Lifted Up – November 30, 2022 (352/365)

‘O LORD my God, I cried out to You, and You healed me.’

Psalm 30:2

The ESV points to 24 Psalms before this one, to verses from who I’m assuming was the same writer:

‘Have mercy on me, O LORD, for I am weak; O LORD, heal me, for my bones are troubled.

My soul also is greatly troubled; but You, O LORD – How long?

Return, O LORD, deliver me! Oh, save me for Your mercies’ sake.

For in death there is no remembrance of You; in the grace who will give You thanks?’

Psalm 6:2-5

The man was weak and troubled. And apparently he wasn’t just talking about his physical state (‘for my bones are troubled’), because he goes on to cry out to the Lord, “My soul also is greatly troubled”;  And in his being troubled in at least his body and his soul, he cries out for the LORD, first and foremost, to return, so he would be delivered, and so that he would be saved… for the sake of His mercy.

I suppose it’s important for us to lay down the man’s state, and to break down the requests he makes in light of what’s been going on in his life. Because see, in the light of his weakness and his trouble, he asks for straight up deliverance and salvation. He could have asked for power to overcome his weakness, and he could have cried out to the Lord for order and peace, for his troubled body and mind.

Do you notice that? He does not ask for help to endure, he asks for straight up intervention. Outside aid, foreign deliverance versus relief and supplements.

Recently, in light of this movement they call No Nut November (NNN), I’ve been brought to realize how the compounding effects of porn since an early age have left me personally weak and troubled – perhaps in the body (though I’m no so sure how it goes up to my bones), but definitely in my mind, and my soul.

I’d say I’ve tried playing the long game, trying to cut off old habits and starting new ones, struggling to keep them. I’ve also tried to implement immediate and high-impact changes, to help myself. Unfortunately, in my mind I haven’t progressed as much as I’ve wanted, and I’ve looked at the need to really get rid of this… mindset, or these flaws that have literally crippled me, and weight me down; And with so many high-stake… what, experiences? Or, well, many high-stake events coming up, I need to be at my prime, with no hindrances. I cannot be weak, nor can I be troubled.

And it’s not like I haven’t cried out to the Lord already. No, I’ve already written and spoke of how I needed immediate help… But here, I’ve seen the slight difference that would have me relying fully in my Savior… For lest I forget, He is not only my Savior, but He is also my Helper. The Spirit who knows all things is my Helper.

We like to keep saying, “God helps those who help themselves”… but apparently, all we need to focus on is, “God helps.”

Yes, God helps. And if you expand your view of Psalm 30:2, you’d see just how complete our God helps us.

“I will extol You, O Lord, for You have lifted me up, and have not let my foes rejoice over me”

Psalm 30:1

We could try on our own, and in our own strength, to climb up the stairs, one painful step after the other, until we reach victory, recovery, and/or better circumstances; One laborious and certainly heavy step after the other. But we would, at the very least, be lifted up, when we just call out to the Lord, and essentially lay all down at His feet, coming as we are to the throne of grace.

And He lifts us up, so He has ‘not let (his) foes rejoice over (him)’.

I’ve listened to a quick Jocko podcast clip where he and his guest discuss how criminal predators can tell who their next victim or target would be, without even interacting with the person. They could tell by body language. If I recall they’d pay attention to the way people walk or stand, their hand placement when idle, and other things. They say that these subtle movements come from a mental state focused on vulnerability and weakness, and I assume that self-condemnation or memories of guilt also have a hand in it.

It made me think of what thoughts and mindsets make me move a certain way to give me away, for anyone who calls themselves my enemy to know where and how to strike. Of course, I could take steps to improve my posture consciously, but a part of me thinks, don’t conscious attempt to fix unconscious movements and issues only go so far? Besides, isn’t fixing my movements and actions just the tip of the iceberg and a band-aid solution?

Fortunately, I don’t need to go through the process of agonizing how to fix things slowly but surely in my mind. Here and now, I’m proposing to myself, that I also don’t have to jump to asking for the Lord for immediate and full help… even if I do understand that it’s totally okay for me to do so. Why? Well, because for one thing, I’ve already been helped, on a divine scale:

He lifted me up.

Cutting to the chase. It’s all because of Christ. Through Christ’s finished work, I am lifted up. I’m lifted up, from sin to righteousness, from chaos to order (as written yesterday), from finite to the infinite, from darkness to light and from death to life.

Through Christ I am lifted, by way of God lifting His own countenance upon me (and giving me peace), so I suppose, my own countenance is lifted as well; and I also think that the more I keep this in mind, so it would be renewed, and I would therefore be corrected in other aspects of my being, to the point that even the rest of my posture and movement would be restored.

Christ lifted me up, for the world to see.

And see here, I was supposed to keep going with Psalm 30:3, but there was already so much to unpack here. And, actually, the aforementioned verse appears to supplement my point:

“O LORD, You brought my soul up from the grave; You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.”

Here I’m imagining an elaboration as to how I’ve been lifted up, according to the first verse. As mentioned, I’ve been lifted through Christ, from death to life, from the grave, and into His grace. And, I’m imagining, as grace lifts me up, so by grace I am kept alive.

Therefore, in weakness, and in trouble, I shall call upon the Lord to lift me up… But I shall have peace through it all, knowing that above all circumstances and situations I face in this finite reality, I have been lifted up to the everlasting love of God… and it is all because of Jesus, who loved me and gave His life for me.

He cast Himself into the depths, that I may be lifted up.

Thank You, Lord.

Until the next post, God bless you.