“Watching and Waiting” (Psalm 123:1-4)

 At the End of Our Tether

I have recently visited Helen Cleary at Madigan Estates Nursing Home. If you had a chance to visit your loved one in a nursing home during this pandemic, you would feel the atmosphere of isolation, sadness, and hopelessness now more than ever. When I got there in Helen’s room, I could notice immediately that her body and mind were even more failing than I had seen her in the hospital last time. She kept saying, “I am cold, freezing cold. I can’t stand this cold.” Probably Helen is going through more difficult times than most of us in this room at this time. But in our pilgrim journey there are times when we too feel stuck and isolated and don’t see any light at the end of the tunnel. Then, what should we do? The central message of Psalm 123 is so beautifully simple to state: at the end of our tether there’s a place called Prayer.[1]

 

The God of Heaven

We don’t know exactly what the psalmist was going through, but what we know is that he has reached “saturation point.” In verse 4 he says, “We have had more than our fill of the scoffing of the proud and the contempt of the arrogant” (NLT). When the psalmist feels like he is pushed past his limit, at the end of his tether he looks up. He prays:

“To you I lift up my eyes,

O you who are enthroned in the heavens!”

 

When he lifts up his eyes, the psalmist sees the God of heaven who still reigns. Recently, I read an article by Eric Foley, co-founder of Voice of Martyrs Korea. His team has been doing balloon launching ministry which sends only Bibles to North Korea by balloon for 15 years. But this ministry met increased pressure from authorities in South Korea since June this year because of political tensions between North and South Korea. Pastor Foley and his team have been doing these launches for 15 years and none of these things were problems or issues before. All of sudden, according to the governor, they are now guilty of fraud, mismanagement of donations, security risk, and possible air traffic violations. So now Pastor Foley is under ongoing police investigation, and he had to appear at the police station at least four times so far. In the article he shares what the Lord has been teaching him through this time as follows:[2]

 

Even when God’s good gifts are used in ways that seem to threaten or thwart God’s promises, God’s will is always accomplished. In fact, it is the glory of God that he fulfills his promises especially through the actions of the very people and circumstances which seem to endanger his promises the most. This includes our persecutors and enemies, as well as secular authorities. His will is always done because each moment emerges directly from his hands, shaped precisely according to his promises that are guaranteed.

 

The Lord Jesus is the source and end of all power. Pastor Foley says that accepting this reality fundamentally changed how he viewed the authorities and his persecutors and enemies. This reality removed the fear, anger, despair, defiance, and weakness he initially felt in their presence. When we are hard pressed on every side – whether it’s people, or circumstances, or sickness, or loss of the loved one – all we have to do is look up. When we lift up our eyes, we see the God of heaven who still reigns.

 

Prayer as Counter-Attack

At the end of our tether, there’s a place called “prayer.” Another important lesson we can learn from Psalm 123 is, prayer is not a passive, idle activity. Prayer is the most powerful, effective, courageous counter-attack we can possibly launch. The situation the psalmist is in is desperate: “Our soul has had more than its fill” (verse 3). The problem has penetrated into the very heart of the psalmist. He had to face contempt, ridicule, scorn beyond what he could bear. So now the psalmist launches his counter-attack, “prayer.”

 

This psalm is very applicable to the situation of Nehemiah. When Nehemiah decided to restore the walls of Jerusalem, his enemies – Sanballat and Tobiah – mocked him, saying, “That stone wall they are building – any fox going up on it would break it down.” Then, Nehemiah didn’t react to them; instead, he looked up and prayed to the God of heaven, “Hear, O our God, for we are despised; turn their taunt back on their own heads, and give them over as plunder in a land of captivity” (Neh 4:4). Afterwards, Nehemiah had to deal with oppression by the Jewish nobles and the officials towards the powerless. He had to confront the powerful and the proud. He must have met resistance. It could be very lonely, risky task. But he just wanted to do God’s will. And he did it with much prayers. He prayed, “Remember for my good, O my God, all that I have done for this people” (5:19). Sanballat and Tobiah were persistent. They made a threat to report Nehemiah wish to become their king. They made every effort to frighten Nehemiah and weaken his hands, so that he might quit his work. But again, Nehemiah prayed, “But now, O God, strengthen my hands!” (6:9) When we are at the end of our tether, the most powerful counter-attack we can launch is prayer, because our struggle is not against enemies of flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Eph 6:12).

Mercy, God, Mercy!

So far we have learned two lessons from Psalm 123. First, at the end of our tether there’s a place called “Prayer.” Second, prayer is not a passive activity, but the most powerful counter-attack. And last but not least, when we come to pray, our posture should be the one of a servant. The psalmist prays in this way:

“As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master,

As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress,

So our eyes look to the Lord our God, until he has mercy upon us.

Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us” (vv. 2-3a)

 

The psalmist cries out to God three times, “Mercy!” “Mercy!” “Mercy!” Eugene Peterson paraphrases this prayer as follows: “In obedience we pray “Mercy!” instead of “Give us what we want.” We pray “Mercy!” and not “Reward us for our goodness so our neighbors will acknowledge our superiority.” We pray “Mercy!” and not “Be nice to us because we have been such good people.”[3] We come as those without merit. We come not because we deserve, but because God loves us no matter what. We come just as we are.

 

Just as I am, without one plea
But that Thy blood was shed for me
And that Thou bid'st me come to Thee
O Lamb of God, I come! I come!

 

Yes, we pray for justice in this broken world. But if God exercises his justice over our life, we cannot stand before him. We need God’s mercy as well as his justice. “He does not deal with us according to our sins… As a father has compassion for his children, so the Lord has compassion for those who fear him” (Ps 103:10, 13). That’s who God is. So at the end of our tether, we come to God without merit, without deserving. We pray to the God of mercy with patience, with confidence.

 

Trust, Trust, Trust

In one of Henri Nouwen’s books, he tells about the lesson of trust. One time Nouwen had a chance to watch the circus, flying and catching as elegant dancers. One day he was sitting with Rodleigh, the leader of the troupe, talking about flying. The leader said, “As a flyer, I must have complete trust in my catcher. The public might think that I am the great star of the trapeze, but the real star is Joe, my catcher. He has to be there for me with split-second precision and grab me out of the air as I come to him in the long jump.” “How does it work?' Nouwen asked. “The secret,” Rodleigh said, “is that the flyer does nothing and the catcher does everything. When I fly to Joe, I have simply to stretch out my arms and hands and wait for him to catch me and pull me safely over the apron behind the catchbar.” Then, he continued with so much conviction, “A flyer must fly, and a catcher must catch, and the flyer must trust, with outstretched arms, that his catcher will be there for him.”[4] Prayer is not to try to grab God. It is to fly and stretch out our arms, trusting and waiting for the Catcher. And God the Catcher will be there for us, grab us in his time and pull us safely to his place.

Back to my story with Helen Cleary. While I was there, Helen said to me several times, “I don’t know.” But then later, she said, “A better day is coming.” At the end of our conversation I said, “Helen, I am only allowed to be here for an hour. But Jesus is with you in this room 24/7. He is always near. He is able to help you. Trust him!” The enemy tries hard to get the best of us. Our lives overflow with hardship and despair. But with the Apostle Paul, we are to respond, “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or peril, or sword?... No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord!” (Romans 8:35-39). At the end of our tether, with the psalmist, let us look up. Let us stretch out our arms and hands and trust, trust, trust. Amen.

---

[1] Alec Motyer, Journey (IVP, 2009), 47.

[2] Eric Foley, “Notes to myself during this ongoing police investigation” (August 25, 2020), Do the Word, https://dotheword.org/2020/08/25/notes-to-myself-during-this-ongoing-police-investigation/?fbclid=IwAR3UgofEo2o2Tj1_I4bLrMVdlzMZna-_DCnrTvL4xYSgBIDJAjsh7Ya6p70

[3] Eugene Peterson, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction (IVP, 2000) 58.

[4] Henri Nouwen, The Essential Henri Nouwen (Boston: Shambhala, 2009), 131-32, quoted in Max Lucado, Anxious for Nothing (Thomas Nelson, 2017), 46.

“Victorious” (Psalm 122:1-9)

Living in an Anxious World
I recently read an article written by one pastor who was on a Zoom call with 10 other pastors across three denominations. By the time the meeting concluded, four out of the 10 had admitted their own suicidal ideations. One pastor shared the heartbreaking story of going back to church too early and losing a beloved church member to COVID-19. Another shared how congregants were daily emailing him with threats to leave the church if they didn’t reopen immediately — and withholding their tithes until then. One pastor was fired. Her husband passed away several years ago, leaving her a single mom of two children. She was stretched too thin because of parenting two small children during a pandemic. But her church was unhappy with her leadership, sermon quality and lack of a vision during this time of crisis, so they let her go. Another pastor who after preaching about race one week, a congregant came to the church office and kicked his office door off of its hinges in an attempt to incite the pastor into a fist fight.[1] I think the story shared by these 4 pastors in the article reflects what kind of world we are now living in. We live in an anxious world. Living in anxious times in the midst of a pandemic, a hyper-partisan culture, a civil rights movement, and an upcoming election is literally destroying the lives of many, many Christians. So our heart is yearning, searching for peace.

Jerusalem: Already, but Not Yet
Psalm 122 is a song of peace for Jerusalem. The name Jerusalem means “city of peace,” and in the Bible Jerusalem is often called Zion. It’s an ideal place for all God’s people. It’s the place where God is fully present among his people. It’s the place where God exercises his justice and judges evil. It’s the place where there is peace, security, and prosperity. To our surprise, the psalmist and his pilgrim companions already arrived in Jerusalem! In verse 2 he says, “Our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem!” At this point he is standing in Jerusalem and rejoicing, probably with the thousands of other pilgrims. His feet are already standing in Jerusalem, City of Peace! Yet in this psalm Jerusalem’s peace and security (verse 7) and its family (verse 8) are still the subjects of prayer. In other words, the peace and security and prosperity of Jerusalem has not yet fully come. Here we find some kind of tension between the “already” and the “not yet.” We are already redeemed and saved, but we still suffer, get sick, and die. We already have new, full, abundant life in Jesus, but we still struggle, get stressed, burn out. In one sense we are already there; in another sense we are not there yet.

The Songs of the Ascent (Psalms 120-134) tell us what it means to live between the times. These 15 psalms are set out in five groups of three psalms each, and each group consists of what we might call a mini-pilgrimage.[2] For example, the first psalm, psalm 120, describes a situation of stress and distress in this world, which prepares the psalmist sets out on his pilgrim journey. The second psalm, psalm 121, focuses on the Lord’s power to strengthen and sustain, and to keep hope alive on the journey. And the third psalm, psalm 122, brings us home. We have arrived. We are safe in Jerusalem! But then, the same pattern repeats four more times in the following psalms (discomfort in this world – all-sufficient God – homecoming; see chart below). Then, what is the purpose of the arrangement of the Songs of the Ascent? The sequence of these 15 psalms shows us what our Christian journey looks like: ups and downs, highs and lows, the “already” and the “not yet.” Many bumpy roads, threats, challenges on the way. But there is more! The Songs of the Ascent declare the truth that a victorious pilgrim journey on the way and a glorious homecoming are guaranteed for those who endure and trust in the Lord. As God’s redeemed people, we don’t simply fight for victory but from victory, because the Lord has already won the battle. Our victory is guaranteed.

The Two Ways
Today we live between the times. We already have one foot in Jerusalem, in the Promised Land, but still we have another foot here in this world, in this wilderness. The Bible tells us there are two ways of life on how to live in the “in-between” times. In the Old Testament the Israelites were redeemed and saved by God Almighty. All of them saw God’s wonders and miracles in Egypt. All of them walked through the Red Sea on dry ground. All of them were guided and protected by a pillar of cloud during the day and by a pillar of fire at night in the wilderness. But when the time had come to enter the Promised Land, ten of the 12 who had spied out the land spread a bad report, saying, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size… We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them” (Num 13:32-33 NIV). They forgot God’s great works. They didn’t trust God and his promises. They saw the challenge through their human eyes. So they spread this bad report, criticized and grumbled against Moses.

Joshua and Caleb, however, who were among the twelve, took a different way. They said to the Israelites, "The land that we went through as spies is an exceedingly good land. If the LORD is pleased with us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. Only, do not rebel against the LORD; and do not fear the people of the land, for they are no more than bread for us; their protection is removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them” (14:7-9 NRSV). Joshua and Caleb remembered what God has done for them. They did trust God. The saw the same challenge through the eyes of faith. They saw victory, hope, possibilities, prosperity, beyond the challenge. As God’s redeemed people, we have the two ways of life ahead of us: a life fighting for victory – versus – a life fighting from victory.

Then, what does it look like to live a victorious life in our anxious world? Our perfect example is Jesus, who made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Yes, Jesus saw a dark reality. He lamented and wept over Jerusalem because of their disbelief and hardness of heart. But he was never in despair. Rather, he looked up and saw New Jerusalem, future Jerusalem, filled with a great cloud of pilgrims cleansed with his blood, rejoicing. So he could endure anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever, because of the joy (a glorious future of his people) awaiting him. Keeping this in mind, the apostle Paul tells us how he lived a victorious life in challenging times: “We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed. Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.” (2 Co 4:8-10 NLT). As we suffer, as we respond to life challenges in a godly way, in Jesus way, by God’s grace, people see the difference. They would see Jesus in us and be drawn to Him. Some day they would join us in singing God’s praises and rejoice with us. Because of this glorious, guaranteed future, we too can put up with anything along the pilgrim way. We may be misconstrued, criticized, hated. But we can rejoice no matter what, because we know that we will be standing and rejoicing in Jerusalem with God’s people. That’s what it means to live a victorious life.

Victorious
I recently heard a story about a woman who had walked seven hundred miles as a refugee to escape a violent war and was finally able to cross a national boundary out of the war zone. She walked all that way and brought with her an eight-year-old girl, who walked beside her. For seven hundred miles the child held her hand tightly. When they reached the safety, the girl loosened her grip, and the woman looked at her hand. It was raw and bloody with an open wound, because the little girl had held on so tightly out of her fear.[3] But as for us, we don’t have to be anxious or worried like the little girl. Jesus promised, “I will not leave you as orphans. I am with you always, to the end of the age” (cf. Matt 28:20; John 14:18). We may withhold our hand from God; God will never let us go. We are not there yet, but we will make it home. Our victory is guaranteed. Let us live a victorious life now as if we are standing in Jerusalem. Let us fight from victory, not for victory. Let us trust in God and remember his promise always: “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isa 41:10). Amen.





-----
[1] Jakob Topper, “Too Many Pastors Are Falling on Their Own Swords,” Baptist News Global
[2] Alec Motyer, Journey (IVP, 2009), 19-23.
[3] Walter Brueggemann, Sabbath as Resistance, New Edition with Study Guide: Saying No to the Culture of Now (pp. 88-90). Presbyterian Publishing. Kindle Edition.

“Look Up, Lift Up” (Psalm 121)

In the Slough of Despond

In John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress main character Christian was accompanied by a travel companion, named Pliable, after he had left his hometown, the City of Destruction. As they were busily talking and heedless of the way, they both fell suddenly into the bog, called the Slough of Despond. Pliable became offended and angry. Struggling desperately, he climbed out of the mire and returned to his home. In fact, he didn’t even turn to help Christian. He didn’t even say good-bye. Christian was left alone in the mire and dragged himself through to the side nearest the narrow gate. But he could not climb out because of the burden on his back, and he began to sink again. Just in time a man named Help came along. Help pull Christian out of the mire. Then he said, “Remember when you ask for help, the help always comes.”

 

Have you fell into the Sough of Despond? Have you ever felt like the harder you try, the deeper you sink? In today’s scripture the psalmist cries out in the Sough of Despond:

 

“I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?

My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth!” (vv. 1-2)

 

The Lord the Creator

Last week I shared that a group of fifteen psalms (Psalms 120-134) were set apart as “A Song of Ascents.” Psalm 121 is one of the songs that pilgrims sang as they made their way to Jerusalem. Since topographically Jerusalem was the highest place in Palestine, the pilgrims spent much of their time ascending. As they were ascending and lifting up their eyes, they would see hills and mountains of Jerusalem. And they would see particularly the temple of Solomon built on Mount Moriah (2 Chronicles 3:1). Hebrew pilgrims honored Abraham as their father who himself was a pilgrim and set out, not knowing where he was going. They believed in the God of Abraham. And they always remembered the story of “Jehovah Jireh” which had happened on Mount Moriah. God promised Abraham, “It is through Isaac that descendants shall be named for you” (Heb 11:18). But then, God said, “Sacrifice Isaac as a burnt offering!” (Gen 22:2) These two words seemed to be mutually contradictory and inconsistent. Probably Abraham’s heart was troubled. But, he considered God faithful who would keep his promise somehow. He reasoned that if Isaac died, God would be able to bring him back to life again. As he was climbing Mount Moriah, Abaham would lift up his eyes to the mountains and prayed to God who made heaven, and earth, and mountains. He built an altar, laid the wood, bound his son Isaac, and then reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his only son. Right at the moment the Help did come. God provided a ram. After this experience, Abraham called that place “Jehovah Jireh.” Normally it is translated as “The Lord will provide.” But the literal translation would be “The Lord sees.” In other words, for God to see is to provide. Abraham believed that if the Lord sees, he will provide. That is sufficient.

 

Our God is the Creator, who made heaven and earth. Our God gives life to the dead and makes something out of nothing with his powerful word. Deism says God created the universe and then abandoned it. Pantheism says creation has no story or purpose; it is only a part of God. But Christianity says there is a God, who creates, preserves, governs, sustains, sees, provides. Our God is continually, personally and powerfully involved in his creation, and fulfills his divine purpose. Feeling anxious? Stuck? Despondent? Lift up your eyes to the Lord!

 

The Lord the Shepherd

Then, the psalmist continues praising God and tells us how different he is from other gods:

 

“He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.

He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep” (vv. 3-4)

 

In ancient Israel pagans conceived that their gods would be just like them who need to eat, rest, and sleep, but the God of Israel is unlike any other manmade god. He does not need to recreate, eat, or sleep. Our God is always there to “help” 24/7. Our God is the “shepherd” who protects, guides, and sacrifices for his own sheep. As Hebrew pilgrims sang Psalm 121, they were reminded of the great pilgrimage of their ancestors from Egypt to Canaan. They remembered how God redeemed and delivered Israel out of Egypt with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. They remembered how God faithfully fed them day by day, sustained them, supplied all their needs in the wilderness for 40 years. Our God is sufficient for the needs of our pilgrim journey even when we feel like we are surrounded and battered by troubles.

 

There is a Korean poem based on Exodus 14, the “crossing the Red Sea” chapter, that I always recite every time I feel like there is no way out. Its rough translation is like this:

 

When you are hard pressed on every side by troubles,

Before you is the Red sea,

Behind you are the Egyptians,

On the one side is a range of hills and mountains,

On the other side are forts of Egypt,

Then, begin to sing and praise God, and thank him ahead of time,

Because it is time God will work for you!

 

The Bible says, “No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it” (1 Cor 10:13, NRSV). Our God is faithful. Our God is able. Our God is sufficient. So lift up your eyes to the Lord!  

 

The Lord the Companion

In the eight verses of Psalm 121 the word “guard” or “keep” (shamar) occurs six times. The psalmist wants to make sure that we understand that God has got us covered.

 

The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand.

The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.

The Lord will keep your going out and coming in

from this time on and forevermore. (vv. 5-8)

 

Then, what does it mean that the Lord will keep us from all evil and keep our life? Does it mean that we never get sick, never get sunstroke, never have any emotional problems? No! In our daily lives, just like everyone else, we Christians face the same life challenges, get the same diseases, fear the same dangers. But the difference is that as we walk each step, we know we are accompanied by God. We know God’s got us covered. We know we have the best insurance policy, which covers “all our activity” wherever we are and whatever we do, starting from now and forever. So, no matter what testing we endure or what troubles we experience, the Lord will keep us from all evil. He will be with us and keep our life always.

 

Look Up, Lift Up

In his book The Dance of Hope, Bill Frey remembers the day he tried to pull a stump out of the ground. He was eleven years old at the time. One of his chores was the gathering of firewood for the small stove and fireplace of the homestead. One day he found a large stump in an open field near the house and tried to pull it out. He literally pushed and pulled and crowbarred for hours, but the root system was so deep and large he simply couldn’t pull it out of the ground. He was still struggling when my father came home from his office, spotted him working and came over to watch. “I think I see your problem,” the father said. “What’s that?” he asked. “You’re not using all your strength,” he replied. Bill exploded and told the dad how hard he had worked and for how long. “No,” he said, “you’re not using all your strength.” When he cooled down, he asked his father what he meant, and he said, “You haven’t asked me to help you yet.”[1]

 

On our pilgrim journey there are times when we face circumstances far beyond our natural ability to overcome. Pulling giant stumps out of the ground. Standing before the Red Sea. Struggling in the Slough of Despond. The good news is we don’t have to do it alone. The psalmist commends us to present the challenge to the Father and ask for help. When we ask for help, the Helper always comes. So don’t look within. If you look to yourself, you will only see darkness. Don’t look around. If you look to others, you will be disappointed. Instead, look up! Lift up your eyes to the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth! Then, just in time the Lord will surely come and help, and he will watch over your very life to the end. Amen.

 

 

---

[1] William C. Frey, The Dance of Hope: Finding Ourselves in the Rhythm of God’s Great Story (Colorado Springs, CO: WaterBrook Press, 2003), 175. quoted in Max Lucado, Anxious for Nothing (p. 221). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.

“A Pilgrim’s Journey” (Psalm 120)

A Pilgrim Song
When we are joyful, what do we do? We sing. When we are afraid, what do we do? We sing. When we are down, what do we do? We sing. The entire book of Psalms is the songbook. In particular, our spiritual ancestors set apart fifteen psalms, the psalms numbered 120 through 134, and called them “Song of Ascents.” These fifteen psalms were likely sung by Hebrew pilgrims as they went up to Jerusalem to the great worship festivals. In ancient Israel Jerusalem was topographically the highest city, and so all those who traveled there literally spent much of their time ascending. But this title, “Song of Ascents” is also a metaphor. The pilgrim’s journey to Jerusalem acted out a life journey upward toward God, going to God. On their journey pilgrims sang. They sang to express their love and gratitude to God. They sang to quiet down their anxious thoughts and fears. They sang to encourage one another.

Dissatisfaction
Psalm 120 is the first song of ascent. Most of the songs of ascent are quite cheerful and hopeful. But this particular psalm is a lament. This psalm is sung by a worshipper who lives in a hostile environment. In verses 5 and 6 the psalmist laments in this way:

“Woe is me, that I am an alien in Meshech, that I must live among the tents of Kedar. Too long have I had my dwelling among those who hate peace.”

Meshech and Kedar are place names. Meshech is thousands of miles away from Israel in southern Russia. Kedar belongs to a wandering north Bedouin tribe along Israel’s borders. Both places represent the strange and the hostile. The psalmist used to consider those places his home for a long time. He used to feel comfortable to live there. He really enjoyed his lifestyle there and believed that was what life should be. But then, for some reason he began to feel more and more dissatisfied with his world. He became fed up with the lies and the hate. And the place he lived became more and more strange and hostile to him. And now the psalmist is ready to set out on a new journey, a pilgrim journey to God. So the first lesson we can learn from this psalm of lament is that such dissatisfaction with the world is preparation for a pilgrim journey. 

In John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress the story begins in this way. Christian used to live in a town called “City of Destruction.” He loved his town and the people there. The house was pleasant and comfortable to live. He was satisfied with his life. But then he was given a book. And he opened it and began to read. As he read, Christian began to feel a great burden on his back. He wept and trembled, crying out, “What shall I do?” He shared his true feelings to his wife and children, but they didn’t understand. At first his family tried to console him and suggested him to have some rest. But it didn’t help. Then, they became angry with him. Finally, they ignored him. Some people in town mocked him, some scolded him, and later they became even hostile to him. Christian grew more and more troubled and dissatisfied. One day he walked in the field in distress and burst out crying, “What shall I do to be saved?” As he stood, there a man named Evangelist walked up to him, pointed to a narrow gate, and said, “Fix your eyes on the light, go straight toward it, and you will find the narrow gate.” That’s how Christian set out on his pilgrim journey to God.

Hope 

Saint Augustine writes in his Confessions, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.” Such restlessness, such dissatisfaction prepares us to set out on our journey to God, ascending to God. As is often said, we never realize that God is all we need until God is all we have. The way up is, first of all, down. For me personally, it was not until my military time that I truly realized that Jesus is all I need. Until then, I was satisfied with my world. But while I was in the military, there I met all different kinds of people and saw a microcosm of society and the fundamentals of human nature. And I got thoroughly fed up with the lies, the hate, the violence, the corruption, the ways of the world around me. I was dissatisfied. And at the same time, my longing for peace and truth grew more and more inside of me. At that time somebody gave me a pocket Bible which included the Psalms and the New Testament. Every night after my night duty I ran to the restroom with the book, because that was the only place where there was a light. I read one psalm every night and prayed with the psalms. Every single word of Psalms came alive to me. “But now, O Lord, what do I look for? My hope is in you!” (Psalm 39:7) New hope sprang up. That’s how I set out on my pilgrim journey to God. 

The way up is down. The Bible says, “More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame” (Romans 5:3-5a, ESV). Dissatisfaction leads to Christian hope. I have learned this truth from saints at a nursing home. Overall, they are content and grateful. They are grateful to staffs, their family, and roommates. But they are dissatisfied with the world as it is and longing for peace. In our weekly gathering their favorite time is hymn sing. And their favorite hymn is “Farther Along” which has become one of my favorites: 

Tempted and tried, how often we question 

Why we must suffer year after year, 

Being accused by those of our loved ones, 

E’en though we’ve walked in God’s holy fear. 

Farther along we’ll know more about it,

Farther along we’ll understand why;

Cheer up, my brother, live in the sunshine,

We’ll understand it all by and by. 

The Lies and the Truth 

This is my pilgrim song. This is our pilgrim song. It’s not a happy song but an honest and necessary one. On our pilgrim journey we are told the lies of the world, “Everything is OK.” In Pilgrim’s Progress Christian meets three men – Simple, Sloth, and Presumption. They are lying fast asleep with iron fetters on their legs. So, Christian warns them of their danger, saying, “Beware! Come away, and I will help you off with your irons.” But they answer, “We see no danger. Everything is just fine.” And they lie down to sleep again. 

What are the lies we are told today? We are told in this pandemic, “It’s going to be fine.” But the truth is when this pandemic is lifted, the worst thing that we could do in response is just go back, unchanged, to our old, normal lives. We are also told, “We’ll be different after this.” But the truth is now is the time, not after this pandemic. 

Turn 

In his book Here and Now Henri Nouwen talks about a mime he saw. In the mime a man was straining to open one of the three doors in the room where he found himself. He pushed and pulled at the doorknobs, but none of the doors would open. Then he kicked with his feet against the wooden panels of the door, but they didn’t break. Finally, he threw his full weight against the doors, but none of them yielded. Then, Nouwen concluded in this way[i]: 

“It was a ridiculous, yet very hilarious sight, because the man was so concentrated on the three locked doors that he didn’t even notice that the room had no back wall and that he could simply walk out if he would only turn around and look!” 

Like the man in the mime, how often we are so preoccupied with our world and fail to perceive what God is doing around us and among us. By God’s grace the hamster wheel of busyness and productivity has been halted for the time being. And now is the time to turn, turn around, turn to God. Now is the time to set our heart on God’s kingdom. Now is the time to set out on our pilgrim journey, ascending to God. Today let us join all God’s pilgrims in singing, “Deliver me, O Lord, from the lies of the world and lead me in your way of truth and peace.” Amen. 

--------------

[i] Henri J. M. Nouwen, Here and Now: Living in the Spirit (p. 60). The Crossroad Publishing Company. Kindle Edition.