Psalm 120:1 A Song of Ascents. In my trouble I cried to the LORD, And He answered me. I have no idea what I can learn from this, but it’s pretty neat, anyway. The word for “answered” is anah which means “to heed, to respond to, to begin to speak specifically by singing, shouting, testifying or announcing.” Did you catch it? In trouble I cried to YHWH and He began to respond/speak to me by singing to me. God sings to me? That’s an interesting, albeit awesome, picture! It makes me think of all the times when I’ve been frustrated or hurt, and He has used a song to speak peace and healing and courage into my heart. Yes, it also means He might shout, testify, and announce, which is also pretty cool. The interesting thing is that He does answer (it actually says He begins to speak), but I need to listen. So the question is, am I listening? What song is He singing to me today?
Numbers 10:9 “And when you go to war in your land against the adversary who oppresses you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets, that you may be remembered before the Lord your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies…” So, some issues: first there’s a word in the Hebrew version of this verse that isn’t translated but since I don’t know Hebrew I don’t know if it’s of any importance or if it means something like “you”. It comes just before the part that says “you shall sound an alarm.” Next, the word for “sound an alarm” is split into two separate words (they’re actually the same word translated twice)… but I can’t tell if the words are repeated in the Hebrew text (if they are then it would be like an exclamation point indicating extra emphasis on these words) or if the person writing the dictionary post just though he/she would split them up. Anyway, these issues aside, it’s interesting to me that sounding an alarm is the word רוע ruwa . It means, in addition to a battle alarm: 3) to shout in triumph (over enemies) 4) to shout in applause 5) to shout (with religious impulse) And also to shout in shout in joy. It’s almost like the shout prior to battle is a shout of thanksgiving and praise of God’s greatness – all before knowing the final outcome. And, according to this verse, God will save them from their enemies. Applauding God, shouting for joy or in triumph, no matter what the circumstances, can have dramatic effects. Maybe the next time I am faced with a seemingly overwhelming problem I should remember to ruwa and then trust God to save me.
Psalm 50:13-14 “…What I want instead is your true thanks to God; I want you to fulfill your vows to the Most High. Trust me in your times of trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory.” In this Psalm God is telling His faithful ones that He doesn’t need their sacrifices because He already owns all the resources of the universe and beyond. What He really wants is different – their thanks, the fulfillment of their vows, and their trust in times of trouble. I’d imagine those are the same things He wants from us. I was listening to the radio yesterday (Z88.3) and one of the DJs told a story of this woman she’d talked to who didn’t have anything to give her child for Christmas and didn’t really have any way to celebrate Christmas at all. The DJ was making the point that Christmas isn’t really about the gifts and presents and lights, but it’s about Jesus and what He’s done for us. What hit me though, was that I am so blessed! I don’t have a lot of money and most months I’m really happy to squeak by without running the accounts to zero. But God provided enough to buy gifts for my children and for my husband and me. He has been SO faithful about making sure we have what we need (not what we want, but always what we need) and then a little extra. That story really made me realize how much He blesses us. Trusting God in times of trouble sounds like it would be easy, but it’s easy for my first thing to do is try to fix it myself. Of course, that usually makes a bigger mess… But trust is hard for everyone, I think. So often when we trust people or things our trust is broken. I see this in politics a ton, but also in day-to-day life (someone says they’ll do something but they forget about it). We trust big companies to make products that help us but find out later they make them specifically to break down after a certain amount of time so that we’ll all have to go buy more stuff… The list goes on. So trust is hard. But God wants us to trust Him. In fact, He promises to rescue us if we trust Him! That’s a pretty nice deal! But, I suspect that we have to completely trust Him, without holding on to that last bit of rope. We have to completely open our hands and trust that He’s got us. That’s kind of scary for most people, I think. Ultimately, we can tithe all we want and we can give God things all we’d like, but what God wants is our thanks, or honesty, and our trust. That’s not too much to ask, is it?
Zechariah 8:6 This is what the LORD Almighty says: All this may seem impossible to you now, a small and discouraged remnant of God’s people. But do you think this is impossible for me, the LORD Almighty? I feel a little bit like the remnant sometimes. I feel small and discouraged by the circumstances of my life. Last Sunday was one of those days. I was frustrated by some of the events that had happened and discouraged by life. The hope of God’s promises seemed really impossible and it seemed like we’d never get out of the situation we’re in. There always seems to be a glimmer of hope on the horizon, but it never seems to get any closer. I was overwhelmed and felt incredibly small compared to the craziness and circumstances of what is going on around me. But God reminded me of His faithfulness, first through a song by Israel Houghton called “Everywhere That I Go.” Here are the lyrics from the chorus: You promised me, you’ll never leave You promised me, I’m never forsaken and I believe Goodness and mercy, will follow me Surrounding me, where I go Every where that I go These words are incredibly comforting because they remind me that God NEVER leaves, He NEVER gives up, He NEVER fails to keep His promises. He never makes pie-crust promises (those promises that are easily made, easily broken… as Mary Poppins would say). Everywhere that I go, He is there, surrounding me with His great LOVE! So, what seems like it would be impossible and has over time seemed like it will never end, is not impossible for God. He never leaves me stuck here, He never gives up on me, and He never fails to keep His promises. Is it impossible? For me, yes. For God, no. I still get discouraged and feel tiny compared to my overwhelming circumstances, but this (and God’s continual reminders through music) helps me to stay focused on the fact that God is SO much bigger than my storm and SO much more able to do the impossible than I can imagine. I certainly don’t know the future, but I do know that He’s already been there and already knows the best path to take to get there. And in the end, if I get there holding His hand, then no matter what life throws at me, He will lead me in His presence and eventually all those promises will be true.
Habakkuk 3:17-18 Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vine; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the LORD! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation. This verse reminded me a lot of our current economic situation. The fig trees have no blossoms, there are no grapes on the vine, and the fields lie empty and barren. Jobs are scarce, many people have lost their homes and life savings, and yet others are struggling to make it through each day and put food on the table. But the author, while he acknowledges these difficult times uses that contraction “yet” – despite it all. He will rejoice and be joyful in God – my salvation. My Salvation isn’t just a pretty term. Salvation is the One Who Saves. It’s one of God’s attributes. He saves. He saves physically, spiritually, economically. He does it all. So, the author is praising God because he knows that God can rescue him (and us) from the bad conditions of the country. In these times when things are difficult (and believe me, my family knows about difficult, even though we’ve been blessed to still have jobs), we can choose to rejoice in God our salvation. Easy? Nope. Helpful? Yep. It’s amazing how a little praise can change your perspective on a situation.