“Where are you God?” - A
Series from the Psalms
Psalm 60
(Use the link below to
read the verses.)
I
had never flown before. As my plane was circling the Hancock airport to
approach the landing strip, darkness covered everything like a blanket.
Having never
visited Michigan Tech, I had no reference point other than all the lights below
from the Houghton/Hancock area. It looked like a big city; daunting and dangerous.
It
was a huge, scary unknown world waiting for me.
My
parents had tried to prepare me for this. All parents do. They try to prepare
their children to become responsible adults who are able to live on their own;
who can face the battles of the world; who can struggle and survive. I was now truly
on my own; a baptism by fire. But was I ready?
Psalm
60 was written by David when he was at war with Syria in the north while Edom
invaded Judah from the south. All seemed lost and he wondered out loud if God
had rejected him; if God would march with his armies again. David knew what it
felt like to be thrown into a baptism by fire.
But
in the midst of his lament, David remembered God’s banner. Like a flag that
soldiers rally around in the heat of battle, David rallied to God’s promises;
to His Covenant.
4-5 But you have given us a banner to rally to; all who love truth
will rally to it; then you can deliver your beloved people. Use your strong
right arm to rescue us. 6-7 God has promised to help us. He has
vowed it by his holiness! No wonder I exult! “Shechem, Succoth, Gilead,
Manasseh—still are mine!” he says. “Judah shall continue to produce kings, and
Ephraim great warriors. 8 Moab shall become my lowly servant,
and Edom my slave. And I will shout in triumph over the Philistines.” TLB
When
you are feeling “rejected by God; shaken
and torn open; facing desperate times”; do what David did and reflect on
God’s Covenant with you.
And like David, you can rally around God’s banner; the
banner of Jesus Christ; the banner who brings you hope; the banner who will lead
you through your own baptism by fire.
