Psalm 69
Save Me, O God
TO THE CHOIRMASTER: ACCORDING TO LILIES. OF DAVID.
Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. I am weary with my crying out; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God.
Immersed, sinking deeper, with no foundation, swept to and fro… Struggling in the depths, yet dry from within; drained from crying out, throat ‘parched’, eyes growing dim.
Overwhelmed by the sheer weight and force from the outside, and reduced to nothing from within. Slammed by all that is bad, and drained of all that is good.
Going off tangent here but I have a feeling like this is what we’re subjected to the moment we are born. They keep saying that we start dying the moment we’re born, and I guess all I’m doing here is adding a little more detail to it.
Eventually, one of the two does us in: Outside forces, or inner weakness flips the switch and ends us.
It’s a pretty dark thought process I’ve gotten myself into here, but it’s all with the intention of just… well, realizing the end of ourselves. It happens to all, as it happened to David – and take note, he sees all this going on with him, even while ‘waiting for my God’.
More in number than the hairs of my head are those who hate me without cause; mighty are those who would destroy me, those who attack me with lies. What I did not steal must I now restore?
I’m no big fan of Neil deGrasse Tyson but I do like his sobering line: “Earth can be bad for your health too. On land, grizzly bears want to maul you; in the oceans, sharks want to eat you. Snowdrifts can freeze you, deserts dehydrate you, earthquakes bury you, volcanoes incinerate you. Viruses can infect you, parasites suck your vital fluids, cancers take over your body, congenital diseases force an early death. And even if you have the good luck to be healthy, a swarm of locusts could devour your crops, a tsunami could wash away your family, or a hurricane could blow apart your town. So the universe wants to kill us all.”
You’d think that was morbid enough, but see, David points out that we’re all pretty good at killing each other as well, without the help of the universe. We hate each other without cause, or without reason, apparently, because we lie and make reasons to destroy each other… and David emphasizes just how intentional we are in our hatred; it comes to a point that we increase our might and our numbers to uphold the accusations we make to each other.
O God, you know my folly; the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you. Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me, O Lord GOD of hosts; let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me, O God of Israel. For it is for your sake that I have borne reproach, that dishonor has covered my face. I have become a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my mother’s sons. For zeal for your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me. When I wept and humbled my soul with fasting, it became my reproach. When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became a byword to them. I am the talk of those who sit in the gate, and the drunkards make songs about me.
The universe crushes us from the outside, we’re emptied on the inside, and we have the propensity to kill each other. Apparently it gets even worse because David points out that we even have time to kill ourselves by way of folly and wrongs.
Our own actions have the capacity to bring those who hope in God and seek Him, to shame and dishonor. They leave us estranged from our families, and even when we try to do things from our own power to rectify or reduce the consequences, we’re made more ashamed, to the point that even “drunkards make songs about (us).”
But as for me, my prayer is to you, O LORD. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.
See here, that even if the odds are so stacked against us, the Holy Spirit leads David, as He would lead us – to pray. And see, David prays just as Paul would prescribe in Philippians 4:6-7 – with supplication and thanksgiving: He recognizes the abundance of His steadfast love and His saving faithfulness, and, being aware of this, asks for His answer:
Deliver me from sinking in the mire; let me be delivered from my enemies and from the deep waters. Let not the flood sweep over me, or the deep swallow me up, or the pit close its mouth over me.
Answer me, O LORD, for your steadfast love is good; according to your abundant mercy, turn to me. Hide not your face from your servant, for I am in distress; make haste to answer me. Draw near to my soul, redeem me; ransom me because of my enemies!
Let’s pray, too.
In your love and faithfulness, o Father, rescue us from the waves and the floods, from the universe that bears down on us. Our throats are parched, and our eyes grow dim… turn to us, Father! Redeem us by drawing near to us!
You know my reproach, and my shame and my dishonor; my foes are all known to you. Reproaches have broken my heart, so that I am in despair.
I looked for pity, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none. They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink. Let their own table before them become a snare; and when they are at peace, let it become a trap. Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see, and make their loins tremble continually.
Pour out your indignation upon them, and let your burning anger overtake them. May their camp be a desolation; let no one dwell in their tents. For they persecute him whom you have struck down, and they recount the pain of those you have wounded. Add to them punishment upon punishment; may they have no acquittal from you. Let them be blotted out of the book of the living; let them not be enrolled among the righteous.
Father, You see everyone who declares themselves our enemies – do not allow their plans to come to fruition! Do not allow their curses to come to life, bring their words into the void!
Father, show Your mercy to them by way of rebuke – in Your everlasting love for them, bring them to the end of themselves, as I have been brought… that we would all come back to You, seeking Your glory and Your grace!
But I am afflicted and in pain; let your salvation, O God, set me on high! I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving. This will please the LORD more than an ox or a bull with horns and hoofs. When the humble see it they will be glad; you who seek God, let your hearts revive. For the LORD hears the needy and does not despise his own people who are prisoners.
Father, work from within. Sin may dwell, but, by Your Holy Spirit, remind us that we are in right standing with You, now and forever. By Your Holy Spirit, remind us, convict us of the Truth that Christ died so we died to sin. Remind us that sin does not have dominion over us, because we are under Your grace, and we have been made righteous, not by our works, but by faith in Christ.
Dear Father who humbles us, and sets us on high, we thank You! For more than our sacrifices, we honor You by coming to You, as an act of confidence which comes from Christ’s sacrifice!
We thank You, Father, because You hear us! You have brought us to humility, that we have less confidence in ourselves or others, or the things of this world, and an even greater dependence on You!
Thank You, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for hearing us now. For being with us, now and always. And for responding to us, rescuing us, moving in our midst, and setting us on high.
Be glorified in our circumstances, our situations, our issues, our deficiencies, our struggles. Be glorified in our victory! Be glorified now, and forever!
In Jesus’ name, amen.
Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and everything that moves in them. For God will save Zion and build up the cities of Judah, and people shall dwell there and possess it; the offspring of his servants shall inherit it, and those who love his name shall dwell in it.
Not sure where I wanted to go with this Psalm, but yeah, I guess we were brought to pray. In the light of all that’s happened this week, I suppose we’re brought to humility, and we’re brought, as usual, to pray.
I’ve been looking for a place to put this, and I guess here’s a good place to share it, as we end this article. It’s a line from St. Moses the Black:
You fast, but Satan does not eat. You labor fervently, but Satan never sleeps. The only dimension with which you can outperform Satan is by acquiring humility, for Satan has no humility.
Indeed, let us humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift us up. Amen.
Until the next post, God bless us greatly and abundantly.
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