Calamities and Steadfastness

The Body of Christ is being hammered.
In fact, the whole world is in crisis.

You don't have to look far to find people
who have a lot more trouble than you do
or are in much more trouble than you are.

Between Jesus cleansing the temple-
overturning tables and the like,
the devil at work,
the very earth itself groaning and
travailing with pain-
thus causing all kinds of natural disasters,
and the law of sowing and reaping
yielding its harvest,
there is a lot of just plain 'hardships of life' going on.

"It's a hard cruel world," my mother would say.
Sometimes, we don't know who to blame.
Is this God? the devil? Is it something I did?

We ask ourselves these difficult questions while
trying to stay afloat on choppy waves
in the midst of a hurricane.

David, the Psalmist, knew this kind of trouble.

King Saul was seeking to destroy his life.
David ran and hid with some
of his faithful men in a cave.

He wrote the words of Psalms 57 during this time.
I share a segment of it here with you.
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"Be merciful to me, O God,
be merciful to me!
For my soul trusts in You;
And in the shadow of Your wings
I will make my refuge,
until these calamities have passed by.

I will cry out to God Most High,
To God who performs all things for me.

He shall send from heaven and save me;
He reproaches the one who would
swallow me up. Selah.
God shall send forth His mercy and His truth...

...My heart is steadfast, O God,
my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and give praise.

Awake, my glory!
Awake, lute and harp!
I will awaken the dawn.
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Webster defines calamity as 'misery;
any extreme misfortune.'

David did not cry about his misfortunes.
He did however, say what they were.
You'll have to look up the Psalm because
I skipped that part.

He used his desire to cry about his troubles
and turned it into a cry to God.

"Be merciful! Help! For I trust in You
and know that You are the One who
will take care of Me!"

He trusted that God would send forth
His mercy and His truth to save him
and reproach his enemies.

He did not presume upon his
anointing as future king.
He did not expose himself to
danger, saying, 'God will take care of me.'

Rather,
he ran and hid physically in a cave
and he hid his soul under the shadow of God's wings
and then he said he would 'trust in God
who performs all things for me.'

We might say that these are defensive actions.
To run and hide in a cave is a
desperate act of survival.

But then, he speaks proactively.

"My heart is steadfast.
I am going to sing.
I am going to get up before the dawn
and sing with my voice
and play the lute and harp with my hands.
I will awake the sun's first rays."

"Be exalted," he sang to the LORD.
"Be exalted, O God, above the heavens,"
played the harp.
"Let Your glory be above all the earth,"
declared the lute.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And so I say to you, to me,

Cry out to God for mercy and help.

Stay under the shadow of His wings.

Trust Him to take care of you
and the things that trouble you.

Remember that God's mercy and truth
both saves and reproaches.

Keep your heart steadfast towards God
and sing His praises.

Do this in the midst of calamity.
Do this while hiding in a cave.

Do this when the promises of God
appear to be a mere figment of your imagination.

Do this when you've forgotten the feel
of the warm oil of God's anointing trickling down...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Not only did David survive the cave,
he became King,
and his words are written
for all generations to read
and be encouraged.

God can and will use your story as well.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end.
Amen.