“Times of not-so-quiet desperation”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Monday, September 12, 2022
Psalm 56 (Forward, p. 45) CEV p. 587
David, the future king, is needy and desperate, and for good reason. He has been on the lam, a fugitive from the relentless pursuit and murderous threats of King Saul for months, so much so that he has been forced to seek refuge in a foreign country, namely Gath, and with Israel’s traditional enemies, the Philistines. But even here he is not safe for some of the Philistine army officers have planted doubts about his loyalty and sincerity, especially if there came a time of war between the Philistines and David’s own people. That there might be such reservations on the part of his hosts is surely quite natural, but it doesn’t make David’s life any easier, or his future any more secure. Frankly, he has run out of options and really is quite desperate. And so he turns to God for help.
There are two things that sustain him and encourage him in terms of his relationship with God. The first is God’s promises of help (verses 4 and 10) and the second is God’s past track record (verse 13). God has been there for him in the past, and so he is able to trust Him, even when things are going downhill and when he truly is afraid (see verses 1-4, 11). He is confident that God, who records his wandering and keeps track of his tears (see verse 8), will also intervene in his most desperate state of affairs. He is sure of God’s love, mercy and faithfulness and so he can rest his fate in the hands of God and trust Him to take care of him. And, as David did, so can each of us. Amen.
Forward notes: “Whenever I am afraid, I will put my trust in you” (verse 3).
“We live in a modern world filled with technology, knowledge, and even artificial intelligence capabilities our grandparents could not have imagined even just 50 years ago. ‘Siri, what is the temperature?’ is a question I often ask these days. Though Facebook seems ubiquitous now, it’s helpful to remember that it is a relative newcomer, created in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in February 2004.
“The social media and technology we both love and hate are inextricably a part of our lives. Still, there is one constant: we are often afraid. Sometimes it seems as if anxiety and fear have never been greater than they are right now in our world. It’s as if fear has become an acronym for False Evidence Appearing Real. We spin out ‘What Ifs’ and catastrophize unlikely scenarios.
“Regardless of the times, the antidote to fear is the same as it always has been. The answer is love. It is not always easy to ‘trust in the slow work of God,’ as theologian Pierre Teilhard de Chardin said so eloquently. When I feel afraid, I take three deep breaths and try to refocus, remembering to put my trust in God and let go of my fears.”
Moving Forward: “How can you invite God into your fears?”