Day 222 - Hell Breaks Loose
Scripture focus: These things add up. Every one of us needs to pray; when all hell breaks loose and the dam bursts we'll be on high ground untouched. God's my island hideaway, keeps danger far from the shore, throws garlands of hosannas around my neck. Psalm 32:6-7 The Message
I used to think these two verses meant this: if we pray, when bad things happen - they won't happen to us - they'll happen to the bad guys. God will insulate me from trouble, and only good stuff will happen to me as long as I pray (and do all the other things good Christians do).
I don't think like this anymore. Before verse six, there is a verse five in Psalm 32 - and it's all about failure. Specifically, it's about my failure. It's not speaking about "bad guys" - it's talking about me (and you and everyone else). These things add up I now realize is written in the context of the first five verses of this psalm - and the psalmist just described how he held back, hid himself, became distraught and depressed in his isolation - until the pressure became so intense that he was forced to confess his failures. Then he got relief. I think six and seven are reminders from the psalmist that this isn't a "once and done" experience. We'll grow forgetful of this cleansing process. We'll fall back into our old habits - forgetting God and trying to forge an identity on the basis of personal performance. Inevitably, the pressure will build again.
Now, here's where the scripture gets really interesting. Remember, I used to think this meant bad things couldn't happen to good people. I know - totally naïve and biblically unsound - but I'm just being honest! Let's face it - that fantasy, even if it were true, would not be good news for me. Because I can never pray perfectly, behave flawlessly, and do all those things that good Christians do on a consistent basis. So if my earlier interpretation is correct, I'm in big trouble.
Fortunately, we move on to verse seven. Dams will burst and hell will break loose. The pressure will build. We will fail to perform. We will grow forgetful of God, and our do-gooding. And God's response will be to never leave us nor forsake us. When the pressure builds to the point where we can't take it, if we find our way back to God and make a clean breast of our failures - God will provide us with a refuge. He will throw garlands of hosannas around my neck. A hosanna is an exclamation of praise to God.
Who provides the garlands of praise to God? God provides the garlands of praise. He will remind us, as all hell breaks loose and the dam bursts, of why finding our way back to him is good news. He'll provide moments of clarity, grace and mercy. God will do this for us - even though we've grown forgetful of him and failed to do what good Christians should and ought to do.
In a world hell bent on teaching us that we must do well, others should treat us nice, and good things should come easy - God provides a new perspective. He reminds us that we won't always do well - even if we try hard. Others won't treat us well (I don't even know why we think otherwise). And the world will never be an easy place to reside. But hear this: God is in the business of rescuing the helpless, hopeless and perishing. Run hard back to the place of not holding back from him, and you will find rest for your soul. You can do it.
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