my memory because the coach, who was a good friend, didn’t play me at all... the whole game.

 

Rather than saying something to him during the game, I sat quietly, fuming. 

As the clock clicked down to double zeroes, the anger inside of me built more and more. By the end of the game, I was like a pressure cooker ready to explode. Afterwards, when we were in the locker room, I decided to confront him.

 

At first, he was apologetic. But when I told him that he was self-centered, he responded aggressively and told me that I was self-centered too. I had no idea how to respond because that was not at all how I viewed myself... but it was true.

 

The fourth and fifth steps of addiction recovery point out just how important it is to be honest with yourself, and then to admit “the exact nature of your wrongs” to God, yourself and another person. This is exactly what David wrote about in Psalm 32.

 

³ When I kept it all inside,
    my bones turned to powder,
    my words became daylong groans.

⁴ The pressure never let up;
    all the juices of my life dried up.

⁵ Then I let it all out;
    I said, “I’ll come clean about my failures to God.”

Suddenly the pressure was gone—
    my guilt dissolved,
    my sin disappeared.        MSG

 

When I confronted my friend, I had no idea that I was just as self-centered as I thought he was. Regardless, the Lord is our redeemer. He loves us and accepts us where we’re at. Sometimes he even works in our lives through friends playing basketball to show His redeeming love.

 

⁸ The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.

    I will advise you and watch over you.
⁹ Do not be like a senseless horse or mule
    that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control.”          NLT

 

¹⁰ Many are the woes of the wicked,
    but the Lord’s unfailing love
    surrounds the one who trusts in him. NIV

 

Copyright 2022 Joseph B Williams

 

 

COVID: Public Enemy # 1

A Series from the Psalms
God is my… Light
 (Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Psalm 27

 [God is many things to many people. In this series, we will be looking at various Psalms that completes the statement “God is my…” Maybe ultimately it answers the question that we all ask at some point in our life, “Who is God to me?”.]

  

COVID seems to be public enemy # 1 right now! Since 2019, it has roamed the globe at will, moving freely across oceans from one continent to another; country to country; person to person.

 

It has disrupted lives and taken them; caused economic chaos and inflation. Businesses have closed, individuals have lost jobs and declared bankruptcy. Lives have been broken and destroyed.

 

He has adapted from his original form to the Delta variant and now to the Omicron variant. But he is still pernicious, looking for new victims while bringing sickness, pain and sometimes death. He is not our friend. He does not desire to bring us good will. He is public enemy #1.

 

David often wrote about his enemies. Saul was a constant threat to David before he became king. After that, David always seemed to be at war fighting one enemy after another. And if he wasn’t fighting on the front lines, he was fighting the enemy within; the enemy of temptation and the consequences of his sin.

 

How did David battle his enemies?

 

⁴ The one thing I ask of the Lord—
    the thing I seek most—
is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
    delighting in the Lord’s perfections
    and meditating in his Temple. NLT

 

This was home for David. It was a place where he felt safe and secure from his enemies. Where he knew that his Heavenly Father was always with Him. Where he could seek His face, know His will and wait for Him.

 

⁸ You have said, “Seek my face.”
My heart says to you,
    “Your face, Lord, do I seek.”      ESV

 

¹¹ Teach me how to live, O Lord.
    Lead me along the right path,
    for my enemies are waiting for me.     NLT

 

¹⁴ Wait for the Lord;
    be strong, and let your heart take courage;
    wait for the Lord!            ESV

 

No matter what enemies we might face, we know as David did, that “the Lord is my light” and the light brings life. This is not just something that we can “hope” is true, but we can “know” is true. 

Here is what John wrote about the light.

 

⁴ The Word gave life to everything that was created,
    and his life brought light to everyone.
⁵ The light shines in the darkness,
    and the darkness can never extinguish it.    NLT

 Copyright 2022 Joseph B Williams

 

 

 

The Dust Bowl

A Series from the Psalms
God is my… Shepherd
 (Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Psalm 23

 [God is many things to many people. In this series, we will be looking at various Psalms that completes the statement “God is my…” Maybe ultimately it answers the question that we all ask at some point in our life, “Who is God to me?”.]

  

The Dust Bowl lasted from 1930 to 1939, almost a whole decade. In the novel titled “The Four Winds” by Kristin Hannah, she describes the day-to-day reality of living through dust storms that killed livestock, wheat crops and people; especially children.

 

The lead character is a single mom surviving with her two children and her in-laws on a dying farm in Texas. When her young son gets so sick that he can hardly breathe, she takes him to a makeshift hospital in the nearby small town. He is diagnosed with Dust Pneumonia. Ultimately, the only way to save him is to leave the Dust Bowl; to leave her home. So, she does.

 

Provide and protect. It sounds like a slogan for the local law enforcement, but it describes the job of every parent. It also describes the job of a shepherd. David knew what it meant to be a shepherd. His description in Psalm 23 provides a word picture of peace and security.

 

¹ The Lord is my shepherd;
    I have all that I need.
² He lets me rest in green meadows;
    he leads me beside peaceful streams.
³     He renews my strength.
He guides me along right paths,
    bringing honor to his name.     NLT

 

Notice how David paints the picture of the Lord as your shepherd. He provides; He lets you rest; He leads you; He renews you; He guides you. Even during the most difficult of times, when you are in “the valley of the shadow of death”, He is your shepherd.

 

Sometimes though, we choose to ignore these promises of our Shepherd. We make decisions that lead to chaos; to catastrophe; to calamity. We turn our back on the Shepherd who is always there waiting for us to turn back to Him.

 

Without Him, life can be like a Dust Bowl, killing everything in its path. With Him, brings life to the fullest, life abundantly. Living in the presence of the Shepherd is like coming home.

 

⁶ Surely your goodness and love will follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
    forever.      NIV

 

Copyright 2022 Joseph B Williams